Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the Arab Republic of Egypt
Date: 2005-06-21
Institutions: Egypt, European Community
Subjects: Egypt, cooperation agreement (EU), research and development, scientific cooperation, scientific research, technical cooperation

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Official Journal of the European Union

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for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the Arab
Republic of Egypt

AGREEMENT

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Community’)

of the one part,

and

THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT (hereinafter referred to as ‘Egypt’),

of the other part,

Hereinafter referred to as the ‘Parties’,

CONSIDERING the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 170 thereof, in conjunction
with the first sentence of Article 300(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,

CONSIDERING Decision No 1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 concerning
the sixth framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration
projects, contributing to the creation of the European Research Area and to innovation (2002-2006) (1);

CONSIDERING the importance of science and technology for their economic and social development and the reference
which was made in Article 43 of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European
Communities and their Member States, on the one hand, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the other hand, signed on
25 June 2001;

WHEREAS the Community and Egypt undertook common research, technological development and demonstration
activities, in various fields of common interest, and whereas it would be to their mutual advantage were each one of
them to take part in the activities of research and development of the other, on a reciprocity basis;

WISHING to establish a formal framework for cooperation in scientific and technological research which would make it
possible to extend and intensify cooperative efforts in the fields of common interest and to encourage the use of the
results of this cooperation considering their mutual economic and social interests;

WISHING to open the European Research Area to non-member countries, and in particular to the Mediterranean partner
countries,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Scope and principles

1.
The Parties shall encourage, develop and facilitate coop-
erative activities between the Community and Egypt in fields of
common interest where they are pursuing research and devel-
opment activities in science and technology.

Cooperative activities shall be conducted on the basis of

2.
the following principles:

— promotion of a knowledge-based society to foster the social

and economic development of both Parties;

— mutual benefit based on an overall balance of advantages;

— reciprocal access to the activities of research programmes

and projects undertaken by each Party;

— timely exchange of
erative activities;

information which may affect coop-

(1) OJ L 232, 29.8.2002, p. 1. Decision as amended by Decision

No 786/2004/EC (OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 7).

— appropriate exchange and protection of intellectual property

rights.

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Article 2

Means of cooperation

— reciprocal access to scientific and technologic information in

the scope of this cooperation,

1.
Legal entities established in Egypt, as defined in Annex I,
including either physical persons or private or public moral
persons, shall participate in indirect actions of the Community’s
Framework programme for research and technological devel-
opment and demonstration activities (hereinafter referred to as
the ‘EC Framework programme’) under the same conditions as
those applicable to legal entities of Member States of
the
European Union, subject to the terms and conditions established
by, or referred to in, Annexes I and II.

2.
the
Legal entities established in the Member States of
Community shall participate in Egypt’s research programmes
and projects
the EC
equivalent
Framework programme under the same conditions as those
applicable to legal entities of Egypt, subject to the terms and
conditions established by, or referred to in, Annexes I and II.

to those of

in themes

Cooperation may also take the following forms and

3.
means:

— regular discussions on the guidelines and priorities for
research policies and planning in Egypt and the Community,

— any other modality adopted by the EC-Egypt Joint Scientific
and Technical Cooperation Committee, as defined in Article
4, and deemed to be in accordance with the policies and
procedures applicable in both Parties.

Article 3

Enhancement of cooperation

1.
The Parties shall make every effort, within the framework
of their applicable legislation, to facilitate the free movement
and residence of research workers participating in the activities
covered by this Agreement and to facilitate cross-border
movement of goods intended for use in such activities.

2. Where, in accordance with its own rules, the Community
unilaterally grants funding to a legal entity of Egypt partici-
pating in a Community indirect action, Egypt shall ensure
that no charge or levy is imposed upon that transaction.

