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The role of the Egyptian-European Partnership in the
consolidation of democracy and human rights.

The preamble of the Barcelona Declaration (1995) on which the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was founded demonstrates the particular importance that the Partnership gives to democracy and human rights.
It states that "the realisation of security and stability in the Mediterranean region demands the strengthening of democracy and protection of human rights.
" The bilateral agreements signed by the European Union and southern-Mediterranean countries expound the same principles.
The implementation of the Egyptian-European Partnership raises numerous questions the most important of which are:

Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Investors.
Doctor Moustafa Kamel as-Sayyed, Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Countries,
Doctor Amru Hamzawi, Deputy Director of Cairo University's Centre for European Studies.
Doctor Moustafa as-Saeed, former Minister of the Economy.
Doctor Rida al-Adl, former Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams University.
Doctor Fadya Abdel Salem, Professor of International Economics at Ain Shams University.

1) The speakers participated in two theme-based discussions, both of which were chaired by Doctor Moustafa as-Saeed.
During the first discussion, concerned with democracy and human rights, the importance of consolidating and strengthening democracy and fostering a culture of human rights in Egypt was underlined in order that the economic benefits of the Egyptian-European Partnership can be realised.
Equally it was stressed that the issues of democracy and human rights must be raised during the meetings of Egyptian Egyptian-European Partnership institutions and bilateral groups such as the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Association and the Euro-Mediterranean Institute for Cultural Dialogue: democracy and human rights must be on these institutions' agendas.
Of equal importance is increasing European journalistic interest in human rights cases in Egypt.

Democracy: the escape exit Some participants stated that embracing democracy and respecting human will allow Arab countries to emerge from the current crisis afflicting them.
This crisis is engendered by the fact that no real democratic change occurs in Arab countries save for superficial attempts to mask what are essentially authoritarian regimes.
These countries suffer from restricted political party pluralism and rigged elections which prevent the populace from expressing their true electoral wishes.
In comparison, citizens of South American, African and South Asian countries have the opportunity to choose their leaders through the ballot box.
The president of Brazil for example only remains in office for two terms while an individual may only occupy the Mexican presidency once.
In Kenya free elections take place.
Arab countries however, remain strangers to the ballot box.

$120,000,000 for democracy Some participants refused democracy imposed from abroad or though military intervention or through any kind of foreign interference.
They reiterated that reform initiatives currently being imposed on the region are "inadequate" because they disregard the importance of free elections and the peaceful transfer of power and do not seek to establish genuine democratic regimes.
Rather, they seek to install media and ruling regimes which will circulate their propaganda - as occurred with the weapons of mass destruction dossier in Iraq.
Some participants added that foreign countries are aware that any free elections will install Islamic and Nationalist groups in office, an occurrence that these countries obviously refuse to countenance.
Furthermore the seriousness of American efforts to establish democracy in the region were questioned in view of the fact that the US devoted $60 billion to wage war on Iraq but only $120 million to establish democracy in Arab countries.
Some participants stressed that the countries praised by the US for their democratic processes are far from democratic.
Rather they are clients of the US following its policies.
US calls for education reform, improvement of the situation of women and advancement of the private sector are simply attempts to change Arab opinion of the US.
America's Greater Middle East initiative is a mere extension of Colin Powell's plan launched in 2002 concerned with the promotion of Nato's new initiative.
Joschka Fischer's plan links democratic change with regional stability and the ending of the Arab-Israeli conflict and depends on encouraging reform in Arab countries though economic incentives.
Unlike the US which by virtue of its being a superpower possesses innumerable methods of realising its enterprises, the Europeans have not yet agreed on the means they will use to implement their initiative.

2) In the second discussion concerned with the difficulties of democratic change the participants agreed that Arab countries including Egypt face challenges in effecting real democratic change.
The most prominent difficulties are:

The lack of a grassroots social movement to lead demands for the establishment of democracy. Democracy is essential for the improvement of the current situation in the Arab world.
Arab regimes, through what is known as the "democratic theatre" have skilfully managed to convince Europe and the US that they are implementing real democratic change. The practical reality disproves this since this the Arab regimes remain silent on main questions such as elections and transfer of power.
The cultural challenge of formulating a global message for democratic change and human rights comprehensible internationally. Discussion in parochial language is will not be understood by anyone.

