Brussels, 19/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - For the year underway, the EU will make 68 million euros available to Tunisia under the economic recovery support programme, for which 100 million euros were pledged in 2011. The rate of the payments will speed up, according to the Tunisian Minister for International Cooperation, Riadh Bettaieb, who signed the financing agreement granting this support in Brussels this Monday, on the sidelines of the association council. In total, Tunisia has been pledged 400 million euros in support of the "revolution" of January 2011, or a net increase on the initial amount earmarked of 240 million euros.
The session of the association council itself produced no other concrete results, but served to confirm the mutual political commitment to engage in a privileged partnership and the signature of an action plan in the next few months. This joint document will commit Tunisia and the EU to opening a political dialogue based on the respect for freedoms and the creation of democratic structures. It will also be a political agreement, the details of which will be provided subsequently in an appropriate document determining the practical measures and their implementation timetables. Both sides have also decided to pursue and accelerate negotiations for an in-depth trade agreement, early next year, and for an "open sky" aviation agreement. (FB/transl.fl)