EU, Tunisia sign accord to regulate migration

Tunisia and the EU Monday formally established a Mobility Partnership to facilitate the movement of people between the EU and Tunisia.A joint declaration was signed by Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, and Tahar Cherif, Tunisian Ambassador to the EU , and the Ministers of the ten EU Member States involved in the Partnership: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom."This Mobility Partnership aims to facilitate the movement of people between the EU and Tunisia and to promote a common and responsible management of existing migratory flows, including by simplifying procedures for granting visa, " said Malamstrom in a statement."Through this Partnership, the EU and Tunisia will not only develop their bilateral relations in the fields of migration, mobility and security, but will cooperate together to better meet the challenges faced in the Mediterranean," she added.The EU and Tunisia began a Dialogue on Migration, Mobility and Security in October 2011, and negotiations on the Political Declaration for the EU-Tunisia Mobility Partnership were finalised on 13 November 2013, noted an European Commission statement. The Mobility Partnership with Tunisia is the second of its kind with a country bordering the Mediterranean, following the signature of the first such Partnership with Morocco in June 2013.Negotiations for a similar agreement are also in progress with Jordan.125, 594 requests for Schengen visas were submitted to consulates of Schengen countries in Tunisia in 2012, an increase of 14 percent over the figure for 2010.France receives the most visa requests (81 180), followed by Italy and Germany with around 10 000 requests each.According to Eurostat data on residence permits, 343 , 963 Tunisian nationals were legally resident in the EU in 2012, over half of them in France (185 010), with 122 438 living in Italy and 20 421 in Germany.