EC/Tunisia Euro-Mediterranean association agreement

The rapporteur pointed out that this was the first agreement in a long series of negotiations with the countries to the south of the Mediterranean. It was also consistent with the strategy approved in Barcelona to provide a framework for the bilateral agreements in the context of joint action. In that respect, this agreement could be seen as testing the waters for the Union’s desire to give concrete expression to its own political decision taken in Barcelona through significant, operational initiatives for the countries south of the Mediterranean. Supporting this open approach to the innovative agreement with Tunisia, Commissioner MARIN summarised the three major issues in the political and security, economic and financial, and social and human fields. He added that the financial section envisaged adequate resources to help Tunisia make all of the efforts required to reform its economy, without neglecting social development, with a view to the creation of a free trade area in 2010.