According to EU negotiators, while Egypt qualifies for European economic and other assistance there is still room for it to do more, reports Dina Ezzat from Brussels and Strasbourg The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, is expected in Cairo today for talks with top Egyptian officials from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. The objective of Barroso's visit, which will last two days, is to discuss Egypt's steps towards democracy and the economic and other forms of assistance that the European Union (EU) could be willing to lend to expedite this within the framework of the "more for more" policy introduced for EU neighbourhood countries in May. According to EU officials who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly at the organisation's Brussels headquarters, since this policy was formulated before Egypt's 25 January Revolution, Barroso could also be open to other requests, either to speed up the amount of aid scheduled for the country over the next three years or even to expand it. Expansion was likely to come within a bilateral context, the EU officials said, but a collective package remained possible in view of improvements in Egypt's human rights and political reform records. "We have already seen an improvement when it comes to observing human rights in Egypt," said Michael Mann, spokesman for Catherine Ashton, EU high representative for foreign policy. However, more needed to be done, he said, especially in relation to freedom of the press. Possibly on Barroso's agenda during the Cairo talks will be questions about the treatment of Egyptian journalists and the referral of civilians to military courts for trial. "The role of the army in supporting the revolution in Egypt was important right from the beginning, unlike in other Arab countries like Libya and Syria," said a senior EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity. However, she added that it was "important [for the army] to move towards holding elections for a new government and parliament and the drafting of a new constitution and then for the army to go back to its work." Details of the next period in Egypt's transitional phase will also be on the agenda of Barroso's talks, there being more questions than answers for EU officials at present as to how things may move forward regarding the holding of parliamentary elections, the drafting of a new constitution and the holding of presidential elections. Barroso is expected to share with his Egyptian interlocutors the EU's willingness to provide assistance in the preparation and holding of the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Given that Egypt has thus far shown a reluctance to invite EU observers to the elections, Barroso is expected to offer various other alternatives, though he may still try to argue the case for EU observers. "We appreciate the sensitivity some Egyptians have on the issue of having foreign observers present, but we have to say that other countries, including Tunisia, which underwent a revolution right before Egypt, have extended an invitation for the EU to send observers. So, to be honest we have to expect that the Egyptian position needs to be discussed, because one would assume that if you are having transparent elections then why not have observers," another senior EU official said. He added that for some European parliamentarians the Egyptian decision not to invite observers was likely to raise eyebrows, even for those supporting more assistance. "If Egypt is hoping to expand its trade relations and market access with the countries of the EU, then it needs to demonstrate its commitment to transparent elections," he said. For the European parliamentarians who spoke to the Weekly at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, as for EU officials in Brussels, free and transparent elections are among the things Egypt needs to do in order to send a clear message that it is on the path to democratisation. Other requirements include guaranteeing women's rights and the rights of the Copts and engaging in serious reforms of the security agencies. European officials argue that on his trip to Egypt Barroso will be mindful of concerns that the possible dominance of Islamist parties in the next Egyptian parliament may act to reduce the rights of women and Copts in the country, as some Egyptian activists have also warned. According to one official, he is likely to raise the need for guarantees of their rights. In these areas too, Barroso is expected to offer EU assistance, as have other EU officials who have visited Egypt since the 25 January Revolution and officials representing various EU member states. According to Mann, while the EU does not seek to impose its views on Egypt, it is committed to a people's right to remove a government it does not like through democratic means. The EU did not fear radicalisation in Egypt, but it was "important that everybody is given the time to set up political parties, so that when elections happen they are part of a truly pluralistic process," he said. For enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule, responsible for the EU neighbourhood policy, the organisation was determined to work with the Egyptian government and civil society to promote the concepts of dignity and equality that were also dear to the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Speaking in a special session of the European Parliament on the Arab Spring, parliamentarian Robert Tannock said that while Egypt deserved credit for pursuing democracy it also needed support to establish a truly civil state in which religious forces could not take away citizens' rights. According to Jacqueline Hale of the Open Society Institute (OSI), an NGO, the sense of solidarity that brought men and women, Copts and Muslims, and rich and poor together in Tahrir Square earlier this year should also be reflected in the country's constitution. Hale said that the OSI, part of one of the largest networks of NGOs in Europe, was actively engaged with Egyptian NGOs in working to make sure that at the end of the transitional process Egypt would have a constitution that guaranteed its citizens equal rights.
