In his address, the Secretary General of the UGTT, Hussein Abassi, underlined the major challenges his country is confronted with in order to complete the fundamental democratic changes. UGTT will contribute to establish authentic democratic institutions and to work on a broad consensus, based on human rights and social justice.

Judith Kirton-Darling, ETUC Confederal Secretary, reaffirmed the continuous support of the ETUC to its Tunisian sister organization that continues to play a central role in the transition process. The ETUC will continue to represent the interests of the UGTT and all the Maghreb trade unions vis-à-vis the European institutions. “Bilateral agreements on trade between the EU and the Maghreb countries must contain the basic ILO conventions concerning trade union rights, labour standards and child and forced labour” said Judith Kirton-Darling.