First ever EU-Egypt Summit

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, at the first EU-Egypt Summit held in Brussels, European Commission President von der Leyen and Egypt President al-Sisi jointly presented three pivotal agreements. This Summit marks a significant milestone in the deepening of EU-Egypt relations. It builds on the Association Agreement and Strategic & Comprehensive Partnership. These agreements are the key deliverables of the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership (SCP) signed in March 2024 between the EU and Egypt. They will elevate our relations with Egypt as a key and strategic partner and will further boost the implementation of our partnership.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission said: “The EU-Egypt partnership is stronger than ever before. Our shared vision of cooperation and true partnership between Egypt, Europe and the wider Mediterranean is becoming a reality. Today is a testament to the hard work and dedication to achieving this, with our first EU-Egypt summit and the agreements we sign. This is the direct result of the ambitious Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership we signed last year – delivering new investments and concrete opportunities for people and businesses across Egypt and Europe. Our Pact for the Mediterranean keeps this spirit. It’s our offer to Egypt and our other Southern neighbours: Let’s join forces and work together as partners.“

Macro-financial assistance

Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Egypt’s Minister of Ministry of Planning Economic Development and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, presented the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a second macro-financial assistance (MFA) operation to Egypt worth €4 billion. The MFA operations help address Egypt’s external financing needs through loans provided at favourable terms, while also underpinning the delivery of an ambitious reform programme.  

Today’s MoU lays out relevant reforms underpinning Egypt’s ongoing economic stabilisation. These policy actions cover three pillars: promoting macroeconomic stability and resilience; improving the business environment and enhancing Egypt’s competitiveness; while supporting Egypt’s green transition. Together with a first macro-financial loan of €1 billion disbursed in December 2024, the current €4 billion macro-financial assistance operation brings the total to €5 billion, forming the largest part of the overall €7.4 billion EU financial support package for Egypt under the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership.

EU support to the implementation of socio-economic reforms at local level

Commissioner Dubravka Šuica and Minister Al-Mashat signed the Financing Agreement, for an EU contribution of €75 million in grants, which supports key initiatives in Egypt that address socio-economic challenges and promote inclusive growth at local level. The programme will enhance access to basic quality services (health, education, water, sanitation) and complement social safety nets, in particular for women and youth. Economic stability is one of the pillars of the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership between the EU and Egypt.

Horizon Europe

Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva and Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty signed an agreement formalising Egypt’s association to Horizon programme – a significant step forward in research and innovation, opening new avenues for scientific collaboration and technological advancement.

In addition to these three agreements signed, the European Commission announced another three EU financial support operations for 2025. The first one, worth €110.5 million, will advance sustainable development, strengthen economic governance, reinforce technical and vocational education training and boost skills for future jobs. The EU will also support investment projects to support Egypt’s green transition with €50 million via the ‘Neighbourhood Investment Platform’ and accelerate investment mobilisation in Egypt, including through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+). Finally, it will operationalise key EU-funded projects from the €200 million package foreseen under the migration pillar of the SCP.

High-Level Event on Investments, Competitiveness and Innovation

Under the auspices of the Presidents von der Leyen and al-Sisi, the event High-Level Event ‘Implementing the EU–Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership: Accelerating Strategic Investment, Industrial Transformation and Innovation‘took place and brought together top European and Egyptian political and business leaders, development agencies, and the research and innovation community to discuss investments, reforms, competitiveness and innovation. It was organised as a follow-up of the successful EU-Egypt Investment Conference last year and the launch of the EU-Egypt Investment Mechanism in June. It will prepare the ground for the launch of a business and investor roundtable in 2026 to be organised in Cairo.

The full list of the Summit deliverables is available in the Annex of the Joint Statement.

Background

The Joint declaration signed by President von der Leyen and President al-Sisi on 17 March 2024 covers 6 key pillars: (1) political relations; (2) economic stability; (3) trade and investment; (4) migration and mobility; (5) security and (6) demography and human capital, and is underpinned by a €7.4 billion financial and investment support package for 2024-2027 period as announced last year. The package consists of up to €5 billion in loans through two macro-financial assistance operations; €1.8 billion in additional investments to be mobilised in conjunction with European financial institutions under the Economic and Investment Plan; €600 million (out of which €200 million for migration management) to support specific priorities under the Partnership through projects and technical assistance until 2027.