WRITTEN QUESTION E-2717/98

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council

(1 September 1998)

Subject: Impasse in the negotiations with Egypt on a Euro-Mediterranean agreement

1. Is the President of the Council aware that, in the negotiations it is conducting with Egypt on a Euro-Mediterranean agreement, the Commission has reached the limits of its mandate?

2. Does the Council share the view that the conclusion of the agreement with Egypt, the first country to conclude a peace agreement with Israel, is highly significant for the furthering of the Middle East peace process?

3. Does the Council realise that, now that serious preparations are being made for the negotiations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the negotiations with the countries in the Mediterranean region must keep pace with them, with a view to the achievement of a balanced foreign policy?

4. Is the Council prepared to extend the Commission's mandate so that the negotiations with Egypt may be concluded this year and the European Parliament give its assent to the relevant agreement before the current parliamentary term comes to an end in May 1999?

Reply

(9 November 1998)

1. At the Corfu European Council in June 1994 the European Union reiterated its desire to tighten even further the close links with its Mediterranean partners and expressed its wish to develop existing cooperation relations with the Mashreq countries, taking into account the specific situation of each country. In this connection the Council is ever mindful of the role played by Egypt in the Middle East Peace Process.

2. On 19 December 1994 the Council issued the Commission a mandate to negotiate a Euro-Mediterranean agreement with Egypt. Since then, several negotiating sessions have taken place. The Council regularly follows developments in these negotiations. It has noted that a number of difficulties still have to be overcome, principally in the agricultural area, but also concerning the customary clause on respect for human rights and the clause on the readmission of illegal immigrants. The Council would point out that the successful completion of any negotiations calls for flexibility on both sides, and not only on the part of the Union. The Council is encouraging the Commission to strive towards rapid attainment of the Union's objectives.

In any event, it is for the Commission, as the negotiator for the Euro-Mediterranean agreement with Egypt, to lay proposals before the Council for adjusting its negotiating mandate if it considers that it is unable to conclude the negotiations on the basis of the mandate issued to it. No such proposal is currently before the Council.

3. The Luxembourg European Council on 12 and 13 December 1997 launched the enlargement process encompassing the ten applicant States in Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus. For the Mediterranean countries whose accession is not contemplated, the conclusions of the Corfu, Essen and Cannes European Councils on strengthening relations with those countries are still valid. The Cardiff European Council on 15 and 16 June 1998 underlined the importance of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and agreed that the Palermo ministerial meeting had confirmed the vitality of this relationship.