A Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) official slammed the EU for what he described as a ‘selfish’ stance on the issue of duties on Gulf aluminium exports.

Dubal has said the company was facing difficulties in exporting its products to the EU region following the slapping of a 6 per cent on Gulf aluminium imports.
Hopes on resolving the EU duty issue lay in a new round of talks between the Gulf states and the UAE, said Dubal vice-chairman Ahmed Al Tayer.
“The EU is adopting a selfish stance to protect the interests of some firms,” he said. “We hope the issue will be resolved once and for all because a delay would have a negative effect on cooperation between the two blocs.”
European and Gulf officials said last year they hoped the EU and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council would reach agreement on a free trade area by end-2004 after almost 15 years of talks.
A deal would mainly cover exports of energy, petro-chemicals and aluminium to the EU from the GCC states.