EU delegation brassed-off about ‘automotive directive’: The proposed automotive directive, which given cash incentives to Egyptian car assemblers who go further up value chain into manufacturing, would violate the terms of Egypt’s free trade agreement the European Union, EU Mission Chief to Egypt Ivan Surkoš told reporters on Sunday, Al Mal reports. The bill proposes giving local assemblers give tax breaks and payouts from an incentive fund to protect them against what the industry says are unfair advantages enjoyed by EU, Turkish and Moroccan imports. European car makers and their domestic importers have previously complained to the European Commission and are claiming that bill might be harmful to exporters in the long run. European carmakers had warned in their letter of complaint that the bill could also impact future European investments in Egypt’s auto industry. (Not that pure exporters of CBU vehicles to Egypt have invested a penny here in the past decade or ten…) The EU plans to discuss the automotive directive with Trade Minister Tarek Kabil in Brussels soon, Surkoš added.

In other industry news: The Federation of Egyptian Industries automakers’ divisionasked car distributors to stop imports until existing stocks are sold, division head Hassan Sleiman tells Al Mal. Car sales have been in a slump since prices soared as a result of the EGP float last November.