Decades of cooperation between UAE, EU
Illustration: Talib Jariwala/Gulf News
Monday, March 19, 2007
This paper was presented at a seminar organised by the Office of Information Affairs for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Deputy Prime Minister on March 12, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Treaty.
I FIND it very appropriate that we should be holding our meeting today to mark the passage of 50 years on the Rome Treaty in the presence of such a distinguished company of Arab and European participants here, in the offices of the UAE Deputy Prime Minister in Abu Dhabi. This city itself, after all, was witness to the establishment of two historic unions in the region, the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), both of which share with their European counterpart the same brand of objectives, expectations and dreams. Both political projects in the Gulf became an outstanding success and withstood the test of time, and both were inspired by an identical set of constituent principles and values that saw the birth of the European Union (EU).
The unity of a European continent that was steeped in a variegated history, rich in its culture and its civilisation yet often discordant and at war whose inherited wisdom sometimes is mistaken by the inexperienced for signs of debility or old age was conceived in the wake of a particularly brutal interlude of devastating violence. It was to usher in a new world order based on open borders that reinforced cooperation and reconciliation between its member states.
Similarly, the UAE, and GCC, were founded after decades of deprivation, division, and isolation of their separate entities, and were to herald the coming of a new era of prosperity, progress and security for all.
The founder of the UAE, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, together with his fellow rulers, was keen from early years to develop solid relations of cooperation with all European countries based on an open door strategy in the domain of political, economic and cultural exchanges.
Our cooperation with Europe was indeed anchored in a set of strategically important economic, commercial and political interests that linked the two shores of the Mediterranean. But more important was the need for the opening up of one culture to the other, the development of common spiritual values that bond us together, based on understanding and tolerance, the acceptance of the richness of multiculturalism and the mutual respect for the traditions of each other. Without such values, there can be no permanent friendship between nations. This is why the UAE welcomed from the beginning, the opening of schools for foreign communities and the establishment of European cultural institutions. It was also why it sought to broaden the horizons of a rich cultural dialogue with Europe, establishing that such a dialogue was a prerequisite for sound economic and political ties.
The policy guidelines set out by the founding fathers of the UAE continue to be the driving force behind the decisions taken by today's generation of leaders. With the direct support of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the active promotion of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Abu Dhabi, in cooperation with its European partners, has witnessed in the past few months alone, the launching of a number of major pioneering cultural projects that are truly unprecedented in the history of the Middle East.
To cite a few examples, I would mention the establishment of prestigious European icons in Abu Dhabi such as Insead, the Sorbonne University, the partnership between Abu Dhabi University and the Munich and Bonn Universities, and the signing of the historic agreement to set up the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
These truly gigantic achievements in effect crown decades of close cooperation and friendship between the EU and the UAE. They reflect a conviction shared by both partners that there can be no lasting economic or political ties unless they are underpinned by a cultural openness of one party to the other, by the development of understanding and respect for the other that lead to the reinforcement of the spirit of conciliation and brotherhood between men, and to the realisation that all religions and creeds share the same set of humanitarian values, precepts and ideals in spite of their doctrinal differences or cultural origins.
Today's world, after all, and notwithstanding contrary appearances, is the common legacy of a shared and unique Universal Civilisation, a flowing river into which diverse cultures and peoples, at different stations of man's journey on this earth, brought their valuable contributions. Extending in the past from the basins of the Nile to the Euphrates and from the Indus across to Athens and Rome, or from Damascus, Baghdad and Cordoba to Florence and Venice, we see those ties today continue to prosper in the rich cultural exchanges that bind London, Paris and Berlin, to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh is Advisor, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and Deputy Chairman, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.Gulf News
I FIND it very appropriate that we should be holding our meeting today to mark the passage of 50 years on the Rome Treaty in the presence of such a distinguished company of Arab and European participants here, in the offices of the UAE Deputy Prime Minister in Abu Dhabi. This city itself, after all, was witness to the establishment of two historic unions in the region, the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), both of which share with their European counterpart the same brand of objectives, expectations and dreams. Both political projects in the Gulf became an outstanding success and withstood the test of time, and both were inspired by an identical set of constituent principles and values that saw the birth of the European Union (EU).
The unity of a European continent that was steeped in a variegated history, rich in its culture and its civilisation yet often discordant and at war whose inherited wisdom sometimes is mistaken by the inexperienced for signs of debility or old age was conceived in the wake of a particularly brutal interlude of devastating violence. It was to usher in a new world order based on open borders that reinforced cooperation and reconciliation between its member states.
Similarly, the UAE, and GCC, were founded after decades of deprivation, division, and isolation of their separate entities, and were to herald the coming of a new era of prosperity, progress and security for all.
The founder of the UAE, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, together with his fellow rulers, was keen from early years to develop solid relations of cooperation with all European countries based on an open door strategy in the domain of political, economic and cultural exchanges.
Our cooperation with Europe was indeed anchored in a set of strategically important economic, commercial and political interests that linked the two shores of the Mediterranean. But more important was the need for the opening up of one culture to the other, the development of common spiritual values that bond us together, based on understanding and tolerance, the acceptance of the richness of multiculturalism and the mutual respect for the traditions of each other. Without such values, there can be no permanent friendship between nations. This is why the UAE welcomed from the beginning, the opening of schools for foreign communities and the establishment of European cultural institutions. It was also why it sought to broaden the horizons of a rich cultural dialogue with Europe, establishing that such a dialogue was a prerequisite for sound economic and political ties.
The policy guidelines set out by the founding fathers of the UAE continue to be the driving force behind the decisions taken by today's generation of leaders. With the direct support of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the active promotion of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Abu Dhabi, in cooperation with its European partners, has witnessed in the past few months alone, the launching of a number of major pioneering cultural projects that are truly unprecedented in the history of the Middle East.
To cite a few examples, I would mention the establishment of prestigious European icons in Abu Dhabi such as Insead, the Sorbonne University, the partnership between Abu Dhabi University and the Munich and Bonn Universities, and the signing of the historic agreement to set up the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
These truly gigantic achievements in effect crown decades of close cooperation and friendship between the EU and the UAE. They reflect a conviction shared by both partners that there can be no lasting economic or political ties unless they are underpinned by a cultural openness of one party to the other, by the development of understanding and respect for the other that lead to the reinforcement of the spirit of conciliation and brotherhood between men, and to the realisation that all religions and creeds share the same set of humanitarian values, precepts and ideals in spite of their doctrinal differences or cultural origins.
Today's world, after all, and notwithstanding contrary appearances, is the common legacy of a shared and unique Universal Civilisation, a flowing river into which diverse cultures and peoples, at different stations of man's journey on this earth, brought their valuable contributions. Extending in the past from the basins of the Nile to the Euphrates and from the Indus across to Athens and Rome, or from Damascus, Baghdad and Cordoba to Florence and Venice, we see those ties today continue to prosper in the rich cultural exchanges that bind London, Paris and Berlin, to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh is Advisor, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and Deputy Chairman, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.Gulf News
Business Besides Oil
