Brussels, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The signature of a mobility agreement between the EU and Tunisia, which was scheduled for Wednesday 4 December, has been postponed to a later date which has yet to be confirmed. This will be “agreed jointly”, was all either side would say on the subject. The contents of this agreement, the outlines of which have been announced by European and Tunisian civil society associations (see EUROPE 10976), have not yet been officially confirmed. It is a “political declaration” presenting the objectives and priorities laid down by each of the parties. An appendix will list a series of concrete initiatives.
The text on the table, which is similar to the one signed with Morocco on 7 June of this year, would give Tunisians, at least those in a specific category (which can apparently be summed up as the economic and intellectual elite), visa and residency facilities. It will undertake to promote dialogue on all issues related to migration and mobility. The member states will be encouraged to support this cooperation by means of concrete actions.
As well as controlling illegal flows, cooperation should also, as with Morocco, support nationals residing legally in the EU, as well as European nationals residing legally in Tunisia, in their integration efforts. The commitment would be to “reciprocally develop cooperation to set in place active policies on integration, inter-culturality and fighting exclusion and xenophobia in order to avoid prejudice and stereotypes between the host society and migrants”. It will also include “promoting the role of Tunisian migration associations in the integration process”.
In return, Tunisia would have to sign an agreement for the readmission of foreign nationals transiting through its territory and undertake to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. This would mean agreeing to a kind of relocalation of holding centres currently located in Europe.
In order to prevent illegal migrants from reaching Europe, both sides would undertake to “reinforce the exchange of information, administrative capacity and operational and technical cooperation on border management, detecting and dismantling networks of traffickers of migrants and cross-border organised crime and the fight against illegal immigration”.
This cooperation would also lead to the revision of “security and travel document issuing procedures being brought into line with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), identity documents and residence permits, and other official documents” issued by the partner country. (FB/transl.fl)