{{European Union governments will this week question how to best use their economic ties with Egypt to pressure Cairo’s army-backed rulers into finding a peaceful compromise with supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi}}.
At stake could be a 5 billion euro ($6.7 billion) package of grants and loans promised by the EU, its member governments and international financial institutions last year, as well as various trade incentives, EU officials and experts say.
The EU’s ability to exert immediate economic pressure on Cairo is limited – much of its current aid is already stopped because of inadequate democratic reforms.
But the hope is that such a signal could help end a bloody crackdown by the government against Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, in which around 800 people have died, and prevent further bloodshed between the two sides.
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, two of the most senior EU officials, said in a statement on Sunday the 28-member bloc should “urgently review” its relations with Cairo to try to end the violence.
Senior EU diplomats will meet in Brussels on Monday to decide which areas of economic cooperation could be targeted and prepare a possible meeting of EU foreign ministers to be held in the next two weeks.
“Egypt is a key partner of the European Union,” the two officials said. “Further escalation must be prevented. It could have unpredictable consequences for Egypt and for its broader neighborhood.”
In the past days, a host of European foreign ministers have raised the specter of suspending economic aid.
France’s Laurent Fabius has said “nothing could be ruled out” in terms of aid policy.
“What is evident is that we must quickly stop the bloodshed and reach an inter-Egyptian dialogue. It is not easy of course. We have to mobilize all our energies so that a solution is found by Egyptians,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Austria’s Michael Spindelegger called on the EU to withhold its main aid deal.
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