Brussels, 02/02/2012 (Agence Europe) -European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and his guest, Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who spent a busy day in Brussels on Thursday 2 February, both praised the, “quality of the conversation” they had had at lunch. Jebali also had useful meetings with Catherine Ashton, Stephan Füle and, earlier on, with Council President Herman Van Rompuy and the Parliament President Martin Schulz. A joint statement (rare for this kind of visit) was published and Jebali added that the discussions had been, “frank and useful”.
The fact that the Euro-Tunisian partnership is “strategic” was mentioned in the joint declaration and is reiterated at each of the different meetings. Its success testifies to Europe's commitment and support to the burgeoning democracies in the Arab world. The need to immediately use aid (which has already increased from €240 million to €400 million) and to speed up its allocation was also emphasised. The two parties decided to relaunch negotiations on “advanced status”. Trade negotiations will continue with a view to liberalising trade in agricultural products and putting in place a “comprehensive and far reaching free-trade agreement”. The liberalisation of air transport, the opening of negotiations on the compliance of industrial products, the opening of a dialogue on “migration, mobility and security” and support for efforts to improve investor attractiveness have also been promised. A joint council of European and Tunisian entrepreneurs will also be set up. The Association Council will convened during the first half of this year, which will also see a second meeting arranged of the “task force”, set up to support the “Tunisian revolution”. Füle will visit Tunis in a month and a half's time for another assessment of what might be required. Finally, the EU is committed to repatriating funds that had “been fraudulently acquired and which were now currently frozen”. This is targeting the fortune amassed by the Ben Ali-Trabelsi family, which has taken refuge in Saudi Arabia. Tunisia also announced that “an independent national institution will organise new transparent and democratic general elections, within a timeframe of no more than 18 months”. Vague rumours had previously prevailed with regard to this subject in Tunisia. (FB/transl.fl)