Translated by Irene Cecchi
Migration challenges
On March 17th 2024, in Cairo took place the first meeting between the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other European countries’ leaders from Austria, Cyprus, Greece and Belgium.
This meeting led to the signing of a Memorandum between the European Union and Egypt –represented by the President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi– even though it was strongly contested by a part of the European Parliament, that considered inappropriate to negotiate and reach an agreement with an undemocratic country, and by the Italian left-wing party Partito Democratico that went against Giorgia Meloni reminding her about Giulio Regeni’s case.
Actually, the negotiations were carried out within the interest and cooperation of all parties, with the fight against the illegal migration flow at the core of the debate. It has been highlighted the need for security and protection from illegal trafficking in order to efficiently face this important European issue.
One of the main points of the Memorandum involves a total grant of 7.4 billion euros in three years from the EU: 600 million of this amount will be dedicated to various financing (among them, 200 million to manage migration flows), 5 billion will be subsidized loans and 1.8 billion for other kinds of investments.
This project focuses on six main themes:
- First of all, the political relations to “stimulate stability, democracy, fundamental liberties, human rights, gender equality and equal opportunity” as declared by an High Commissioner of the European Commission
- Secondly, economic stability
- Third, trade and investments to encourage a green and digital transition
- Than, migration and the fight against human trafficking
- Fifth of the list, security
- Last but not least, investments on Egyptian people, providing them the possibility to benefit from some European initiatives.
In conclusion, it is a major plan in sight of the relations with the Middle East and of the fight against illegal flows of migrants.
The Mattei Plan
Prime Minister Meloni’s work doesn’t stop here; in fact, she also met the President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in a bilateral summit in the framework of the so-called “Mattei Plan” –a strategic project for the institution of a new partnership between Italy and African Countries with education, agriculture, healthcare, energy and water at the center–.
This was the aim of the meeting that led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding by the Italian Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara and the Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education Reda Hegazy.
The resulting agreement involves the development of technical and professional plans for economic growth. The Memorandum, in fact, aims to enhance the cooperation between the two Countries’ school systems, to impart preparation to Egyptian secondary school teachers of Italian language and to boost students and teachers exchanges. The point of all this is to increase the quality of the paths and exchange opportunities of learning and working in the fields of energy, tourism, industry, mechatronics, textiles, agri-food and healthcare.
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