Cross-border trade key to Gulf Union, UAE paper 

(MENAFN - Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The lesson of the European Union is that countries must unite in a full and effective economic and political union.

Any half-hearted commitment to collective action will become a drag on their ability to meet their individual development goals or to cope with international upheaval. The lack of a proper fiscal and political union has been a major hindrance to European countries' ability to tackle the debt crisis, commented a UAE daily.

"Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders will be meeting next month to discuss the final report of a commission set up to study the proposal for member states to form a Gulf Union. The report must tackle the harsh realities that will confront any effort to move from a loose cooperation council to an effective union", Gulf News said in its today's editorial.

One of these will be the lifting of restrictions on cross-border trade to build a stronger and more competitive bloc, as highlighted by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He said that trade and economic openness between member countries, especially in the private sector, was key to boosting growth and development in the region.

"Until GCC member states can put this basic commercial foundation in place, they will not be able to create any meaningful political and economic union," the paper concluded.