Economic instability, the situation in Libya, and terrorist attacks are threatening Tunisia’s fragile democracy, which should benefit from a reinforced cooperation with EU, said Members of both the Tunisian and European parliaments at the constituent meeting of the EU-Tunisia Joint Parliamentary Assembly held on Thursday 18 February.

MEPs and their counterparts from the Tunisian Assembly welcomed the recent democratic transition in Tunisia but underlined its fragility. Tunisia’s economic instability, public debt and high youth unemployment rate are creating difficult conditions in which to implement needed reforms, they said. Threats in its neighbourhood and notably the worrying situation in Libya, as well as terrorist attacks particularly affecting the tourism sector are also major challenges, they added.

To respond to these pressures and accelerate Tunisia’s economic development, the EU-Tunisia free trade agreement, to be discussed next week in the European Parliament’s plenary session, was seen by Members of the both the Tunisian and European parliaments as a positive sign. But "cooperation between EU and Tunisia should be further reinforced" said Tunisian Members, who highlighted the need for an inclusive partnership, including budget support and more.

The constituent meeting was opened by Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) and Mohamed Fadhel Ben Omrane, co-chairs of the EU-Tunisia Joint Parliamentary Assembly. Participants included European neighbourhood policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn, several members of the Tunisian government, representatives of Tunisian civil society and members of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, winners of the Nobel Prize 2015.

Background

The European Parliament will vote in plenary next week on an emergency plan to import 70,000 tonnes of Tunisian olive oil duty free, recently backed by the International Trade committee, to help boost the struggling Tunisian economy, hit not least by terrorist attacks of 2015. Furthermore, they will discuss and vote on recommendations for further talks on an EU-Tunisia free trade agreement.

In October 2015, the EU and Tunisia started negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, encompassing not only trade in goods but also services and a range of regulatory areas.