CAIRO: The European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, who was in Cairo on Monday and held talks with several Egyptian leaders, including Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, announced that the European Union will step up aid to Egypt as a part of the EU-Egypt cooperation programs for the next four years amounting to $1.1 billion. An association agreement implemented in 2004 had been governing the relations between the EU and Egypt, but an action plan was adopted in 2007 within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy, where Egypt has benefited with nearly $3 billion of assistance from the European Union since 1995. He said in statements at a press conference with the Egyptian Minister for International Cooperation Faiza Abul Naga that Egypt is an “important country in the region and will remain a strategic partner of the EU,” pointing out that the EU currently has a full embassy in Egypt, and “the process of conducting a comprehensive review of the Neighborhood Policy, in which Egypt plays an important role in its growth.” The commissioner said after meeting with Nazif that the EU aid to Egypt “does not rely solely on the financial package offered, but also includes the reform programs and technical assistance,” adding “we have achieved today an important step in the integration of financial cooperation with Egypt, in addition to our efforts to improve the climate for cooperation in future projects and new agreements.” Johan Bjornson, a Swedish economist with the EU, said the move will be an effort to promote social justice and democracy in Egypt, “if the government in Cairo is willing to use the economic assistance to buttress the poor.” He told Bikya Masr that “in order to achieve full economic assistance to Egypt and other neighborhood countries, governments must be willing to take the step to improve the poor conditions.” For her part, Abu Naga said that Egypt and the European Union had “reached an advance stage of cooperation, where it was agreed to extend this cooperation to Africa, and especially the Nile Basin countries would benefit from the Egyptian experience, especially in the field of infrastructure, health, medicine and other fields other development.” She noted the strength of political relations between President Hosni Mubarak and the Presidency of the European Union and the leaders of EU countries, “which are growing with significant development,” pointing out that the European Union “attaches particular importance in relations with Egypt and considers it a strategic partner as a model for the rest of the episodes of cooperation with the countries of the region.” She added that the EU is the first commercial partner to Egypt in exports and imports, as European investments represent 40 percent of foreign direct investment in Egypt. “Europe is also the largest source of incoming tourism to Egypt,” she said. BM
