European parliament to grant €300m loan to Tunisia

The European parliament has decided to grant a 300-million-euro loan to Tunisia to undertake economic and structural reforms. The decision was taken during a meeting held on Thursday between a delegation of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) visiting the Belgian capital and the delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries in the European parliament chaired by Euro deputy Pier Antonio Panzeri , TAP news agency reported.Joined by telephone in Brussels, NCA presidency Mofdi Mseddi said that during the meeting, NCA president Mustapha Ben Jaafar called on the European Union to support development efforts in Tunisia, with a view to helping reduce the regional disparities and undertake structural reforms.He highlighted the importance to establish a strategic partnership between the countries of the two Mediterranean shores, based on joint development, condition of good neighborliness and fight against security challenges faced by the region.According to the same source, Pier Antonio Panzeri asserted that at the request of Tunisia, the EU will double its financial support to implement partnership projects based on political co-operation and economic and social rapprochement.