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Overview of the EU's
relations with Egypt
Relations between the European Union and
Egypt are governed by an Association
Agreement. Negotiations between the EU and Egypt for the
conclusion of an Association
Agreement started in 1995 and lasted four and a half years.
Following its signature in June 2001, the Association Agreement was
ratified by the Egyptian People’s Assembly and all the EU Member States.
The Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2004.
In order to speed up the implementation of
the Association Agreement, an exchange of letters was signed between
Egypt and the EU to allow the Trade provisions of the Association Agreement to enter into force as
from 1 January 2004.
From 1977 to mid-2004, EU/Egypt bilateral
relations were governed by a Co-operation Agreement, which provides for
economic co-operation between the parties and establishes provisions for
non-reciprocal trade liberalisation and market access. Under its
provisions, Egypt enjoys free market access for its industrial exports
to the EU, while EU exports of industrial products enjoy the Most
Favoured Nation treatment. On agriculture, following the 1987 Protocol,
Egypt enjoys preferential treatment on access to the EU market by means
of tariff quotas and export calendars for its traditional flows. EU
exports of agricultural products take place under MFN treatment. In the
framework of the economic co-operation under the Co-operation Agreement,
four financial Protocols have provided EC funding for programmes and
projects in Egypt until the mid 90’s.
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