A high level EU delegation arrived in Cairo last night, at the start of a three-day visit to six countries in the Middle East.
The diplomatic mission, which was agreed at an EU summit last month, is aimed at bolstering the region's faltering peace process.
Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, EU Foreign Chief, Mr Javier Solana, Belgium's prime minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt and his foreign minister, Mr Louis Michel will visit Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Speaking in Brussels before the delegation set off, the External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, said he hoped Israel would take the initiative in moving the process forward.
"I hope Israel will come up with a proposal. We are hunting for a solution and we will work constructively for a solution", he said.
The EU wants to ensure that while the US considers a new peace initiative, a diplomatic vacuum is not created in the Middle East.
The visit comes, however, as divisions have emerged among the 15 member states over exports from the occupied territories that are labelled as Israeli goods.
The Commission wants to seek arbitration on whether such exports should enjoy the favourable tariff regime available to Israeli goods entering the EU. But Germany, Britain and Belgium fear that such action could call into question the EU's role as an honest broker in the Middle East.
En route to Cairo, Mr Prodi told The Irish Times that despite the focus of the visit, he did not rule out raising human rights issues with Middle East leaders. "Clearly the main focus of our talks will be the political situation in the Middle East. But there is no fixed agenda and if time permits we may discuss other issues", he said.
In Cairo, Mr Solana said he hoped the visit would add a "new dynamic" to the talks. Mr Patten added that the mission will advocate the implementation of the Mitchell recommendations for a ceasefire, a six-week cooling-off period and a freeze on Jewish settlements, before a return to political talks.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources said yesterday that Italy has asked Mr Prodi to raise with Egypt's president, Mr Hosni Mubarak, the fate of 23 men, who were jailed for attending a gay disco in Cairo.
