Brussels, 16/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council, the EU and Tunisia are to hold the 9th session of the Association Council that will provide an occasion for taking stock of bilateral cooperation and for opening the road to a “privileged partnership” (another name for advanced status agreements). A political agreement marking that resolve will be signed on Monday.
Final talks took place this week in Brussels on the content of the partnership. They are said to have resulted in bringing points of view closer on the general guidelines on political matters (assessment of the post-January 2011 revolution situation in the country) and on economic matters (completion of integration in the European internal market - industrial standards, certifications, etc.; and negotiations on indepth trade cooperation, on the free trade in services, on agricultural and agri-industrial products, on mobility and the right of establishment and, finally, on an agreement in “Open Sky” air transport on which exploratory conversations were held this week in Brussels). Talks are expected to resume on all these chapters early 2013.
The state of cooperation also covers the financial chapter. The financial support of Tunisia was fixed at €240 million. This was increased to reach €400 million but Tunis draws attention to the need to speed up the rate of fund commitment.
The above points will be discussed as soon as the new action plan (2013-2017) is signed, sealing intentions but still to be completed by a more detailed text (called the “matrix”). It is now known that the European concessions on mobility, which is a sensitive point for the Tunisians as for all those from the southern Mediterranean, will be measured and may only result in facilitation measures when granting visas for professionals, together with the compulsory readmission agreement. This seems to show that Europe is still relatively circumspect about Tunisia.
The desire to consolidate still depends on restoring confidence and security. It comes in fact at a tricky time for Tunisia. Without being critical, Europeans point out what they consider to be on the right track, namely: - acceleration of the drafting of the Constitution, the lifting of obstacles to the freedom of expression and the media, the independence of the justice system, and the safeguarding of what has already been achieved in women's rights (which has made Tunisia's reputation, with a remarkably vigorous civil society, and which has received substantial financial support from the EU). (FB/transl.jl)