By REUTERS
BRUSSELS - The European Union on Friday called on Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi to respect the democratic process in his country after he issued a decree exempting all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament is elected."It is of utmost importance that (the) democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.These commitments included "the separation of powers, the independence of justice, the protection of fundamental freedoms and the holding of democratic parliamentary elections as soon as possible", he said.Morsi's decree on Thursday also shielded from legal challenge an Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution, as well as the upper house of parliament, which is dominated by Islamists allied to Morsi.
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