The President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, representing the EU, met with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi at the first ever EU-Egypt summit. This was also the first bilateral summit with any country in the Middle East and North Africa region. Egypt is a key strategic partner in view of its essential role in promoting stability through peace initiatives and conflict resolution efforts in the Middle East region. President Costa said: “This meeting marks a significant milestone in our relationship. It shows how strong our partnership is.”

The summit was an opportunity to further deepen EU-Egypt bilateral relations and their political and economic partnership, with the aim of fostering the parties’ shared stability, peace and prosperity. The leaders underlined their shared ambition to cooperate on common global and regional matters, including the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, multilateralism, trade, migration and security. The leaders issued a joint statement at the end of the summit.

In March 2024, the EU and Egypt signed a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership that further elevates their relationship. This partnership between the EU and Egypt is accompanied by a financial and investment package of €7.4 billion for the 2024‑2027 period. In December 2024, the EU disbursed the first €1 billion in short-term macro-financial assistance. The Memorandum of Understanding underpinning the second package of €4 billion, which focuses on economic stability and resilience, competitiveness and green transition, was signed in the margins of the summit.  Other agreements were also signed:

• Egypt’s association with Horizon Europe
• a joint statement on a financing agreement on socio-economic development

• Horizon Europe (background information)

The EU and Egypt reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the global green transition and to cooperate in the field of digital transformation. Through their partnership, the EU and Egypt will continue to promote innovation, the transition to a resource-efficient, circular economy and environmentally friendly practices.

On energy, the EU and Egypt underlined their common strategic interest in the rapid transition towards low-emission and climate-resilient economies, in order to unleash the huge renewable energy potential, particularly in solar and wind. The EU and Egypt will also work together to mobilise investments in trusted and secure digital connectivity and data infrastructures, and to advance cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data economy and digital skills.

The EU and Egypt leaders welcomed the agreement reached on the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan to end the Gaza conflict put forward by President Trump, as well as the outcome of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit for Peace held on 13 October.  They called on all sides to continue working on the implementation of the Plan and commended Egypt’s mediation efforts in this regard.

The EU commended Egypt for hosting millions of refugees and asylum seekers. The EU and Egypt will:

• continue supporting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, as well as host communities in full respect of international law and in line with national frameworks
• cooperate closely, with a view to creating structured, fair and regular migration
• further engage in addressing the root causes of irregular migration

Security cooperation is a major part of the EU-Egypt partnership. In this context, the leaders agreed to continue to collaborate to:

• fight organised crime, smuggling and trafficking
• counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism conducive to terrorism
• improve cybersecurity cooperation

• Cybersecurity (background information)