21. Back from the brink: A better way for Europe to support Tunisia’s democratic transition
- Author:
- Tarek Megerisi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
- Abstract:
- Tunisia is seeking a major IMF bailout loan – but the risks of securing it are almost as great as the risks of failing to, given the conditionality that would ensue. Democratic reforms in Tunisia have stalled, but post-revolution economic progress has never even begun. Tunisian politicians urgently need to combine receipt of a new loan and its accompanying austerity with economic reform and renewal to grow their way out of the crisis. The Tunisia policy of the EU and its member states is similarly stalled, but they can assist Tunisian leaders by providing new investment – and thereby reboot the democratic transition. Success in this endeavour could provide a model for political and economic reforms elsewhere in North Africa, which is in the EU’s interest as it pursues its goal of strategic autonomy in the face of other powers’ growing influence in the region.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, European Union, Democracy, and Transition
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Tunisia