EU Ombudsman disgraces Brussels by hiding its evaluation on human rights before the migration agreement with Tunisia

BRUSSELS Oct. 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Ombudsman of the European Union, Emily O’Reilly, criticized the European Commission this Wednesday for not publishing the conclusions of its analysis of the human rights situation in Tunisia, which she says she carried out before signing this document. country an agreement of 150 million euros for reforms that includes commitments to contain irregular migration flows.

Thus, the European body warns that the Community Executive “has not published any information on the risk management exercise on which it was based” to sign the Memorandum of Agreement with Tunisia in 2023 and this “despite the concerns of the public opinion” on the situation of Human Rights and the treatment of migrants.

In his report, O’Reilly also highlights Brussels’ obligation to “guarantee that European funds do not support actions that violate Human Rights” and calls on Ursula von der Leyen’s Executive to establish and publish “concrete criteria” to suspend funding. to Tunisia in case serious violations are identified.

The agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the Tunisian authorities includes provisions on the fight against irregular migration, support for the management of the external border and measures against smuggling.

Given the criticism received, Brussels argued that it was not obliged to carry out a specific evaluation on the impact on Human Rights before the signing of the pact in question but that, despite this, it completed a similar “evaluation exercise” but has never published the results despite the request of non-governmental organizations.

In this context, the Ombudsman insists that a formal evaluation of the risk to fundamental rights posed by the application of the agreement would have been preferable and emphasizes that this type of analysis must be made public; Therefore, it demands that Brussels carry out a transparency exercise and publish a summary of the risk management exercise it evokes.

Asked about this communication, the Commission has limited itself to “taking note” of O’Reilly’s conclusions and recommendations and welcomed that the investigation has in any case been closed. “The European Commission attaches great importance to transparency,” said community spokesperson Ana Pisonero, who also stated that Brussels “is always willing to consider possible ways to improve the supervision of Human Rights.”