The European Parliament Adopts Reforming Demands of Egyptian Civil Community

The meetings of the European Parliament have witnessed a severe crisis between the European countries and Egypt. The parliament issued a decision which adopted the recommendations of the Egyptian civil society, joining these demands to the on-going negotiations about the policies of the European Neighborhood.

The European Parliament demanded the European Union that the work sheet should include certain obligations upon the Egyptian government to carry out political and democratic reformations in Egypt. The decision also pointed out the necessity of the participation of the civil community in carrying out the work sheet, in addition to setting up a joint subcommittee to monitor the human rights issues.

The decision asserted that the section assigned to democracy and human rights should include some obligations from the Egyptian government to cancel the Emergency Law and to take further steps to stop the torture phenomenon that takes place within prisons, ensure the judicial independence and the freedom to form parties and societies, and support the freedom and the independence of the elections.

These obligations should also encompass reforming all the electoral laws according to the international criteria. Furthermore, the decision called for not hastening in approving the work sheet during the Egyptian European Partnership Meeting supposed to be held in next June, unless it corresponds to the acceptable standards of democracy and human rights.

Dr. Ahmad Fat-hi Surour, the Head of the People’s Assembly failed in preventing the European Parliament from taking such a decision. Surour told the mass media that Egypt does not yield to the orders of anybody, and that both the European Parliament and the European Union are neither competent nor assigned to tackle the issues of Egypt. However, nineteen organizations for human rights in Egypt welcomed the decision of the European Union, calling the government to put it into force during the next negotiations. Moreover, these organizations criticized the announcements of the Head of the People’s Assembly and asserted that they express the Egyptian government’s point of view of.