Reinhold Brender, Chargé d'Affaires a.i.

Remarks at Closure Event of EU-funded Twinning Project

 

"Strengthening the institutional capacity of the Egyptian Accreditation Council"

 

30 January 2017, Hotel Grand Nile Towers, Akhenaton Hall

 

 

 

 

 

Distinguished representatives of the Egyptian Government,

Esteemed chairman of the Egyptian Accreditation Council,

Representatives for German and Italian administrations involved in the twinning programme, fellow representatives of EU member states,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honour and pleasure to participate this morning on behalf of the European Union at the closing ceremony of a highly successful twinning project.

 

This project has been implemented by the Egyptian Accreditation Council and counterparts in Germany and Italy under the skilful guidance of the German Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of International Cooperation.

Engineer El Desouky has already spoken so comprehensively and diligently about the twinning project and its achievements, that I will focus today more generally on EU - Egypt cooperation.

 

[EU-Egypt financial cooperation – state of play]

 

The EU not only is Egypt's main trading partner and first foreign investor, it also is one of Egypt's key development partners.

EU cooperation with Egypt amounts to more than EUR 1.1 billion in ongoing aid commitments, which are provided exclusively in grants.

 

It is not only the volume of EU aid to Egypt that reflects the very advanced and diverse and political, economic and cultural ties between the EU and Egypt and their peoples.

 

The quality and relevance of our cooperation also contributes with very concrete action and tangible results to the development and well-being of Egyptians.

 

Almost half of the more than EUR 1.1 billion in EU grants has been allocated to provide key support to a sector that we consider of particular importance for the future of this country and its people: Social, Human and Economic Development.

 

There are several lines of action within this strategic sector, including health, education, employment and local development.

 

All our programmes have been designed to ensure a direct positive impact on the life of Egyptians. For instance, EU cooperation helps hundred thousands of Egyptian children to be able to attend schools and receive education.

 

Our support programmes in rural development assist around 40,000 farmers and their families in improving their livelihood.

Over 40% of our grants contribute to improving the country's infrastructure and its environment, mainly by supporting strategic investment projects in the areas of water management and irrigation, energy, in particular clean energy, and transport.

 

Many of our operations in these areas combine EU grants with loans of European and International Financial Institutions as well as local contributions.

 

These projects are called "Blending operations" and have allowed us to raising an additional EUR 2.33 billion in loans to support large-scale investment programmes in Egypt.

Blending projects deliver very concrete and measurable benefits to a sizeable share of the Egyptian population. By way of example:

• 1.5 million Egyptian households in the energy sector
• 8.5 million people in the water sector
• 1.3 million people in the transport sector
• 2.2 million people in the area of solid waste management
• 270,000 direct beneficiaries in the field of sustainable housing

A substantial part of the EU aid portfolio covers cooperation initiatives in the areas of good governance, institution building, justice, public administration reform, gender equality, and human rights.

I believe that working with Egypt in these important and sensitive areas demonstrates the maturity and universality of EU-Egyptian cooperation and of EU-Egyptian relations as a whole.

[Perspectives]

Every year, the EU is allocating new funding for its cooperation with Egypt in the framework of the "Annual Action Programmes" for Egypt.

 

The recently concluded Annual Action Programme for 2016 includes new initiatives in strategic fields like water and sanitation, inclusive growth and job creation, and women's rights.

 

Until now, our new annual cooperation projects with Egypt have been based on the Action Plan of the EU-Egypt Association Agreement.

 

The recently reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy, in a joint effort with the Government of Egypt has led to an agreement in principle on "Partnership Priorities". They define the key areas of both our broader bilateral relations as well as our financial cooperation.

 

• Moreover, these priorities should also better reflect our mutual interests and ensure a higher degree of joined ownership.

 

The Partnership Priority negotiations represented a unique opportunity to foster the quality, relevance and impact of cooperation programmes between the EU and Egypt.

 

After this brief but still fairly complete overview of our cooperation with Egypt, I want to draw your attention to the great variety and diversity of EU cooperation initiatives, partners and modalities with Egypt.

 

Independently of the amounts involved or areas covered, I want to emphasise that all our projects also have one important aspect in common:

 

They allow people, communities and institutions from the EU and from Egypt to come together in order to achieve their shared goals in a spirit of collaboration and mutual respect.

 

It is this spirit of collaboration and mutual respect that we want to celebrate here today at the closure of the successful partnership of EGAC with its counterparts in Germany and Italy.

 

This partnership in the field of accreditation is an important contribution to deepening and .

The twinning project has paved the way towards an alignment of the Egyptian legal framework as well as its application with that of the European Union.

 

Once this alignment is fully achieved, products which are certified to be compliant with EU quality standards and technical requirements by EGAC accredited laboratories and conformity assessment bodies will .

 

This will create .

Accreditation being the crown of a national quality infrastructure, it is the more sophisticated and up-to international standards services of EGAC.

 

Through sister twinning initiatives in metrology, technical standards and conformity assessment we are which are responsible for these respective functions

 

These include the National Institute for Standards and Metrology as well as the Egyptian Organisation for Standardisation and Conformity Assessment.

 

In addition, we have made a solid available to the His Excellency Minister Kabil to him and his team in the .

 

Progress in this important policy area will greatly , hopefully allowing us to conclude mutual recognition agreements, so called ACAA Agreements, in the near future.

 

Distinguished guests, while thanking you for your attention, I would like to once more warmly congratulate all partners involved in this important twinning programme for a job well done!