On Sunday 16 July in Tunis, the European Commission signed a comprehensive agreement with Tunisia which will include both macro-economic aid (€900 million as soon as the final details have been worked out) and immediate support of €105 million to prevent migrants from leaving Tunisia for the EU and also to help sub-Saharan migrants present in Tunisia, and even some who have been turned back by the Tunisian authorities to the desert, to return to their countries of origin.
This new partnership will “deepen relations” between the EU and Tunisia, explained the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressing the “mutual interest in bringing” the two parties closer together and creating “opportunities for young people” in particular.
Although this agreement - announced on 11 June (see EUROPE 13199/15) and made official on Sunday 16 July in Tunis by Mrs von der Leyen, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed - also includes aspects relating to cooperation on energy and the mobility of students and researchers, its ‘migration’ component is the most controversial, with several MEPs denouncing this pact with a country that is not safe for migrants.
Managing Tunisia’s borders to prevent people leaving for the EU
The agreement provides for immediate aid of €105 million to help the Tunisian police and coastguards combat smuggling networks, facilitate the return of irregular Tunisian nationals in the EU and manage borders to prevent people leaving. Eight new patrol boats for border guards will be financed.
“We must break the business model of the smugglers”, explained the President of the Commission on Sunday, but also “increase our cooperation on search and rescue at sea” as well as on border management and returns, all of this “in full compliance with international law”.
Of this €105 million, €15 million will also be used to assist the voluntary return of 6,000 sub-Saharan migrants from Tunisia to their country of origin. This money should go to institutions such as the United Nations or the International Organization for Migration, which will help to carry out this work, as the Tunisian authorities are accused of turning these people back into the desert and leaving them without food.
In any case, the European Union was denied the return of non-Tunisian third country migrants from the EU to Tunisia, as Tunis has made it very clear that it will only accept the readmission of its own nationals under this agreement.
The memorandum of understanding stipulates that Tunisia “reiterates its position not to be a country of settlement for irregular migrants”, as well as its “position to guard only its own borders”.
The agreement also includes a legal migration component, with the EU promising to issue more Schengen visas to facilitate mobility (for students and researchers). With regard to legal labour migration, the Commission also wants to facilitate the arrival of qualified Tunisian migrants to fill jobs where there are shortages, within the framework of ‘talent partnerships’ with North African countries.
While the memorandum of understanding agreed between the parties must now be endorsed by the Council of the EU, the Commission has specified that the section on stepping up the return of Tunisian migrants will begin “as early as next week”.
“Neo-colonial Europe in all its splendour, wasting its time making despicable agreements with dictatorships under the watchful eye of a fascist ruler. I will never stop fighting against these methods, which violate the European ideal”, said French Greens/EFA MEP Damien Carême on Sunday.
For Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe, Dutch), the “‘dirty’ deals” with dictators are not only immoral, but also ineffective. Repression and bad governance will only push more people onto rickety boats”, she also commented on Twitter on 16 July, still trying to understand what is meant by the “Team Europe” entity on whose behalf the Commission is acting.
Strengthening economic, energy and digital cooperation
In addition to cooperation on migration, the memorandum of understanding covers Tunisia’s financial stability. The EU is therefore committed to assisting the country in its efforts to boost economic growth through appropriate policies, including socio-economic reforms. The implementation of this approach will be discussed during the third quarter of 2023, according to the memorandum of understanding.
In addition, the European Union will support the reforms, in particular through budgetary support of €150 million for 2023. “We remain ready to support Tunisia by mobilising macrofinancial assistance as soon as the necessary conditions are met”, Mrs von der Leyen also announced.
The two parties will also work to strengthen their economic and trade cooperation. “The EU is already the biggest foreign investor in Tunisia, the leading trading partner, but there is a lot of potential to do even more, for example on the green and digital transition”, said Mr Rutte.
The EU and Tunisia will be looking in particular at agriculture, the circular economy, digital transition - notably via the Medusa undersea digital cable project -, air transport, with a possible comprehensive air transport agreement, and investment. An EU-Tunisia investment forum will be organised in autumn, according to Mrs von der Leyen.
Energy transition is another area of cooperation. “As we decarbonise our economies, we need clean energy sources - green hydrogen, for example - and electricity generated from renewable energy sources. So it’s a win-win situation. It’s in both our interests”, said Mrs von der Leyen.
The two parties intend to establish a strategic partnership in the energy sector, draw up a joint roadmap for renewable energies, grid reinforcement and the implementation of energy market reforms, and identify ambitious pilot projects in the field of renewable energies. They also want to rapidly finalise negotiations on the financing scheme for the ELMED Mediterranean electricity interconnection between Italy and Tunisia, in which the EU will invest €300 million. Finally, Tunisia should be integrated into the EU electricity market.
At a political level, an Association Council meeting will be held in the last quarter of this year.
See the memorandum of understanding (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/83o (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Camille-Cerise Gessant)