On Tuesday 18 October, Johannes Hahn, the European commissioner for neighbourhood policy, hosted a meeting with the Tunisian minister for development, investment and international cooperation, Fadhel Abdelkefi, in which the latter call for increased support for his country, which currently finds itself in a situation of serious crisis.
During his European tour, which seeks to pave the way for the international investment conference on 29 and 30 November 2016 in Tunis, Abdelkefi stated that Tunisia "does not need donations, it needs investment". According to EUROPE's sources, Hahn has been invited to the conference (see EUROPE 11647) and he is expected to take an active part in it.
The same sources say that Tunisia "has real potential to attract", which requires, however, a re-organisation of its economy and for it to speed up reforms. The European Parliament will be requested to provide practical support for Tunisia in an effort to reduce the current legislative bottleneck. EUROPE is also informed that communication in the country is not sufficiently targeted and has to be more directed towards operators rather than the public authorities.
On Monday, the Council gave the go-ahead for aid worth €300 million in 2017 to "maintain a high level of funding until 2020 on the basis of progress being made with reforms". It should be pointed out, however, that the Council has not retained the €800 million figure contained in the initial proposal. This was just an indicative figure that incorporates all other kinds of resources such as donations, loans and bilateral aid and which will depend on the pace of the reforms carried out, explained sources in Brussels. The European institutions highlight the need for Tunisians to prioritise reform. A political warning is also made, with the EU calling for the "continuation of the comprehensive and effective implementation of the constitution, as well as the consolidation of democratic institutions and the promotion of human rights".
The reservation expressed by the Europeans is also perceptible in Tunisia, with doubts being expressed about investment opportunities at the conference, which has in fact assumed an appearance that strongly resembles that of a donors’ conference.
This has connotations of the first conference organised in September 2014 for putting the 2011 G8 Deauville summit promises into practice (see EUROPE 10933) and for which no follow-up was forthcoming. The coordinator of the first conference affirms that "unfortunately, two years later, things do not look convincing". Tahar Sioud, the former ambassador to the EU adds that Tunisia "had high expectations, despite the fact that just a few amounts were made in the form of loans, which only indirectly helped the country. Its debt has become worse (it currently accounts for 62% of GDP)". The prospects for reconverting the debt, as suggested by several MEPs and European and Tunisian civil society depends on member states, sources in Brussels stated.
Sioud also recalls the idea of a kind of 'Marshall plan' which would allow for "an increase and concentration in efforts focusing on strategic objectives". This would require "clearer determination with regard to objectives and a real mobilisation of resources" and, and, above all, "far-reaching reforms involving the way in which different structures function, as well as a bold fight against criminal behaviour or anything that contributes to the disorganisation of the economy". Sioud, who negotiated all the Euro-Tunisian agreements, added that "criticism of donors would be incomplete if we did not tackle our own failings”.
Another former minister and governor of the Central Bank, Tawfik Baccar, wrote on his Facebook page that Tunisia had had opportunities but "unfortunately we have not been able to take advantage of these circumstances" and the country now has "its back against the wall". A former prime minister, Rachid Sfar, also criticised on his Facebook page that time had been wasted. He did, however, criticise the EU and its aid as ”insufficient, if it is compared to our trade deficit… it is actually Tunisia that is helping the EU”.
For Sioud, Tunisia is "the only country in the region that has met all the required political, economic and social criteria. It is the country closest to Europe and more so than some of the accession candidate countries. It deserves a ‘special status’ rather than association status, not full accession but the status that resembles the one agreed with Norway”. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)