3) The participants stressed the firm link between economic development and democratic change.
Economic development does not only mean an increase in people's income but rather encompasses an improvement of standards of education without making obligatory the existence of a large middle class.
The examples of the experiences in South Korean and Taiwan were quoted where development in these countries has led to the apparition of new social classes and forces which the state has been unable to contain.
These classes have opened the door to democratic change. Real democratic change in these countries would create regimes based on a democratic foundation.

4) The participants noted the necessity of government concern with civil society institutions - in particular rights organisations which represent the principal actors on the international level - as occurs in European countries.
There, governments pay considerable heed to civil society institutions which are a formidable political power.
The participants pointed to the importance of the role assumed by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (established in 1997 on the basis of an initiative created by Southern Mediterranean human rights groups) in the protection and support of human rights norms contained in international human rights instruments and the Barcelona Declaration.
The Network also strives for the establishment of peace, stability and human rights values in the region.
The participants called for the establishment of an Egyptian-European human rights network to support and protect the rights contained in the Egyptian-European Partnership Treaty through an exchange of information, experience and knowledge between Egyptian and European human rights groups.
This will contribute to the narrowing of the North-South gulf between Europe and Egypt in relation to democracy and human rights.
5) The majority of participants affirmed that the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership faces a number of challenges, some of which are:

The ongoing deadlock in the middle eastern peace process and the strategic shortcomings resulting from Israel's striving to realise its military supremacy, its possessing a nuclear capability and its refusal either to assent to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons or to submit to International Atomic Energy Agency regulations.
The effect of this is to create an arms race in the region stemming from neighbouring and less well-armed countries naturally feeling threatened and adjusting their national defence policies accordingly
- especially in the shadow of the tensions prevailing in the region. This situation engenders a lack of stability and an unsuitable environment for economic development and democratic change.
The economic, technological and information gap between the north and south.
While the north calls for the south to open its markets to its manufactured commodities it at the same time closes its own markets to agricultural products from the south.
There is a persistent fear of the Europeans' demands that aid provision be made conditional on structural change happening more quickly.
This has the potential to threaten social peace if its social consequences are not absorbed into the rapid process of change in view of the absence of a strong social security network.
Terrorism. Egypt has called for an international conference to discuss means of combating all aspects of terrorism. In contrast some European countries deal with only certain of its consequences and causes
- such as the problem of terrorism funding.
This incomplete approach addresses only certain aspects of terrorism.
Citizens of Southern Mediterranean countries are not beneficiaries of the principle of freedom of movement to European Union countries.
Connected with this problem is:
The problem of poverty and finding effective means of dealing with it.
Discussions on the Euro
-Mediterranean Partnership should take into account the problem of poverty.
This requires the study of the following:
a) The necessary tools for providing a social treatment for economic problems and poverty through policies establishing a region of free exchange within the framework of the MENA assistance programme.
b) Creation of a common definition of poverty and the preparation of statistics for all countries involved in the Barcelona and Partnership projects.
c) Setting of a common minimum standard permitting human development starting from the understanding of the "Euro-Mediterranean citizen."
d) Creation of an Euro-Mediterranean assembly charged with the creation of joint policies capable of reducing social marginalization in the Mediterranean region.

6) The experience of immigrants from the Southern hemisphere in European countries and their assimilation into these countries.
The problem of cultural interaction in the Mediterranean region lies in the image the region has of the "other" contained in its values and institutions, based on negative past and present experiences.
The establishment of balanced social relations between Mediterranean countries cannot be contemplated if they are not based on an acceptance of cultural pluralism.
In the seminar's closing remarks participants agreed that development cannot exist in the absence of respect for human rights, which itself cannot be realised without real democracy.
The right to development has been recognised as a fundamental human right since the 1940s.
Despite the fact that the respect for human rights does not necessarily guarantee the success of development projects, it is undeniable that societies and individuals must enjoy their human rights if they are to realise a basic standard of their development.
Their absence inevitably impeding or slowing down development, human rights must form an integral part of democracy in theory and practice and in its application of equality and justice.
Because democracy is the framework within which social rights are contained.