— discussions on cooperation prospects and development,

Management of the Agreement

Article 4

— timely provision of information concerning the implemen-
tation of programmes and research projects of Egypt and of
the Community, and concerning the results of work
undertaken within the framework of this Agreement,

— joint meetings,

— visits and exchanges of research workers, engineers and

technicians, including for training purposes,

— exchanges and sharing of equipment and materials,

— regular and sustained contacts between programme or

project managers of Egypt and the Community,

— participation of
workshops,

experts

in seminars,

symposia

and

— exchanges of

information on practices,

to cooperation under

laws, regulations,
this

and programmes
Agreement,

relevant

EC-Egypt Joint Scientific and Technological Cooperation
Committee

1.
The coordination and facilitation of activities under this
Agreement shall be accomplished on behalf of Egypt by the
Academy of Scientific Research and Technology and on behalf
of the Community by the services of the Commission of the
Framework
European Communities
programme, acting as executive agents of the Parties (hereinafter
referred to as ‘Executive Agents’).

charge

the

of

in

2.
The Executive Agents shall establish a joint committee
called ‘EC-Egypt Joint Scientific and Technological Cooperation
Committee’
(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Joint Committee’),
whose functions shall include:

— ensuring, evaluating and reviewing the implementation of
this Agreement, as well as amending the Annexes thereto
or adopting new ones to take into consideration devel-
opments in the Parties’ scientific policies, subject to the
fulfilment by each of the Parties of its internal procedures
for that purpose,

— research and technological development training,

— identifying, on an annual basis, potential sectors where
cooperation should be developed and improved,
and
examining any measure to that end,

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— regularly discussing the future orientations and priorities of
research policies and research planning in Egypt and the
Community and the prospects
future cooperation
within this Agreement.

for

This Agreement shall enter into force when the Parties
2.
have notified each other of the completion of their internal
procedures for its conclusion. Pending the completion by the
Parties of their internal procedures for its conclusion, the Parties
shall provisionally apply this Agreement upon its signature.

The Joint Committee, which shall be composed of repre-
its rules of

the Executive Agents, shall adopt

3.
sentatives of
procedure.

4.
The Joint Committee shall meet at least once a year, alter-
nately in the Community and in Egypt. Extraordinary meetings
shall be held at the request of one or other of the Parties. The
conclusions and recommendations of the Joint Committee will
be sent for information to the Association Committee of the
Euro-Mediterranean Agreement between the European Union
and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Article 5

Financing

it

Should one Party notify the other that it will not conclude the
Agreement,
is hereby mutually agreed that projects and
activities launched under this provisional application and that
are still in progress at the time of the abovementioned notifi-
cation shall
the
conditions laid down in this Agreement.

completion under

continue until

their

Either of the Parties may terminate this Agreement at any

3.
time upon 12 months’ notice.

Projects and activities in progress at the time of termination of
this Agreement shall continue until their completion under the
conditions laid down in this Agreement.

The reciprocal participations in research activities under this
Agreement shall be set according to the conditions defined in
Annex I and shall be subject to legislation, regulations, policies
and conditions of implementation of the programmes in force
on the territory of each Party.

Should one of the Parties decide to amend its research
4.
programmes and projects referred to in Article 1(1),
that
Party’s Executive Agent shall notify the other Party’s Executive
Agent of the precise content of the amendments in question.

Article 6

Dissemination and use of the results and information

The dissemination and use of the achieved and/or exchanged
results as well as those of information, management, allocation
and exercise of intellectual property rights resulting from the
research activities undertaken under this Agreement shall be
subject to the conditions provided for in Annex II.

Article 7

Final provisions

Annexes I and II shall

1.
Agreement.

form an integral part of

this

this Agreement may be

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of
paragraph 2,
terminated under
mutually agreed conditions should either of the Parties notify
the
the other within one month after
amendments
its
intention to terminate this Agreement.

the adoption of
subparagraph of

referred to in the first

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand,

to the
5.
territories
in which the Treaty establishing the European
Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in
that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Arab
Republic of Egypt. This shall not prevent the conduct of coop-
erative activities on the high seas,
in outer space or in the
territory of third countries, in accordance with international law.

All questions or disputes related to the interpretation or imple-
mentation of
shall be settled by mutual
agreement of the Parties.

this Agreement

This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the
6.
Danish, Dutch, English,
French, German, Greek,
Finnish,
Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Arabic languages,
each of these texts being equally authentic.

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Hecho en El Cairo, el veintiuno de junio de dos mil cinco.

Udfærdiget i Kairo den enogtyvende juni to tusind og fem.

