Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-21-Speech-4-011"
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"en.20100121.2.4-011"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by both thanking and congratulating the Commissioner for the position taken by the Commission on this matter. I am in complete agreement with this position, since it seems far more reasonable than the stance taken by those who called for today’s debate, and I am unsure exactly whose suggestion it was.
As has been said, Tunisia was the first Euro-Mediterranean country to sign an association agreement, and is an active partner in the European Neighbourhood Policy. It is worth pointing out, as Mr Kasoulides has done, that, on 1 January 2008, Tunisia became the only Mediterranean country to have a free trade relationship with the European Union. This cooperation is working very well, and Tunisia is proving to have an excellent absorption capacity. Tunisia has achieved substantial progress, which has resulted in a very high standard of development with socio-economic results acknowledged by international institutions. In economic terms, Tunisia achieved an average growth rate of 4.6% between the years 2002 and 2008. Moreover, it has succeeded in reducing its debt burden.
In social terms, it would be unfair to ignore the progress made, particularly on behalf of women. The indicators speak for themselves: 59% of students in higher education are female. Education is compulsory across the board for females aged from 6 to 16, and women account for almost a quarter of the working population in Tunisia.
I admit that these results obviously cannot obscure the urgent need to encourage the Tunisian authorities to make further advances in human rights and governance; we are well aware that there is still work to be done. Like other speakers, I am concerned about this issue, for the sake of the democratic values that we uphold. However, it is also important to remember that we are not the only ones to uphold these values. They are also at the heart of Tunisian society, which is a dynamic and pro-European society.
For these reasons, we must support Tunisia’s request to be granted an advanced status in this partnership with the European Union. I also believe that it is through this dialogue that we will find the appropriate framework for encouraging our partners to make further progress in the field of governance.
We must conduct the dialogue with our partners without complacency, obviously, but also without resorting to the kind of sanctimonious dogmatism in which Europe all too often specialises and which is, moreover, often counterproductive.
Obviously, I am not insensitive to specific cases that some people have raised. We clearly have the right to question our partners about circumstances that we believe to be unacceptable, but I would like to finish by highlighting Tunisia’s success in establishing a political system based on the principle of separation between church and state.
The public authorities in Tunisia have the capacity to provide the people with a package of basic services, services that other countries in the region have not yet been able to implement, and I believe that it is important to point this out, too. I am therefore extremely optimistic about the future of relations between Tunisia and the EU, since they are being forged against a backdrop of mutual respect between partners who respect one another and have an understanding on the fundamental issues."@en1
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