Seminar
Details
Seminar Report
"The Legal Aspects of the Egyptian - European Partnership Agreement"
Cairo, FEPS, 15 May 2003.
The International Law Forum, Faculty of Economics and Polidcal Science, Cairo University - in Cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Cairo - organised a seminar on "The legal Aspects of the Egyptian -European
partnership Agreement". The Seminar was organised on Thursday, 15 May 2003, auditorium No.5, FEPS, honoured by Dr. Michael Lange the representative of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Cairo, and Dr. Vitani representative of the European Commission, Egypt.
The Seminar was attended by a distinguished group of Academicians, Diplomats, experts who are mainly concerned with partnership Agreements in the field of International law and International relation, as well as a group of press men and media and postgraduate students interested in the subject of the seminar.
The program of the seminar included three main sessions preceded by the inaugural session and followed by a panel discussion highlighting the prospects of the agreement.
The inaugural session started with a speech delivered by Dr. Abmed Abdel Wanis, Director of the international Law Forum, in which he welcomed the participants and appreciated the cooperation and the support delivered by Konrad Adenauer Foundation represented in Dr. Lange. Dr. Wanis also reviewed the main items of the program or the seminar and
the papers to be presented.
In his speech, Dr. Lange emphasized the importance of holding the seminar, pointing to the partnership Agreement as a good means for consolidating the Egyptian -European Cooperation already existing between the two parties in
different fields of their mutual relations.
Dr. Vitani shared Dr. Lange in confirming the importance of the partnership Agreement calling for more academic cooperation for the sake of elaborating on
that agreement.
Emphasizing the importance of the seminar, Dr. Kamal Al Menoufy, Dean of the Faculty, pointed out the difficulties and the challenges raised by the partnership Agreement in the domestic domain of the parties concerned, particularly in relation to the problems of human rights in general, and unemployment as well as illegal immigration in particular.
In the First session two papers were presented around the motives and goals underlying the conclusion of the Egyptian -European Agreement of which the first - Dr. Ahmed Ghoneim - dealt with the Egyptian -European Economic
relations in historical perspective, while the other one - Dr. Zeinab Abdelazim - explained the motives and goals underlying the Agreement. The commentary on the papers focused on the debate around Politics, Economics and Security, denoting to the socio-politics in relation to the European party while stressing on the economic goals as to the Egyptian one.
As to the Second session which rounded about the legal content of the partnership Agreement, Dr. H. Atlam analyzed the rights and the obligations dictated by the Agreement as far as Egypt is concerned while Dr. A. Alashal dealt with the other face of the coin elaborating on the rights and obligations endured by the European party in Accordance with the Agreement.
In their Commentation, Dr. S. Amer and Dr. H. Gomaa analyzed the legal nature or the Agreement as a frame - Agreement in its most parts to be detailed through negotiations- into mutual concrete and well-defined legal obligations.
The Commentators added that the articles of the Agreement are balanced and they constitute compromise of a willingly - negotiated work.
Three main papers were presented in the third session focusing - in general- on the enforcement of the partnership Agreement. Dr. A. Wanis dealt with enforcing the Agreement in the Egyptian Domain, while Dr. M. Shawky focused on its enforcement in the European Domain. The two papers elaborated on the mechanisms according to and the limits through which the Agreement is to be applied in the domestic domain of the parties concerned.
Dr. A. Rashidi, in the third paper, pointed out the rules and the mechanisms upon and through which the disputes relating to the application an the interpretation of the Agreement can be peacefully settled. In this regard negotiation and arbitration are means in point.
The panel discussion with Ambassador G. Al Bayoumi - Dr. H. Nafaa and Dr. A. Ashra dealt with the pros and the cons or the Egyptian - European partnership.
The discussion reassured the balancing of rights and duties inferred by the agreement. If Egypt is deemed to be security politically overloaded, it would surely get benefit in the economic perspective. Moreover, Ambassador Bayoumi
pointed out the fact that the two parties can escape the GATT commitments in relation to the most- favoured -State clause, where Article 24 of the GATT-Agreement exempts the regional groupings from being abide to the said principle.
The seminar was concluded with a final commentation in which Dr. Wanis summarized the general trends and conclusions, rethanking Dr. Lange for the support delivered by Konrad Adenauer Foundation for organizing the seminar
and wishing for more cooperation between the foundation and International Law Forum.
