CAIRO: Over fears of being accused of interfering in domestic affairs, European Commission ambassador Klaus Ebermann was loath to criticize Egypt for its sluggishness in the area of political reform Wednesday. The European Commission will publish a progress report on Egypt today as part of its set of reports on each of its Neighborhood Policy partners. Speaking on the eve of its release, Ebermann stressed that the report would not be an analysis on the pace of political reform in Egypt, reform that is integrated into the Joint Action plan agreed on by both sides in 2007. "The report is not commenting on the political situation or the state of reform in Egypt. This is not our role; we are not finger-pointing, Ebermann said. Though he later said, "We have been a bit disappointed with the lack of progress on the emergency state legislation which has an affect on the judiciary which has an impact on the right of assembly, on free speech, the media. This is set out in factual terms (in the report). Quoting the reports, Ebermann said, "Overall, progress on the implementation of the action plan can be summarized as limited but encouraging, with a stronger commitment to social, economic and sector reforms and to a lesser extent on political reforms. The Egypt report is more or less positive, but according to a press release issued by the commission office in Egypt, the "progress has been more notable in some areas more than others - stronger in the social and economic domains, less so in the political, where independence of the judiciary, freedom of association and freedom of expression are concerned. These political reforms are included in the Joint Action plan which codifies the agreement between Egypt and the European Union. Actions agreed upon in the plan include the assertion of "freedom of expression and independence of the media, and continuation of "the ongoing process of strengthening, maintaining and ensuring the independence of the judiciary. It also includes "measures that promote the right of assembly and association in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the establishment of "a formal and regular dialogue on Human Rights and Democracy in the framework of the Association Agreement in the context of the relevant sub-committee. Ebermann, whose tenure as ambassador to Egypt ends this summer, felt that because many of the reforms had been agreed upon by both sides, there would be less inclination to accuse the EU of interference in Egyptian domestic policy but he admitted that Egypt set the agenda. "Since we are working on a joint agenda which was agreed, this has somehow taken the sting out of the argument often heard that the foreigners should not meddle too much in the domestic affairs of your country, he said, "and I think fair enough, there are red lines and this allows us to cooperate with Egypt where Egypt wants us to cooperate. The EU was Egypt's main trading partner in 2008 to the tune of ?21 billion, and as the report pointed out, it is in economic areas that Egypt made the most headway, seemingly placing more emphasis on that rather than political reform. "The real world of business and investment is very much ahead of the political world in the region and international affairs, Ebermann said, "we've had a slow start in engaging news areas, such as migration, civil rights and reform of the judiciary.
