Brussels, 19/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 April, the EU and Tunisia officially launched their negotiations in Tunis for a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA). A European delegation led by Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, a director at the European Commission's DG Trade, is in Tunis and the discussions will reportedly focus on services and public procurement.
This official launch of negotiations coincides with the session of the Association Council the same day, from which one of the conclusions is the need to associate civil society fully. Civil society has been struck by the extent to which Tunisia is unprepared for the negotiations that are considered vital for an economy that has been made fragile by the political and security situation. “It is crucial that civil society be fully involved in the bilateral negotiations between the EU and Tunisia. Since 2011, civil society in Tunisia has been seen to be a vital actor in the democratic process for the country”, states the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), which is very active in Tunisia and is part of the group that has strong reservations about the DCFTA project.
“We call on the European and Tunisian authorities for more transparency in the negotiations of the different agreements between Tunisia and the EU, particularly as regards the DCFTA and the Partnership for Mobility. Civil society must be able to have access to relevant information in time to enable it to play its role fully as a force for proposal. It also seems paramount to us to develop an institutional framework and mechanisms that allow the expression and effective involvement of civil society in the different phases and sections of the negotiations, and also during the implementation and assessment of bilateral cooperation”, the EMHRN states. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)