 The Relations between the EU and Egypt are based on an Association Agreement. The negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Agreement started already in 1995 and continued for four and a half years. In 2001 the Association Agreement was signed. After that the agreement was ratified by the Egyptian Peoples Assembly and the EU member states. Since the first of June 2004 the agreement is in force.
To fasten up the implementation process of the agreement, Egypt and the EU built their relations on an exchange of letters to allow the trade provisions of the Association Agreement to enter into force already from the first of january 2004.
Before the singnature of the Association Agreement the bilateral relations between Egypt and the EU were governed by a Cooperation Agreement that included regulations for the economic cooperation between the parties. The agreement supported trade liberalisation. It provided free market access for industrial exports from Egypt to the EU. On the other hand EU exports of industrial products were dealt according to the Most Favoured Nation principle on the Egyptian market. The access of agricultural products from Egypt to the European markets was supported by preferential trade regulations on tariff quotas and export calendars. The EU exports of agricultural products were also treated according to the Most Favoured Nation Principle. Four financial Protocols provided EC funding for economic programms and projects in Egypt. |
