On March 6, 2023, ECFA received a delegation from the European Union mission to Cairo, whereby the meeting focused on developments in the Ethiopian dam file and the Nile waters in general. The meeting was attended by Ambassadors Marwan Badr, Ezzat Saad, Salah Halima, and Mohamed Al-Saeed Idris.

The meeting tackled the developments in this file and the difficulties it faces, as ECFA members reviewed the relevant legal mechanisms and the rights they guarantee to all Basin countries, explaining the share of these countries in the Nile waters, and stressing Egypt’s urgent need to ensure the provision of water, given its location in one of the world’s most water-scarce regions. ECFA members also mentioned the issue of the clear Ethiopian intransigence against concluding a binding agreement for the dam filling and operation, which would achieve the interests of the three countries (i.e. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) without harming any of them, noting that the Ethiopian stance only reflects a strong Ethiopian desire to eliminate the Egyptian state, stressing that Egypt will not give up its Nile River water rights.

In this context, ECFA members expressed the necessity of dealing with this file with a future vision, and the necessity of having a political will based on good intentions and taking into account the rights and interests of all the Nile Basin countries and peoples, calling on the European Union to endeavor towards informing Ethiopia of the political and environmental risks that its unilateral behavior entails, and convince it of the necessity of abandoning such behavior.

Moreover, the meeting addressed opportunities to implement joint projects with the Nile Basin countries to advance the development process within the framework of a partnership with international parties such as the European Union and the World Bank, which may contribute to creating a favorable atmosphere for overcoming crises and any outstanding issues.