As part of the negotiation process for the conclusion of the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (ALECA) between Tunisia and the European Union, the Technical Assistance for the Implementation of a Legal Observation System for the benefit of the Legal Advice Services for the purpose of Government Legislation aims to promote and improve the conditions of access to goods and services of this country in the European market.

In order to monitor changes and developments in European legislation, the project will provide the Tunisian State and its Government Legal and Legislative Advisory Services with the necessary tools and training to ensure the legal and permanent monitoring of this Agreement.

Tunisia was the first country in the southern Mediterranean to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. Thus, and since 1995, this Agreement provided the legal framework for cooperation and partnership between both parties. Two decades later, Tunisia and the European Union extended the scope of the previous Agreement by establishing, formally, a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement to cover non-tariff areas. These include, inter alia, trade in agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fisheries products, technical barriers to trade, trade and sustainable development, services, investment and e-commerce, intellectual property, competition rules and State aid, procedures customs and transparency rules.

To ensure the adoption of an appropriate and effective system which meets the citizens and consumer’s needs, the project will support the Government's Legal and Legislative Advisory Services in the process of coordination with European law. This entity provides legal aid to the Tunisian Government and is also responsible for the coordination and harmonization of legislative and regulatory texts.

In order to improve conditions for access to the European market for Tunisian goods and services, in particular through a gradual, regulatory and institutional approximation of that acquired to the European Union in the context of the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the Technical Assistance will focus, initially, in the diagnosis of the existing situation, considering the organizational, functional, human and material capacities of the Legal and Legislative Advisory Services.

Subsequently, and in a second phase, a strategic development plan will be drawn up in which will be identified the actions to be carried in the short, medium and long term.

In a third and final phase, the implementation of the strategic development plan will be monitored through the creation of a legal monitoring unit and, also, through the formalization of work procedures. This monitoring unit will, in this context, be established as the organization responsible for both monitoring and for the priority areas of the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Training sessions will also be organized and experiences in other countries will be considered (benchmarking).

Funded by the European Union for a period of 8 months, the project will have as its beneficiary the Presidency of the Tunisian Government, represented by the Government Legal Counsel Services and will be implemented by CESO under the Framework contract 'Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018' (FWC SIEA 2018).

CESO is present in all lots of SIEA 2018-2022

September 2018.