Brussels, 26/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Tunisia and the European Union are to meet on Friday 27 April with the joint working group on social cooperation, the constitution of which comes under the provisions of the association agreement. This is the first time such a meeting has been held in the Euro-Mediterranean context.
Tunisia, which is the first signatory country of an association agreement with the EU - the first implemented since 1 March 1998 - hoped this meeting would essentially be held for examination of the living, employment and residence conditions of Tunisian nationals residing lawfully in a Member State and of their right to non-discriminatory treatment. It would also be a question of evoking in this context the harmonisation of social security standards that Tunisians hope to perfect at Community level. Various bilateral agreements have already been concluded in this field (with Italy, Spain, Belgium and France in particular).
The agenda also includes preliminary discussions on "family reunification", the right for families to join nationals legally admitted to a Member State. These discussions will essentially be of an exploratory nature, all the more as some provisions in this connection come, on the European side, from joint competence, both Community and national. It will finally be a question of conceiving, according to wording used by the Tunisians, "true social cooperation" that, through rural development and in disadvantaged areas, may dry up the uncontrolled flows of emigrants.
Tunisia has already benefited, under the MEDA 1 Programme, from a vocational training support programme called MAINFORM that has EUR 45 million earmarked for it, as well as support to integrated rural development for the sum of 50 million, a support programme for reforms of the social security section with EUR 40 million, and 9.6 million for job creation. Other actions with a strong social component were conceived under the structural adjustment facilities (Facility I, with EUR 100 million, and Facility II, with EUR 80 million).