1. The Supreme Council

The Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the highest authority of the organization. It is composed of the heads of the Member-States. Its presidency rotates periodically among the Member States in alphabetical order. It meets in an ordinary session each year.  Extraordinary sessions may be convened at the request of any one Member-State seconded by another Member State.  At its summit held in Abu Dhabi in 1998,the Supreme Council decided to hold consultative meetings in between the last and the coming summit. To be valid a meeting must be attended by two-thirds of the Member-States. Each Member State has one vote. Resolutions in substantive matters are carried by unanimous approval of participating member states in the voting. However, decisions on procedural matters are taken by the vote of the majority of the Supreme Council. ​

The Consultative Commission of the Supreme Council

It is composed of thirty members, five members from each of the Member State, chosen for their expertise and competence for a term of three years. This body considers matters referred to it by the Supreme Council of the GCC .

 Dispute Settlement Commission

 Beneath the Supreme Council is the Dispute Settlement Commission which is constituted by the Supreme Council for each case of dispute arising out of the interpretation of the terms of the charter.


2. The Ministerial Council

The Ministerial Council is composed of the Foreign Ministers of all the Member States or other ministers deputizing for them. The Council is presided over by the Member State which presided over the last ordinary session of the Supreme Council. It convenes its ordinary sessions once every three months . An extraordinary session can be convened at the invitation of any one Member State seconded by another Member State.

A session is valid if attended by two-thirds of the Member States.

The functions of the Ministerial Council include, among other things, formulating policies and making recommendations for promotion of cooperation among the Member States and achieving coordination among the Member-States for implementation of the ongoing projects.  It submits its decisions in the form of recommendations to the Supreme Council for its approval. The Ministerial Council is also responsible for preparations to hold meetings of the Supreme Council and prepare its agenda. The voting procedure in the Ministerial Council is the same as in the Supreme Council.


3. The Secretariat General

The functions of the Secretariat General are broadly the preparation of special studies relating to cooperation, coordination, planning and programming for common action, preparation of periodical reports regarding the work done by the GCC, following up the implementation of its own decisions,  preparation of reports and studies on the demand of either the Supreme Council or the Ministerial Council,   making arrangements for holding of the meetings of various organs, finalization of their agenda and drafting resolutions.

The Secretariat General  is composed of the following:

  • A. The Secretary-General: He is appointed by the Supreme Council for a term of three years renewable for another term.
  • B. Eight​ Assistant Secretaries-General: They deal with the functional areas under the jurisdiction of the GCC , like political, economic, military, security, humanitarian, environmental, legal, media, cultural affairs, information, finance and administration, strategic dialogue and negotiations.  They are appointed by the Ministerial Council on the nomination of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of three years. The Secretariat General also includes the head of the GCC Delegation to the European Union at Brussels and the head of the GCC Delegation to the United Nations.
  • C. The Directors-General of the functional divisions of the Secretariat and all other subordinate employees: all of them are appointed by the Secretary General.

The functional structure of the General Secretariat covers a number of specialized and supportive areas like political, economic, military, security, humanitarian,  and environmental affairs; finance and management, strategic dialogue and negotiations, intellectual property rights , the Office of the Technical Secretariat for Anti-dumping,  the Technical Office of Communications located in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Office of the Consultative Commission  located in the Sultanate of Oman. The delegates of the missions of the GCC to the European Union and the United Nations form part of the administrative personnel of the Secretariat.