Country press pack

The EU and Egypt Progress in relations – ENP Progress Report 2009 Overall progress on the implementation of the Action Plan in 2009 is encouraging, with a strong commitment to social, economic and sector reforms, and to a lesser extent to political reform. Egypt continued to be active in the different sectoral sub-committee meetings, enabling wide-ranging and fruitful discussions to take place on the implementation of priorities set down in the Association Agreement and the Action Plan. In many technical areas progress is encouraging, while much work still lies ahead. Concerns remain on the pace of the implementation of reforms in the field of democratisation and human rights, although the Egyptian Government seems increasingly convinced of the need to tackle governance issues as part of its domestic reform agenda. Moving towards enhanced relations is a shared objective of both Egypt and the EU. In April 2009, Egypt and the EU jointly decided to work towards enhancing relations; an ad hoc group was created to consider ways to do so, present policy options for strengthening bilateral relations, and explore possibilities for incorporating the results of reflections into the ENP Action Plan. Continued and consolidated progress in areas related to human rights and democracy will be an important foundation for enhanced relations. Egypt was co-president of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) throughout 2009 (its two year term ends in mid-2010). Bilateral trade between Egypt and the EU slowed down compared with 2008: Egypt’s exports to the EU in 2009 contracted by 26.2% and EU exports to Egypt decreased by 0.9%. Total trade was €18.7 billion. The EU is by far the first trading partner for Egypt (1/3 of Egypt’s overall trade). Egypt is also a major trading partner for the EU in the Southern Mediterranean region (0.8% of total EU trade). 2009 Egypt country progress report http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/progress2010/sec10_517_en.pdf Egypt’s National Indicative Programme (NIP) The overall budget allocation for bilateral EU assistance to Egypt under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) for 2011-2013 has been proposed at €449.29 million, according to the country’s National Indicative Programme (NIP). This is an average of €149.76 million per annum, which represents a 5.4% increase compared to the previous programming period. The allocation is divided between the three Country Strategy Paper (CSP) priorities:

• Supporting reforms in the areas of democracy, human rights, good governance and justice; • Developing the competitiveness and productivity of the economy; • Ensuring the sustainability of the development process with effective social, economic and

environmental policies and better management of natural resources. ENPI Info Centre Egypt NIP wrap up

Photo © EU/ENPI Info Centre

Find out more… ENPI Info Centre webpage – Egypt http://www.enpi-info.eu/countrymed.php?country=2 EU Delegation – Egypt http://www.delegy.ec.europa.eu/en/index.htm

EuropeAid – ENPI http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/overview/index_en.htm Documents DG External Relations – Key documents http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/egypt/docs/index_en.htm European Neighbourhood Policy: Progress Report 2009 http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/progress2010/sec10_517_en.pdf EC fact-sheet 2009 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/175&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en National Indicative Programme 2011-2013 http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/2011_enpi_nip_egypt_en.pdf Country Strategy Paper 2007–2013 http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/enpi_csp_egypt_en.pdf Action Plan http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/action_plans/egypt_enp_ap_final_en.pdf Country report http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/egypt_country_report_2005_en.pdf Websites - Political and Economic relations EuropeAid – Egypt country page http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/country-cooperation/egypt/egypt_en.htm DG External Relations – Egypt http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/egypt/index_en.htm DG Trade – EU and Egypt http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/egypt/ DG Trade – Egypt statistics http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113375.pdf

MEDSTAT II – Egypt statistical profile http://www.enpi-info.eu/file_static/EG-Profil_Stat_EN.pdf

EU Delegation Egypt photo competition © Material ENPI Info Centre – Egypt news http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_type_med.php?keyword=Egypt&id_type=1&newstype=1 ENPI Info Centre Egypt Energy feature - Tracking the sun (2010) http://www.enpi-info.eu/files/features/a102017%20ENPI%20Egypt%20Energy%20Feature%20II%20%28en%29.pdf EU Delegation - FP7 Projects on Climate Change and Water Security Launched (2010) http://www.delegy.ec.europa.eu/en/News/658.asp Eurojar feature - Together, towards restitution of cultural goods (2009) http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?lang_id=450&searchtype=simple&id=279&id_type=6 Eurojar feature - The Euromed Audiovisual programme enters its third phase (2009) http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?lang_id=450&searchtype=simple&id=277&id_type=6 EuropeAid feature - Education Enhancement Programme in Egypt http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=171&id_type=6&lang_id=450 EuropeAid feature - Achieving universal primary education http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?lang_id=450&searchtype=simple&id=76&id_type=6 ENPI Info Centre website – Features http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_type_med.php?id_type=6&country=2 The Egyptian Innovation System: An Exploratory Study with Specific Focus on Egyptian Technology Transfer and Innovation Centres (Medibtikar Programme - 2008) http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?lang_id=450&searchtype=simple&id=27&id_type=9 Photos Egypt: Land of Contrasts - EU Delegation photo competition- Photo library http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_images_med.php?id=263&iden=263 ENPI Info Centre – Photo gallery http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_galleries_med.php?country=2 MEDREG project (energy) - Photo library http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_images_med.php?id=280&iden=280 ENPI Info Centre Solar power feature - Photo library http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_images_med.php?id=279&iden=279 Association Council Meetings- Egypt- photo library http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_images_med.php?id=61&iden=61 EuropeAid photo library http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/photos/library/index.cfm

May 2010