Brussels, 14/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Tunisia will be receiving macroeconomic aid from the EU of some €300 million, but the exact figure has not yet been officially announced. This suggests that an additional €50 million has been agreed upon, in addition to the €250 million that has been planned for a long time. This macroeconomic aid will be granted in the form of a loan because the EU says Tunisia is not poor enough to be granted non-returnable aid.
The aid was announced at a hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday 13 February organised by the EP delegation for cooperation with North Africa, attended by the president of the Tunisian ANC (Assemblée Nationale Constituante), Mustapha Ben Jaafar, and seven Tunisian parliamentarians (one of them from the opposition). A debate was held at the hearing, often among the Tunisians, in front of a scattering of MEPs.
After the welcome speeches, one of which was from Elkmar Brok, (EPP, Germany), chair of the EP's foreign affairs committee, a representative of the European diplomatic corps (EEAS), Bernard Savage, Head of Unit for North Africa, described the situation for Euro-Tunisian relations and affirmed the EU's full support for a country now seen as a model of democratisation for the region. He said that the EU's support for Tunisia was based on the association agreement and current talks are working on various aspects of the agreement, such as trade, business and social matters, improving the business environment, getting Tunisia incorporated in the EU's internal market through alignment with European rules and regulations and opening up the services market. An Association Council will be convened in April, stated Savage, noting that the two sides would shortly adopt a “matrix” to set tangible cooperation objectives before work is begun to turn Tunisia into a “privileged partner”, for example, by drawing up a “mobility agreement” to ease obstacles to travel to the EU by categories of Tunisians. Another area of focus will be security and cooperation in the security domain is currently being looked into, explained Savage.
Two of the five MEPs attending the debates, Carmen Romero and Ines Ayala, both Spanish Socialists, regretted the absence of women in the Tunisians delegation. They addressed various aspects of the recently adopted constitution and legislative debate in Tunisia on a new electoral law. The debates among the Tunisians showed that the outcome is far from certain. The EU, EP and EEAS expressed full backing for the electoral process and the willingness to send an observer mission. Malika BenArab-Attou (Greens/EFA, France) regretted that the Tunisian constitution makes only Arabic an official language, ignoring the language and culture of the Berber minority (Amazigh). A Tunisian parliamentarian called on the EU to make greater efforts to recover assets stolen by the deposed president and his entourage. The president of the ANC, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, thanked the European Parliament for the support for Tunisian democrats before and after the “revolution” and argued that, if the political will was there, the EU would be able to do more to help Tunisia.
A common statement was drawn up at the end of the day, welcoming adoption of the new constitution, the fruit of hard work from the living roots of society, the key role granted to fundamental rights, equality between men and women and freedom of religion and of conscience. The statement hopes the new constitution will serve as a solid framework to help Tunisia in its democratic transition process.
Taking note of the €300 million loan, the parliamentarians hoped the cash would be used to developed backward regions, and said it would be useful to set up a mixed parliamentary committee to ensure a better structure for cooperation and offered to look into how such a committee could function. The ANC president, in his closing speech, said that Europe was not doing enough to help Palestine. On Wednesday afternoon, Ben Jaafar held a meeting with the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. (FB/transl.fl)