Brussels, 25/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - In July 2005, the Association Agreement between the EU and Tunisia, the first such agreement for a EuroMed country, will be ten years old and to mark the occasion, under the aegis of French Green MEP Helene Flautre, President of the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights, Tunisian democracy non-governmental organisations and Tunisian civil society organisations are being invited to the European Parliament to brief MEPs and Member States on progress at an event entitled 'The example of Tunisia: balance sheet and future prospects'. In October 2005, a second seminar will be held to prepare for the United Nations 'Global Information Society Summit' in Tunis in November. The organisers of the July event believe that the freedom of initiative of NGOs in partner countries, particularly human rights defence NGOs, is one of the guarantees of the implementation of human rights and freedoms. The official non-recognition of certain independent NGOs, state controls prior to funding of their activities by the European institutions, and obstacles placed in the way of their affiliation and cooperation with international or regional non-governmental organisations are a serious obstacle to the participation of civil societies in the implementation of Association Agreements between the EU and Mediterranean countries and also to relations between partner countries.
The meeting will launch a series of events to mark the tenth anniversary of the Barcelona process, focussing on human rights, democracy and good governance. Helene Flautre is chairing a hearing in Brussels on 23 June on freedom of speech and democratic development, which will be attended by parliamentarians from Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt and probably the leader of the opposition in Egypt, Ayman Nour, whose arrest endangered causing deadlock in the final session of the EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly. Another hearing will be held in Brussels on 11 June, looking at the new challenges in the Barcelona process.