EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH THE MASHREQ COUNTRIES AND THE GULF STATES 5th Interparliamentary Meeting European Parliament - Egypt 7-11 October 2001 Cairo REPORT FROM THE CHAIRMAN, Mr Michel DARY . Introduction In accordance with the work programme of the Delegation for relations with the countries of the Mashrek and the Gulf States approved by the Conference of Presidents for the 2001 budgetary exercise, the delegation decided to send a working group to Egypt from 7-11 October 01. The working group was presided by Mr Michel Dary Chair of the delegation for relations with the countries of the Mashrek and the Gulf States. Other members included Mr Sami Nair, Mme Boumedienne- Thiery, and Mr Hugues Martin rapporteur on the Egypt - EU Association Agreement. In accordance with the decision of the Conference of Presidents of the 4 October, to increase the number of participants, Mr Vitiano Gemelli ( EPP, IT) joined the group. The Conference of Presidents, further decided to follow the guide lines indicated by the Head of the Commission's office in Cairo concerning security and limited the working group's visit to Cairo. II. Political questions In view of the international climate following the events in New York of the 11 September 01, the delegation was unable to meet with the Prime Minister of the Egyptian Republic as originally planned. The prevailing international situation and the war against terrorism launched by the United States of America and its actions in Afghanistan which had commenced on Sunday 7th October, dominated the political discussions that the working group held with its Egyptian counterparts. In the discussions with the all the Egyptian members of FdR 455091 1 PE 309.590 Parliament and members of the executive, the terrorist acts of the 11 September were unequivocally condemned. It was pointed out that the Egyptian Administration had been calling for international action against terrorism for a considerable time, however it was only since the dreadful events in New York that serious co-ordinated international action was being taken. Some Egyptian parliamentarians appeared to resent this fact. Nevertheless there could be no doubt of the Egyptian government's support for the international coalition that the USA was attempting to construct. The European delegation was informed of the proposal by President Mubarak to convene an international Conference on terrorism and expressed support of the idea. It was necessary for all to have a clear definition of terrorism and all agreed that a clear distinction had to be made between wilful terrorist acts and justifiable resistance. It was made abundantly clear to all that there was a pressing need for the causes of terrorism to be addressed. It was clearly insufficient merely to take repressive action. All the Egyptian interlocutors underlined the need for Europe to play a leading role in tempering USA action and ensuring that it did not escalate into uncontrollable proportions. It was also clearly necessary for all to stress that the actions that were being undertaken were not the beginnings of a war against Islam or constituted a clash of civilisations. Their purpose was and had to be seen to be the eradication of terrorism and the global respect of the rule of law. All agreed that Islam was a peaceful religion and should not be confused with fundamentalism which, whatever its religious or philosophical roots, led to disaster. During its discussions with the members of the People' Assembly (Lower House), the delegation was made aware of the difference of approach of the Egyptian executive and Egyptian public opinion. Public opinion, which had at one time been very pro-western, had changed. The people were frustrated by the lack of impartiality the USA had shown in its dealings with the Israel - Palestine conflict and in the way the Iraqi people were being punished whilst Israel was allowed to get away with murder. A profound hatred of unfair American policy had engendered a hatred of all that was American. The need for Europe to play a more important political role in Middle East politics, in line with its economic power, was stressed on many occasions. If terrorism was to be defeated and Egyptian, indeed Arab public opinion was to share in the effort to fight terror, a real solution to the Palestinian problem, which embraced the creation of a viable Palestinian State, had to be found rapidly. There was in the Egyptian view an urgent need to send international observers to the occupied territories in order to stop the violence. During discussions with the Interior Minister General Habib El Adly, the delegation learnt that there was a real fear that if the military actions were extended into other Muslim countries, or if civilians were injured or killed, there could be considerable unrest in Egypt. The Minister underlined the difficulty Egypt had faced in trying to extradite convicted terrorists who had been granted political asylum in Europe. The problem was particularly acute in the United Kingdom, he pointed out. He expressed the hope that things would now improve and the real co-operation in the fight against terrorism would be the order of the day. Mme Boumedienne stressed the difficulty European nations had in extraditing people to countries which still had the death penalty. To the fear expressed FdR 455091 2 PE 309.590 by the European delegation, that the State of Emergency which exists in Egypt could lead to abuses of human rights, the Minister explained that human rights abuses were systematically examined by parliament who had set up a high level committee on human rights. The Emergency law was not, he underlined unconstitutional. It had been adopted in order to deal with exceptional cases and was invoked in cases where the security of the State required it. III. Economic questions: The delegation was informed that the general economic situation in Egypt was suffering not only from the restructuring and privatisation programme that was necessary to meet the requirements of the Association agreement and the WTO but also from the effects of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict. The recent events in the USA and the launch of the war against terrorism were already having a drastic effect on tourism. Many parliamentarians, of both pro-government and opposition parties, underlined the difficulties that Egypt had encountered in the long negotiations that had been necessary before the agreement could be signed. The necessity of privatisation and the restructuring of the economy was clear to government and opposition. However 47 major industries were still centrally controlled for the fear of privatising at too fast a rate and worsening the already high unemployment was slowing down the implementation of reform. The Economy was still largely based on rent from the Suez Canal, payments made by the Egyptian Diaspora and petrol. It was clear that this could not be sustained as a long-term strategy. As far as the Association Agreement with the EU was concerned all the Egyptian politicians pointed out that the present terms of the EU association Agreement were unfavourable to Egypt. Egyptian industry would find it hard to compete in an open market. Public opinion was largely against privatisation as there was a justified fear that this would aggravate an already difficult labour market. It was also pointed out by both parliamentarians and the Minister of Economic Affairs Mr Boutros Gali that whereas agriculture and horticulture were the two areas, which could bring immediate benefit to the Egyptian economy, these were precisely the areas where access to the European market was severely restricted. All expressed the hope that these two domains could be reviewed within a short period. In discussions with the Egyptian Liberal party (opposition), it was pointed out that most of those who took part in terrorist movements were in the 18 - 35 year's age group. This group suffered the most from the high unemployment rate. If terrorism was to be defeated it was necessary to answer the needs of the poor and unemployed who felt cut off from society. The delegation had the opportunity of meeting with the Management team of the Egyptian Social fund. The Social fund is a government project co-financed with the European Union. The social fund 's purpose is to create employment opportunities by participating and organising the financing of industrial 'start-ups. Over the past seven years 750.000 jobs have been created. The system is not based on the granting of direct grants but by guaranteeing low interest loans granted by the private banking sector. The Social fund then, helps would-be entrepreneurs draw up project plans and financial dossiers for banks. It is particularly active in Upper Egypt but it is active in all parts of FdR 455091 3 PE 309.590 the country. At the end of the meeting, the delegation was taken to visit a small factory making machines used for the extrusion and moulding of plastic. The company had been entirely financed with the aid of the social fund and had successfully created a number of jobs requiring a wide range of skills. The delegation expressed approval of this initiative, which was seen as a positive manner to address the problems of unemployment caused by economic restructuring. However members expressed doubt as to whether these small young companies would be able to compete once the full impact of the Association Agreement hit the Egyptian Economy. IV. Human rights including women's rights The discussions the delegation held with members of the Egyptian establishment did not show much evolution in the general approach Egypt deals with these issues. Egyptian pro- government parliamentarians and ministers pointed out that the continuation of the State of Emergency which was recently prolonged for a further three years and has been in place since 1967, had been approved by parliament in accordance with the Constitution.