Geschehen zu Kairo am einundzwanzigsten Juni zweitausendfünf.
Έγινε στο Κάιρο, στις είκοσι μία Ιουνίου δύο χιλιάδες πέντε.

Done at Cairo on the twenty-first day of June in the year two thousand and five.

Fait au Caire, le vingt-et-un juin deux mille cinq.

Fatto a il Cairo, addì ventuno giugno duemilacinque.

Gedaan te Kaïro, de eenentwintigste juni tweeduizend vijf.

Feito no Cairo, em vinte e um de Junho de dois mil e cinco.

Tehty Kairossa kahdentenakymmenentenäensimmäisenä päivänä kesäkuuta vuonna kaksituhattaviisi.

Som skedde i Kairo den tjugoförsta juni tjugohundrafern.

Por la Comunidad Europea
For Det Europæiske Fællesskab
Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft
Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα

For the European Community
Pour la Communauté européenne
Per la Comunità europea
Voor de Europese Gemeenschap
Pela Comunidade Europeia
Euroopan yhteisön puolesta
För Europeiska gemenskapen

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Por el Gobierno de la República Árabe de Egipto
På vegne af Den Arabiske Republik Egyptens regering
Für die Regierung der Arabischen Republik Ägypten
Για την Κυβέρνηση της Αραβικής Δημοκρατίας της Αιγύπτου

For the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Pour le gouvernement de la République arabe d’Égypte
Per il Governo della Repubblica araba di Egitto
Voor de regering van de Arabische Republiek Egypte
Pelo Governo da República Árabe do Egipto
Egyptin arabitasavallan hallituksen puolesta
För Arabrepubliken Egyptens regering

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ANNEX I

Terms and conditions for the participation of legal entities of Member States of the European Union and of
Egypt

For the purpose of this Agreement, a legal entity means any natural person, or any legal person created under the
national law of its place of establishment or under Community law or international law, having legal personality and
being entitled to have rights and obligations of any kind in its own name.

I. TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF LEGAL ENTITIES OF EGYPT IN INDIRECT ACTIONS OF

THE EC FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME

1.
Participation of legal entities established in Egypt in indirect actions of the EC Framework programme shall
follow the conditions laid down by the European Parliament and the Council according to Article 167 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community.

In addition, legal entities established in Egypt may participate in indirect actions undertaken according to Article 164
of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

2.
The Community may grant funding to legal entities established in Egypt participating in indirect actions referred
to in paragraph 1 under the terms and conditions laid down by the decision taken by the European Parliament and the
Council according to Article 167 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the European Community’s
Financial Regulations and any other applicable Community legislation.

3.
A contract concluded by the Community with any legal entity of Egypt in order to perform an indirect action
shall provide for controls and audits to be carried out by, or under the authority of, the Commission or the Court of
Auditors of the European Communities.

In a spirit of cooperation and mutual interest, the relevant authorities of Egypt shall provide any reasonable and
feasible assistance as may be necessary or helpful under the circumstances to perform such controls and audits.

II. TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF LEGAL ENTITIES OF MEMBER STATES OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION IN EGYPTIAN RESEARCH PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS

1.
Any legal entity established in the Community, created under the national law of one of the Member States of
the European Union or under Community law, may participate in projects of Egyptian research and development
programmes jointly with Egyptian legal entities.

2.
Subject to paragraph 1 and to Annex II, the rights and obligations of legal entities established in the Community
participating in Egyptian research projects within research and development programmes, and the terms and
conditions applicable for the submission and evaluation of proposals and for the granting and conclusion of
contracts in such projects shall be subject to Egyptian laws, regulations and government directives governing the
operation of research and development programmes, as applicable to Egyptian legal entities and assuring equitable
treatment, taking into account the nature of the cooperation between Egypt and the Community in this field.

Funding of legal entities established in the Community participating in Egyptian research projects within research and
development programmes shall be subject to the Egyptian laws, regulations and government directives governing the
operation of research and development programmes, as applicable to non-Egyptian legal entities participating in
Egyptian research projects within research and development programmes.

Egypt shall regularly inform the Community and Egyptian legal entities of current Egyptian programmes and

3.
participation opportunities for legal entities established in the Community.

