On Tuesday 18 July, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties deplored the ‘marginalisation’ of Parliament in the memorandum of understanding signed between the EU and Tunisia on 16 July, which provides for a budget of €105 million for Tunis to prevent the arrival of migrants in the EU and to organise the voluntary return of sub-Saharan migrants from Tunisia (see EUROPE 13224/3).
A large number of them denounced the fact that the Commission had chosen to “finance dictators”, which will further increase the number of people wanting to flee Tunisia, as the Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe) said, and many questioned the legal basis of this memorandum of understanding and the legal nature of the ‘Team Europe’ entity, which brings together the Commission, the Member States and their implementing agencies and public development banks, as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
A number of MEPs questioned how this structure, which enabled the signing of this partnership with Tunisia, is able to be accountable, particularly to Parliament. German Greens/EFA MEP Erik Marquardt also asked: “What is the legal status of this partnership” formed by the Commission and the Member States? Ursula von der Leyen was accompanied on Sunday by the Italian and Dutch leaders, Giorgia Meloni and Mark Rutte.
“Can you explain this curious format to us, with a President and two Prime Ministers?”, France’s Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe) reacted, asking “why the EU has chosen to work with Tunisia at this time. We are well aware that fundamental rights will not be respected”.
Pietro Bartolo (S&D, Italian) also asked: “Why, on such important issues, can the European Parliament not express its opinion and carry out its own checks?”.
A number of MEPs questioned the usefulness of this agreement in general terms, including Birgit Sippel (S&D, German). Tunisia is pushing back people into the desert and leaving them without food; “they promise us better management, but why would they suddenly change their behaviour?”, she asked. “Financing an autocrat without European political or democratic oversight is not a solution”.
For The Left, “this memorandum of understanding is unacceptable”, added Malin Björk (Swedish), who also wondered how the Commission would be able to check that the money donated would not end up being used to further violate migrants’ rights. “It’s a disgrace that the EU has come to this”, she added.
The Commissioner assured them that the planned funding would be subject to the traditional audit mechanisms set out in the fiscal rules, and that the money allocated would be earmarked for organisations in urgent need. She also promised to hold all necessary discussions with the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)