The European Union has granted Tunisia two donations of 27 million Euros in support to civil society and funding for the competitiveness of services.
The related agreement was signed, Monday, July 9, at the headquarters of the Prime Ministry at the Kasbah.
The signature was affixed by the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule, Tunisian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Riadh Bettaieb, Minister of Trade and Handicrafts, Bashir zaafouri and Minister of Industry, Mohamed Lamine Chakhari, in the presence of Interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.
The first agreement pertains to the civil society support program (CSSP) to support civil society in order to strengthen the effective contribution of Tunisian civil society organizations to political dialogue and the consolidation of the rule of law and the socio-economic development of Tunisia.
Formulated with the help of nearly 200 organizations Tunisian civil society, this € 7 million program will span four years and support consultancy and training actions of civil society organizations at the local level, encourage formulation of initiatives and partnerships between state and the civil society to achieve local development initiatives while helping to revise the procedures, mechanisms and regulations governing the operation and work of the civil society.
“CSSP falls within the framework of the EU in support of the partnership, reforms and inclusive growth to give a concrete answer to countries engaged in a genuine process of democratic transition in perspective of good governance in matters of involvement and consultation of civil society for political construction and the social, cultural and economic development of Tunisia,” said Stefan Fule.
CSSP will be overseen by a committee chaired by an independent figure and composed mainly of representatives of civil society. The goal, according to the Tunisian minister of international cooperation, is to lead to the emergence, at the end of this program, of a platform that will support the development of a lasting partnership with civil society.
The second agreement relates to the Program of Support to Services Competitiveness (PSSC) whose primary objective is to contribute to improving the competitiveness of Tunisian services companies while promoting the entrepreneurial environment in the services sector by better defining its needs and through targeted actions at both public and private levels. It also seeks to strengthen the institutional capacity of the public sector and intermediary organizations and bodies representing the private sector.
The program provides direct support to over 400 businesses and improving the business environment sector as a whole by supporting the upgrading of intermediary organizations and sectoral bodies representing the private sector, good practices and the success of the national upgrading program of the industrial base.
