GETTY Tunisia and the EU are set to strengthen their ties as part of the European Neighbourhood

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The scheme rewards association members with financial assistance in exchange for the promise of economic of social reforms. has previously been criticised for its empirical overtones. Despite its successes, the ENP, which extends the European Union’s influence out of Europe and into North Africa and the Middle East, has been sharply criticised in the past. As well as the empiracal overtones of the organisation, the closer ties between Eurocrats and controversial overseas regimes has also been condemned.

This is best highlighted by the forced resignation of the then-French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie over her links with the ousted Ben Ali regime in Tunisia. Tunisia, who were the first non-EU Mediterranean country to sign an association agreement with Brussels, is in dire need of infrastructual and organisational reform.

GETTY Tunisia's civil rights situation has improved since the Arab Spring but the country requires reform

ENP Commissioner Johannes Hahn said this week: “We cannot ignore the call of young Tunisians. They took to the streets in 2011 to demand not only rights and democratic freedoms but also to demand a better future with concrete prospects. “The revolution certainly pays off in terms of civil rights, but the young Tunisian democracy now needs to transform its economic and social structures. “The EU offers expertise and a wide range of incentive mechanisms to stimulate the economy and create opportunities for young people, who are among the most educated segments of the population but also the most underemployed."

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The EU is Tunisia’s biggest trading partner, with exports worth almost £7 billion. It also imports goods worth around £8n from the 28-country club. Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, said this week: "Tunisia is facing many challenges. As the European Union, we are and always have been, alongside the Tunisian people - and youth in particular.

GETTY Tunisia Prime Minister Habib Essid

“We are determined to strengthen democracy and the country's economic growth. “At this critical time that the entire region is experiencing, the European Union must better adapt its action to the Tunisian transition.

GETTY Tunisia was the first country in North Africa to sign an association agreement with the EU