As part of his visiting fellowship in the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), ABI staff member Philipp Wagner has published a policy brief on European-Tunisian energy cooperation.
Cooperation on clean energy will be an important facet of the EU’s “Pact for the Mediterranean”, a new strategic initiative to connect the bloc with its neighbours in North Africa and beyond, with the aim to build a “common Mediterranean space”. The EU and Tunisia share interests in accelerating the latter’s nascent green transition. However, President Kais Saied’s increasing authoritarianism has strained EU-Tunisia relations since 2019. To date, Europeans have also struggled to find a coherent approach to clean energy cooperation with Tunisia, or factor the nuances of its political landscape into their engagement.
Wagner argues that a new approach following the ethos of the Pact for the Mediterranean – concrete projects that focus on mutual benefits for economies and people across society – could make further cooperation on renewables more feasible. This would boost Tunisia’s economic development and empower its citizens beyond the usual elites. It could also act as a litmus test for the EU’s green diplomacy in other challenging political environments.
Find the full policy brief on the ECFR website.