The EU and Tunisia have signed what both sides call a “comprehensive” new agreement.
It was penned by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, alongside the President of Tunisia, Kaïs Saied.
They have agreed to implement the comprehensive partnership package first announced jointly on 11 June.
In Tunis, they oversaw the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding by Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and Secretary of State of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mounir Ben Rjiba opening what the EU calls a “new chapter in relations between the European Union and Tunisia.”
The Memorandum of Understanding covers five pillars.
These are: macro-economic stability, trade and investment, green energy transition, people-to people contacts, and migration.
It will be implemented through the various strands of cooperation between the European Union and Tunisia, following the relevant regulations and applicable procedures.
Enhanced political and policy dialogue within the EU-Tunisia Association Council before the end of the year will, said an EC spokesman, “offer an important opportunity to reinvigorate political and institutional ties.”
The aim will be to address “common international challenges together and preserving the rules-based order”, added the EC spokesman.
