After the EU-Morocco Mobility Partnership, signed in June 2013, another South Mediterranean country has come to sign such an agreement with the EU. On 3 March the EU and Tunisia signed a Mobility Partnership, which “aims to facilitate the movement of people between the EU and Tunisia and to promote a common and responsible management of existing migratory flows”, said Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. 

The Partnership offers a flexible and non-legally binding framework that should allow the EU and Tunisia to jointly tackle the challenges in the Mediterranean, mainly the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers, prevention of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. This agreement should also be an incentive to support better integration of Tunisian nationals legally residing in the EU as well as of migrants legally living in Tunisia. 

Another set of objectives of the Partnership focuses on learning mobility in that partners will work to improve the availability of information on education, employment and training opportunities in the EU for qualified Tunisian nationals. They will also encourage the recognition of degrees between professional and higher education institutions in the two countries. 

The agreement with Tunisia was signed by 10 member states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Apart from the two North African countries, Mobility Partnerships have already been signed with Cape Verde, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, and one with Jordan is underway.

Press release

EU-Tunisia Mobility Partnership