EU, Tunisia to conclude free trade agreement by '19 end

BRUSSELS, April 24 (KUNA) -- The European Union (EU) and Tunisia agreed on Tuesday to conclude a Free Trade Agreement before the end of 2019.
Speaking to the press after his meeting this evening with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he is impressed by the evolution of Tunisia towards more democracy, freedom and social justice. He said they agreed to conclude the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Tunisia before the end of 2019 at the latest.
The head of the EU's executive body said he will pay an official visit to Tunisia in July.
On his part, Chahed said that they discussed different topics like the support provided by the European Commission to the Tunisian government since the revolution, the work programme, as well as the priorities for the years 2018-2020. Tunisia would also like to finalize the Free Trade Agreement quickly. In that context, 30 million additional tons of olive oil will be marketed to the EU as Tunisia had to face an excess production these last two years, he noted.
Regarding the issue of terrorism, Tunisia has managed to make a lot of progress and has now a lot of experience in the domain of counter-terrorism, he added.
Earlier today, Chahed discussed democratic stability, illegal migration and coming local elections in Tunisia with the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. (end) nk.gb