Skip to content
DRAFT OPINION (COM(2024)0461 – C100009/2024 – 2024/0071(COD))

On the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on providing macro-financial assistance to the Arab Republic of Egypt

AFET-PA-765291

Committee on Foreign Affairs · Rapporteur: Tineke Strik

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

This draft opinion amends the proposed decision on macro-financial assistance to Egypt to make human rights, democracy and rule of law central conditions, with benchmarks and reporting. It requires Egypt to show quantitative and substantial human rights improvement since June 2024, and links assistance instalments to democracy, rule of law and human rights conditions. It strengthens monitoring by the Commission and the European External Action Service, with civil society and UN organisations able to contribute, and regular written reports to Parliament.

Committee position. The Committee on Foreign Affairs proposes amendments to integrate human rights, democracy and rule of law as core parts of the macro-financial assistance, with benchmarks, parliamentary scrutiny and transparency.

Key points

  1. The pre-condition for assistance is that Egypt takes concrete and credible steps towards democratic mechanisms, rule of law, and made a quantitative and substantial improvement in human rights since June 2024.
  2. Monitoring of the pre-condition must be transparent, with civil society and UN organisations able to contribute, and the Commission must report regularly in writing to Parliament.
  3. The Memorandum of Understanding must include democracy, rule of law and human rights conditions with clear and measurable benchmarks for each instalment.
  4. The Commission must inform Parliament and the Council of developments, including pre-conditions, and provide relevant documents.
  5. The Union's action should be guided by principles of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and respect for international law, as enshrined in Article 21 TEU.
  6. The Commission must ensure assistance is in line with key principles of external action, as per Article 212 TFEU.
  7. The recital on geopolitical challenges is amended to refer to the situation in the Middle East, not Hamas attacks.
  8. The recital on Egypt's fiscal situation is amended to refer to the situation in the Middle East, not Hamas attacks.
  9. The recital on human rights improvement is amended to say any improvement will have a positive impact on relations.
  10. Conditions in the Memorandum of Understanding must also aim at sustainable development and poverty reduction, and consider democracy, rule of law and human rights priorities.
  11. Release of each instalment requires satisfactory implementation of economic, financial, democracy, rule of law and human rights conditions.
  12. The Commission's report to Parliament and Council must outline concrete steps Egypt has taken towards democratic mechanisms, rule of law, and human rights.

Who is affected

  • Egypt: must meet stricter human rights and democracy conditions to receive macro-financial assistance.
  • The Commission and the European External Action Service: must monitor and report on conditions.
  • Civil society and UN organisations: can contribute to monitoring the pre-condition.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 1 billion: the macro-financial assistance package linked to the June 2024 Memorandum of Understanding.
  • EUR 90 million: threshold above which the examination procedure applies.

Legal basis: Article 21 TEU and Article 212 TFEU