Debate during the plenary session of July in Strasbourg on EU support to Tunisia. Statements by Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement negotiations, Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&D, IT), Marielle DE SARNEZ (ALDE, FR) and Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE, FR).

EU support to Tunisia: extracts from the debate

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SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations , "This was an attack that aimed to install fear and division, we stand together with Tunisia so that the terrorists don't succeed, this was an attack on people first and foremost our sympathy lies with the families and friends of the victims and the Tunisian people."

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations , "I sincerely hope that Europeans continue to visit Tunisia and to invest in the country, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that they can continue to do so safely and securely."

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations , "Our financial assistance is already substantial, 187 Million Euros in bi-lateral assistance only in the year 2015, however I intend to explore all avenues in order to reinforce this effort. Our macro-financial assistance is currently 300 Million Euros and could be increased over the next years that said Tunisia is a country in a particular unstable region where our potential value added is commensurate with the size of the country and the crucial period of change the country is going through. We need to ensure that our contributions can be appropriately absorbed."

SOUNDBITE (German), Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE), "We have suspended a boarder mission between Libya and Tunisia and it is now moved over to the Tunisian side and I think it is waiting for better times and I think it is essential, can we please investigate whether we could not have a CSDP mission at the border, on the Tunisian side in order to prevent an influx of terrorists and other elements."

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), "We need in fact call for a Marshall plan for Tunisia. Tunisia has been hit in the nerve sector of its economy which is tourism and we have to bare that in mind, because it is a success story the links between Europe and the Mediterranean and we have to ensure that that continues, we can't let the extremist win, we can't lose the Mediterranean."

SOUNDBITE (French), Marielle DE SARNEZ (ALDE, FR), "We have step up our efforts in terms of security, when it comes as said to the management of borders with Libya, which self-evident. If we come to the issue of migratory flows, together with the Tunisians we have to manage these migratory flows with the Tunisian and European side and there is an economic boost that is required, you talked about providing money in an appropriate way. We must ensure that we give support to sustainable projects over time to boost our trade relations, it is very important that Tunisia draws a clear benefit of this."

SOUNDBITE (French), Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE/NGL, FR), "We need to step our efforts by making agreements on trade and also mobility, restructuring debt, why not a moratorium on debt, regional cooperation which will benefit the poorest regions and real partnership for the Tunisians, it can't just be the ever more liberalism that goes only to the profit of European companies, we need to help Tunisia this should be our priority, there is a real urgency here."

Event date	08/07/2015
Reference:	I106343V
Copyright:	© European Union
copyrightYear:	2015

EU support to Tunisia: extracts from the debate

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