The start of the process to waive the Schengen visa requirement for citizens of five Gulf states is “very close,” GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi said in an interview published on October 9, expecting a positive announcement at the second EU-GCC summit in Riyadh on October 24. Only the United Arab Emirates currently has a visa-free arrangement with the EU for short stays in the Schengen Area; Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait do not.
“I will give you something exclusive. We are very close to reaching the beginning of the process to waive the Schengen visa for GCC citizens, for the five countries, the five remaining countries,” Al-Budaiwi told the Arab Views podcast, recorded in Manama on the sidelines of the Made in GCC 2026 forum. “On Oct. 24, we will have the second EU-GCC summit coming, with many deliverables.”
The summit itself is confirmed: the European Council announced on September 4 that EU leaders and the six GCC states will meet in Saudi Arabia on October 24, co-chaired on the EU side by European Council President Antonio Costa with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attending. Invitations have gone out formally, with King Salman inviting the UAE president and Qatar’s emir through their ambassadors. EU-GCC goods trade reached 165.6 billion euros in 2025, making the EU the GCC’s second-largest trading partner.
The trade side is where the friction sits. Al-Budaiwi said a GCC-EU free trade agreement announcement is unlikely at Riyadh, noting that years of negotiations never concluded and that the EU insists on adding clauses, including on human rights, which the Gulf bloc wants removed. The visa-waiver expectation comes from Al-Budaiwi alone; no EU confirmation of the process has been reported in this pass, so the announcement, not the interview, is the test.