BRUSSELS:  European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday said as she joined an EU summit that a start to dialogue between Egypt's authorities and the opposition was "absolutely essential".

Speaking as protesters gathered in Cairo to force President Hosni Mubarak to step down, Ashton said the EU wanted to see the transition process move ahead now that Mubarak had pledged not to run for election again.

"We've been very clear in everything we said. It's for the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government to move forward together," she said.

"It's absolutely essential that we see the movement that is necessary," she  added.

It was "really important now that we see calm, that we see this dialogue, that we see this move forward," she added.Egypt's authorities needed to produce "a timetable that gives confidence to people that things are going to change."