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Source: joint statement Arab Republic of Egypt - European Union

The latest meeting of the EU-Egypt Subcommittee on Political Matters, Human Rights and Democracy covered a wide range of issues, including cross-border cooperation. 

The Subcommittee on Political matters, Human Rights and Democracy-International and Regional Issues of the Association Agreement between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the European Union held its sixth session at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo on June 23-24th 2019. 

The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Ambassador Raouf SAAD, Chairman of the National Bureau for the Implementation of the Association Agreement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Colin SCICLUNA Deputy Managing Director, Middle East and North Africa, European External Action Service. Ambassador SAAD is the former head of the Egyptian delegation in the ENI CBC Med Joint Monitoring Committee. He took an important role in the preparation and launching of the 2014-2020 Programme. 

As part of the EU-Egypt Association Agreement, another meeting focusing on Transport, Energy and Environment was recently held in Cairo and co-chaired by Ambassador Reda Bebars - Advisor to the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and head of Egypt’s delegation in the ENI CBC Med Programme Joint Monitoring Committee. 

A comprehensive political dialogue

The two sides conducted a comprehensive and frank political dialogue covering many issues of mutual interest, on the bilateral, regional and international levels, including the Middle East Peace Process, following up the results of the 1st LAS-EU Summit, the situation in the Arab region, Syria, Libya, the outcome of the 5th AU-EU Summit, peace and security in Africa, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Nile water issues, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Euro-Mediterranean cooperation including Cross-Border Cooperation as well as the results of the elections of the European Parliament. They took stock of the latest developments in all these issues and explored ways to further promote their dialogue and cooperation, including in multilateral fora, to foster their efforts towards attaining peace and stability in the Mediterranean and beyond. 

They noted the significant progress achieved in implementing the Partnership Priorities for the period 2017-2020, within the framework of the Egypt-EU Association Agreement, and agreed to continue discussions on the  Partnership Priorities for the next period from 2021.

They also focused on the bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the areas of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and fighting corruption acknowledging that their cooperation and dialogue are indispensable to achieve their mutual interests and confront their common challenges. They emphasized the importance of pursuing their dialogue and cooperation to further attain more concrete progress in all areas in line with their constitutional and international obligations.

Daily News Egypt - Egypt, EU agree to continue dialogue on human rights, democracy