The controversial migration agreement signed between Tunisia and the European Union – through the President of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte – has not pleased the capitals of the member states. This is what the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, told the Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Varhélyi, in a letter in which he pointed out that there is a “misunderstanding” between the governments due to a pact clearly aimed at stopping the immigration
Borrell emphasized in the text that the appropriate procedures were not followed, as published by media such as The Guardian Diplomatic sources admit to La Vanguardia that, in the meetings following the signing of the agreement in July and the meeting of ministers of Externally, several states expressed concern that the usual legal steps had not been followed. And they called for this not to happen again in the future, especially as Brussels aims for the pact to serve as a model for similar deals with other states in the region, such as Egypt.
According to EU rules, in situations like this the European Commission must consult member states before signing a commitment. And even if the governments had supported the idea of ??establishing “strategic pacts” with third countries, the capitals believe that the EC should have involved them more directly in the agreement with Tunisia.
Some of the disgruntled states, such as Germany and Belgium, showed not only their displeasure that they were not consulted enough, but also their doubts about the possible problems of respect for human rights that the authoritarian drift of Kais Saied’s government raises in this case
The European Commission yesterday rejected the criticism and assured that the institution consulted and involved partners at all times, before the signing of the pact. A spokeswoman added that “throughout the process” the Council was informed. The first contact would date from April 19, according to this source. And the talks would have been prolonged until the agreement could be closed.
The agreement reached with Tunisia is based on five pillars very focused on the economy, the ecological transition and the management of migration. It includes a commitment of 150 million euros to provide immediate liquidity to the Maghreb country, another 300 million for renewable energy projects and another 105 million for border management, which includes the delivery of equipment such as drones and rescue boats
After a visit to Lampedusa at the weekend, after 10,000 migrants arrived on the island in three days, Meloni asked V o to speed up aid to Tunisia to prevent more people from the African country reach the Italian coast.
The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, sent a letter last week to the EU government to ask for more information on how the EC will ensure that Tunisia respects human rights within the country, especially managing migration.
A few days ago, Tunisia vetoed the entry of a delegation of five members of the Eurochamber who wanted to know firsthand the democratic and rights situation in the North African nation, and also more details of the agreement with the EU The delegation condemned the entry ban, which it judged to be “an unprecedented decision since the democratic revolution of 2011” in Tunisia.
