Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-14-Speech-4-198"
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"en.20001214.8.4-198"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let us not get carried away, please. This is the second time that Tunisia has stood in the dock before this House and one might well wonder what is behind this tenacity, especially as there appears, in the final analysis, to be almost no justification for it.
Of course, the democratic process is far from complete in Tunisia, just as it is in a great many countries in the world, just as it was far from complete a century ago in our own countries if it comes to that, and we would never have brooked constant intervention by third parties.
And yet, here is a country which can lay claim to many spectacular successes during its development – which is perhaps the first human right. Growth here hit 6% in 1998 and the benefits of it were spread fairly since poverty levels, as defined by the UNO, are running at less than 10%. Not every rich country can say as much. 80% of Tunisians are homeowners, a third of the budget goes on social payments and another third goes on education. Plus, Tunisia is the first country in the Arab League to have abolished bigamy.
This is the country which we keep on attacking for reasons which sometimes border on the ridiculous – and, Mrs Flautre, our attacks even include Mr Ben Brik, who should be considered as one of our main partners.
One cannot help but see all this as some sort of strange put-up job and I should like to say to Tunisia that, even if Europe appears to be turning its back on it, France shall continue to treat it as one of its main partners."@en1
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