Brussels, 27/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The special task force set up in June to give support to the Arab countries as they enter democracy will, on 28 September in Tunis, inaugurate its first meeting with a view to taking practical and short term decisions, according to Bernardino León, EU Special Envoy for the Mediterranean. The EU's role will be crucial at this historic point in time, he said.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, accompanied by European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Štefan Füle, as well as Bernardino León, will attend the meeting alongside the high Tunisian authorities and key figures of the economic world. Member states, invited to attend, are however urged to send senior officials/ministers to make the meeting, which is to be more operational than political, slightly less formal and of a more practical nature. León defines the task force as a structure that can work in a flexible way on the ground, with early response capacity. Representatives from multilateral organisations (EIB, World Bank, IMF, EBRD, ADB, the Islamic Development Bank, AFD), MEPs and UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) parliamentarians will be involved. Other fund donors, especially from the Gulf, will be involved in the later phases. A significant invitation will be sent out to the president of the Swiss Confederation, Micheline Calmy-Rey. Her country will have a major role to play in recovering misappropriated assets, a matter that will be on the agenda.
The other items on the agenda include financial support to reform of the Tunisian economy and state - and the figure of $1 billion or even $1.5 billion has been cited, of which €90 million comes from the EU. The magnitude of European commitment will be clarified, especially when indicating the new contribution to be given and the kind of contribution (budget or in loans) in addition to the traditional allocations (already stepped up since the revolution). The EIB is reported to be earmarking €130 million for SMEs and rural development. Other subjects of importance are: - the impact of employment, regional development and investment promotion. According to Bernardino León, this will be in line with a “3M” approach defined by Catherine Ashton: “Money, Market, Mobility”. Tunisia will be the first Mediterranean country to benefit from an agreement on mobility (visa facilities for the main economic players and civilian elite). Several other measures are envisaged in various areas (industry, infrastructure, services, training, employment), in addition to total re-examination of the framework for trade relations announced on Monday by the Council and Commission (see EUROPE 10460). EU-Tunisia cooperation structures will be activated, including the Association Council.
The European special envoy said agreements would be sealed to open up a new chapter in relations with Tunisia. He underlined that the choice of Tunisia for opening up a series of meetings with partner countries is not by chance. It is due to timetable reasons, for example, the approach of elections (24 October) and the opening, on 1 October, of the electoral campaign, as well as the desire, on the eve of such important deadlines, to send out a determined “political message”. He pointed out that the EU has been keen, since the outset of the revolutions in the Mediterranean area, to “respond immediately”, especially by deciding how to direct its strategy in response to the “clear request” put forward by partner countries. The creation of the task force meets this request from partner countries and the task force will act country by country, separately.
Tunisia: going beyond “advanced status”
The new Tunisian ambassador with the EU, Ridha Farhat, has said: “The situation is exceptional and it deserves an exceptional response from our partners, and from the EU in particular. This response must meet the major and historic challenges facing us, in common, and our wish is to step up the pace in setting up support measures that are essential in the current circumstances”. “In addition to direct support, the new Tunisia deserves a status that is above advanced status - further than what President Prodi had called 'everything but the institutions'”, he said adding: “We are not aiming at the EU institutions as such but at new relations to bind us in a lasting manner, in confidence and peace, in the interest of us all”. (FB/transl.jl)