Brussels, 16/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The 11th session of the EU-Tunisia Association Council took place on Tuesday 17 March in Brussels. It is expected to conclude with the relaunching of the cooperation that has somewhat slowed down during the intermediate phase of the country's institutional transition.
This phase was concluded with the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of general, presidential and parliamentary elections. The results of these elections obtained the unreserved congratulations of the EU.
The slowing down has not affected the country's current management but has simply put more remote perspectives on hold, such as the opening of negotiations in several different domains. In the meantime, sources in Brussels point out that the EU has maintained its “substantial” financial commitment and has granted a total of around €200 million in donations for 2014 alone. €50 million of this was granted in the shape of the “bonus for democracy”. Macro-financial support (a loan) of €300 million has also just been approved.
On Tuesday, the main message will be to support more reform efforts according to a decentralised approach. These efforts will focus on improving competitiveness in the economy, the business climate, reducing barriers to trade and investment, support for SMEs and a more robust employment policy. The EU will use this occasion to call for the formal launch of negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) and speed up the negotiations in the air transport area (Open Sky agreement). In the field of migration, the EU intends to emphasise its wish to begin negotiations on the facilitation of visas and a readmission agreement. A statement establishing a partnership for mobility between Tunisia and the EU and its member states was signed in March 2014 and will form the basis for these negotiations. In the long term, negotiations are planned in the energy and sustainable development domains.
Concerns about Libya. The Libyan question will be an important point during these discussions because it also affects the security situation and stability in Tunisia, as well as its economic market. According to the Tunisian minister for foreign affairs, Taïeb Baccouche, almost a third of the Libyan population is still living on Tunisian territory (1.8 million). The EU intends to help support border management and a precursor programme was adopted in this connection in 2014. This security cooperation is expected to involve other key partners from the region, by way of political dialogue and identifying concrete projects that can help fight against terrorism and its underlying causes, particularly the phenomenon of foreign combatants and radicalisation, in respect of the rule of law and individual liberties, explain Brussels-based sources. (Fathi B'Chir)