EU commission sees Tunisia's migration deal as 'blueprint' for region

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that she wants the EU’s recent economic and migration agreement with Tunisia to be a “blueprint” for European partnerships in the wider North African region.

Tunisia is a major departing point for migrants, with more than 75,065 small boats reaching Italy by July 14 so far this year, compared to 31,920 in the same period last year, official data showed. More than half of the arrivals this year were from Tunisia, which has overtaken Libya as the main launch pad for migrant crossings.

On July 16, the EU and Tunisia signed an agreement that included the bloc spending 100 million euros ($111 million) to combat human trafficking and tighten borders in the North African country. The agreement also covers economic stability, trade and investment and the green energy transition. 

“We want our agreement with Tunisia to be a template, to be a blueprint for the future, for partnerships with other countries in the region. We want to take a pragmatic approach based on shared values and interests,” von der Leyen said at the International Conference on Development and Migration, which took place in the Italian capital of Rome on Sunday. 

She highlighted the field of clean energy as an opportunity for investment partnerships between Europe and North African countries.

“This Mediterranean region has vast natural resources like sun, wind and immense landscapes in abundance. You have the potential and the ambition to be global energy powerhouses in a net-zero world. Europe is already supporting this ambition,” von der leyen said, citing the bloc’s hydrogen partnerships with Egypt and Morocco.

“We do not only want to build clean energy infrastructure, we also want to build bridges between the two shores of the Mediterranean,” she added.

The EU is helping fund a project by Tunisia to join its power grid to a much larger European electricity network through a 600-megawatt undersea cable to Italy.

Several other leaders from the Middle East and North Africa attended the conference, including United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who announced that his country would be pledging $100 million to support development projects in countries affected by irregular migration, Emirati state news agency WAM reported Sunday. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was hosting the conference, welcomed the funding from the UAE.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz also attended the conference, where he called on the international community to improve cooperation to address the political, social and economic aspects of irregular migration.