Mr President, I would like to reiterate the welcome to Mr Marzouki and Mr Ksila, and in doing so, I would like to show my respect for the tenacity that they have shown in overcoming the obstacles put in their way by the Tunisian authorities in order to visit us here. These obstacles will be familiar to all the democrats who, at some time or another, have sought to speak freely about their situation. This is the fate of Sihen Ben Sedrine, who is being prevented from carrying out his professional duties since his publishers, Aloès, were closed down for having taken on the journalist, Taoufik Ben Brik. Furthermore, his passport is still being withheld. Following the high-school students’ uprising, Taoufik Ben Brik’s hunger strike finally brought into the open, into the public domain, what international human rights organisations and some Tunisian democrats had been saying and writing for several years: the repressive police regime uses harassment, random punishment, torture, imprisonment, attacks on personal dignity, and prohibits people who wish to live freely from speaking, writing, travelling and meeting. Who today can still deny the truth of this or claim that they were unaware of it? We should be talking about the Tunisian ‘mirage’ rather than the Tunisian ‘miracle’. What good is economic success if it is achieved by force and benefits only one particular clan? What good is the praise of international financial organisations in the face of UN accusations of torture? The fact that democracy and the rule of law form an essential integral part of our association with Tunisia means, quite simply, that there can be no genuine association without democracy. All those, like myself, who are working for a closer partnership, for a fair association and for lasting cooperation are faced with a difficult challenge: to put democratic flesh on the bones of an agreement signed with a regime which proclaims it in theory but declaims against it in practice. In order to achieve these objectives, we must use the whole legal and institutional arsenal available to us – including, of course, the terms of the agreement itself – in order to bridge the gulf between form and content, words and deeds and between declarations and actual decisions. The fact that this debate, which we have awaited for several years, is now being held, is an achievement in itself. For democrats on both sides of the House, it marks the end of the strategy of polite pressure, which has been as secretive as it is inefficient. Yes, we want a meeting of the Association Council, which was created as a result of the shortcomings observed in the way Article 2 of the agreement was being implemented! Yes, we must begin a process which is well organised, binding, and which signposts tangible and demonstrable progress: a halt to torture, the return of passports and the reconnection of telephone lines can and must be implemented immediately! There must be a precise timetable, which is respected, for the recognition of associations and independent political groups such as the CNLT (the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia), the RAD and the Democratic Forum, respect for union freedom, for the integrity of the judicial system and the reform of the press code. Yes, the European Union must be capable of supporting projects which strengthen civil society and democracy, without being at the mercy of the dictates of the Tunisian authorities! Yes, we must broaden the dialogue to include all the diverse and independent operators in Tunisian society!

Political group: Verts-ALE