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ANNEX II

Principles on the allocation of intellectual property rights

I. APPLICATION

For the purposes of this Agreement, ‘intellectual property’ shall have the meaning given in Article 2 of the Convention
establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation, done at Stockholm on 14 July 1967.

For the purposes of this Agreement, knowledge shall mean the results, including information, whether or not they can
be protected, as well as copyrights or rights pertaining to such information following applications for, or the issue of,
patents, designs, plant varieties, supplementary protection certificates or similar forms of protection.

II.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF LEGAL ENTITIES OF THE PARTIES

Each Party shall ensure that the intellectual property rights of legal entities established in the other Party
1.
participating in activities carried out pursuant to this Agreement and the related rights and obligations arising
from such a participation are consistent with the relevant international conventions that are applicable to the
Parties,
including the TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property Rights admi-
nistered by the World Trade Organisation) as well as the Berne Convention (Paris Act 1971) and the Paris Convention
(Stockholm Act 1967).

2.
Legal entities established in Egypt participating in an indirect action of the EC Framework programme shall have
the same rights and obligations on intellectual property as those of legal entities established in the Community, under
the conditions laid down by the decision taken by the European Parliament and the Council according to Article 167
of the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in the contract concluded with the Community accordingly,
such rights and obligations being in compliance with paragraph 1.

3.
Legal entities established in the Community participating in Egyptian research programmes or projects shall have
the same rights and obligations on intellectual property as those of legal entities established in Egypt participating in
such research programmes or projects, such rights and obligations being in compliance with paragraph 1.

III. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES

Except if otherwise specifically agreed by the Parties, the following rules shall apply to knowledge generated by

1.
the Parties in the course of activities carried out within Article 2(2) of this Agreement:

(a) The Party generating such knowledge shall be the owner of that knowledge. Where their respective share of the

work cannot be ascertained, they shall have joint ownership of such knowledge.

(b) The Party owning that knowledge shall grant access rights on it to the other Party for carrying out activities

referred to in Article 2(2) of this Agreement. Such access rights shall be granted on a royalty-free basis.

Unless otherwise specifically agreed by the Parties, the following rules shall apply to scientific literary works of

2.
the Parties:

(a) In cases where a Party publishes scientific and technical data,

information and results, by means of journals,
articles, reports, books, including video and software, arising and relating to activities carried out pursuant to this
Agreement, a worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free licence shall be granted to the other Party to
translate, reproduce, adapt, transmit and publicly distribute such works.

(b) All copies of data and information, protected by copyright, that have to be publicly distributed and prepared
under this section shall indicate the names of the author(s) of the work unless an author explicitly declines to be
named. They shall also bear a clearly visible acknowledgement of the cooperative support of the Parties.

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Unless otherwise specifically agreed by the Parties, the following rules shall apply to undisclosed information of

3.
the Parties:

(a) When communicating to the other Party information relating to activities carried out pursuant to this Agreement,
each Party shall identify the information it wishes to remain undisclosed through confidential insignia or legends.

(b) The receiving Party may, under its own responsibility, communicate undisclosed information to bodies or persons

under its authority for the specific purposes of implementing this Agreement.

(c) With the prior written consent of the Party providing undisclosed information, the receiving Party may disse-
minate such undisclosed information more widely than otherwise permitted in paragraph (b). The Parties shall
cooperate in developing procedures for requesting and obtaining prior written consent for such wider dissemi-
nation, and each Party shall provide such approval to the extent permitted by its domestic policies, regulations and
laws.

(d) Non-documentary undisclosed or other confidential

information provided in seminars and other meetings
between representatives of the Parties arranged under this Agreement, or information arising from the attachment
of staff, use of facilities or indirect actions, shall remain confidential when the recipient of such undisclosed or
other confidential or privileged information was made aware of the confidential character of the information
communicated at the time such communication was made, pursuant to paragraph (a).

(e) Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that undisclosed information which it receives under paragraphs (a) and (d) is
controlled as provided for in this Agreement. If one of the Parties becomes aware that it will be, or may be
reasonably expected to become, unable to meet the non-dissemination provisions laid down in paragraphs (a) and
(d), it shall immediately inform the other Party. The Parties shall thereafter consult to define an appropriate course
of action.