External relations

Egypt is slowly working on becoming a fully-fledged democracy after the Arab spring caused Hosni Mubarak's 30-year regime to crumble last year. The EU has been keen to help the process in any way possible. We spoke to James Moran, the new EU head of delegation to Egypt, about the challenges facing Egypt and the role the EU should play.

As Iceland continues to make good progress in its efforts to become the EU's latest member, interest in the tiny Nordic country is heating up. Yes, we all know about its many geysers, its erupting volcanoes and the quirky singer Björk. However, there is a lot more worth knowing about this island state. As the EP's foreign affairs committee adopted a motion for a resolution on its 2011 progress report on Monday, we take the opportunity to present you with five fascinating facts about Iceland.

The EU should work together with emerging countries such as China and India to build a multi-polar, inclusive system of global governance that deals efficiently with global challenges. MEPs have adopted a report that points out that the EU shares a common interest with these countries in tackling global instability and security risks to economic development.

Dictators should no longer be able to bank on the EU to safeguard their ill-gotten gains for them. That is the message from MEPs who have adopted a resolution calling for Member States to stop providing safe havens for the personal fortunes of leaders of authoritarian regimes. They claim the EU is currently being inconsistent as it imposes sanctions on tyrants while at the same time allowing them to stash their riches in European banks.

The EU agreed last week on sanctions on oil imported from Iran to force the country back to the negotiating table and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. As MEPs prepared to discuss the issue, we spoke to Tarja Cronberg, chair of the EP delegation for relations with Iran. The Finnish Green stressed the need for negotiations: "The problem is that the EU mistrusts the Iranians and the Iranians mistrust the Europeans, but it is necessary because the alternative is war."

EP President Martin Schulz welcomed the news that preliminary results show around 67% of Croatian voters voted in favour of EU membership on Sunday. "The positive result of the referendum is a clear indicator of the continuing attractiveness of the EU. Membership is the right reward for the remarkable progress achieved by Croatia in its path to reforms in the recent years."

Removing obstacles to trade between nations is not only important for exporters who can thus better penetrate foreign markets and make more money, but also for consumers who can enjoy a wider choice at better prices. Trade liberalisation in the last couple of decades has pushed tariffs down across the world, but other barriers to trade still present problems.

Co-operation between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries took a step forward with the Cotonou Agreement in 2000. Since then, MEPs and MPs from the ACP meet twice a year to debate development issues. Co-chair of this week's joint assembly meeting in Togo, Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane from Mali, agreed to answer some questions about development, the financial crisis and the Arab Spring.

Twice a year MEPs meet elected representatives from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to discuss development-related issues. During the next session in Togo from 19-23 November they will look at the impact of public debt on development, the Arab Spring, the food crisis in the Horn of Africa and democratic governance.

The European Union is currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada. If approved, it will be the EU's first free trade agreement with a G8 country. At the beginning of November, a delegation from the Committee on International trade visited Canada and met representatives from federal and provincial governments as well as various stakeholders. Slovak Christian democrat Peter Šťastný, who will prepare a report on the accord told us more.