EU and Egypt discuss Middle East and prospects for forthcoming UfM summit

The EU and Egypt have discussed progress made in Egypt's social, economic and political programmes, as well as its role in the Middle East Peace process and the forthcoming Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) summit.

The EU and Egypt were meeting in Luxembourg for the sixth meeting of the Association Council since the agreement governing economic, political and cultural relations between them came into force in 2004. The EU was represented by the Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle. Egypt was represented by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

A Spanish Presidency press release said that during the meeting the two sides broached the institutional changes resulting from the Treaty of Lisbon and the advances Egypt has made in social, economic and political matters.

They also discussed the EU and Egypt's shared commitment to the Middle East peace process, which the Spanish minister described as "an urgent and necessary peace that cannot wait any longer."

The meeting also discussed other areas of joint interest, such as Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq, and Egypt's involvement in the foreign aspect of the Europe 2020 programme, which will guide EU economic growth over the next decade.

They also analysed how to improve the effectiveness of the European Neighbourhood Policy, and reiterated their enthusiasm about the first EU-Egypt summit, which will take place on 6 June in Barcelona on the sidelines of the Union for the Mediterranean summit, and which will serve to define the new framework for enhanced relations proposed by both sides.

Moratinos said progress was being made on firming up the contents of the Euro-Mediterranean process, ensuring that the coming UfM summit would produce concrete results. He said the summit would approve a political declaration and an action plan for coming years, as well as evaluating the four large projects approved in Paris in 2008 on solar energy, maritime highways, SMEs and the environment.