The EU remains willing to re-launch talks with Egypt on concluding a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The EU ambassador confirmed that the European Union aims to begin negotiations with Egypt on widening the free trade agreement currently in place, clarifying that the conclusion of a DCFTA would be expected to double the current value of commercial trade over the course of the next few years. The talks are likely to resume after the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Relations between the EU and Egypt are currently governed by an Association Agreement, which entered into force on June 1, 2004. The EU-Egypt Association Agreement establishes a free trade area with the elimination of tariffs on industrial products and significant concessions on agricultural products. There is also an agreement in respect of agricultural and fisheries products that entered into force in 2010. A trade dispute settlement mechanism is also in place.

The DCFTA would aim at improving market access opportunities and the investment climate. An agreement if reached would include trade in services, government procurement, competition, intellectual property rights, and investment protection. Negotiations could lead to a gradual integration of Egypt’s economy into the EU single market.