Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation, Yassine Brahim, and Ambassador of the European Union to Tunisia Laura Baeza signed, on Wednesday, the 4th Support Program to Economic Recovery on granting a donation worth € 100 million from the European Union to Tunisia to support reforms.
This donation aims to implement reforms jointly agreed by Tunisia and the EU. The assistance will focus on three main areas:
• Support for the democratic transition, by supporting the establishment of the Constitutional Court, but also by supporting the efforts for decentralization, to organize local elections and bring the Tunisian administration closer to citizens;
• The fight against unemployment mainly by strengthening the system of vocational training and boosting social dialogue through new tripartite agreements between the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment, the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and fisheries, the Federation of Building and Public Works and the respective branches of the UGTT;
• Reform of public governance, which will focus on the modernization of certain key internal functions of the state, to enhance its effectiveness. The effort will focus, in particular, on the renovation of the fiscal framework, strengthening the statistical system, not to mention the reform of the tax administration.
Funding will be allocated in two stages, depending on the progress of reforms: a first disbursement of € 75 million is planned for December 2015 and the second disbursement of € 25 million is scheduled for late 2016.
