European Ombudsman probes EU Commission's human rights approach in EU-Tunisia Agreement
At the request of the European Ombudsman, an inquiry was launched into the European Commission's approach to ensuring respect for human rights in the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) “on a strategic and global partnership”. This inquiry follows concerns about the absence of a prior human rights impact assessment in the context of the Memorandum.
On 12 April 2024, the European Ombudsman has requested the Commission President von der Leyen to clarify how the Commission plans to guarantee the human rights impact of actions under the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic and global partnership and what measures it has in place, including the potential suspension of EU funding in case of human rights violations.
The Ombudsman’s inquiry stems from concerns surrounding the lack of a prior human rights impact assessment, particularly regarding the 'Migration and Mobility' pillar of the MoU and its associated actions. More specifically, the questions asked by the Ombudsman encompass the following:
- Can the Commission explain how the ‘EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World’ and cooperation instruments and actions provided for in the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement were relevant for its assessment of human rights implications of the MoU?
- Does the Commission have detailed criteria or implementing rules for its decisions on the suspension of funds?
- Does the Commission intend to publish on its website more details about the implementation of the MoU, including the projects and project partners, as well as how the implementation is monitored?
- Could the Commission provide greater information on specific results-oriented monitoring exercises it has conducted as regards Tunisia?
The Ombudsman requested the inspection of documents to take place before 15 May 2024.
This inquiry follows upon a first inquiry, addressed in September 2023 to Commission President von der Leyen, where the Ombudsman called for a periodic, systematic and effective human rights impact assessment of the actions under the MoU and to consider possible measures related to the funding provided in the deal to mitigate the risks of human rights violations.
If you want to read the second letter from the Ombudsman to the Commission President, please follow this link.
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