The European Commission is fundamentally overhauling the way payments are made to Tunisia after a Guardian investigation revealed countless abuses by EU-funded security forces, including widespread sexual violence against migrants.

Officials are setting out "concrete" conditions to ensure that future European payments to Tunisia can only continue if human rights are not violated.

The conditions will affect payments worth tens of millions of pounds over the next three years.

Last year, The Guardian detailed accusations that Tunisia’s National Guard raped hundreds of migrants, beat children and colluded with people smugglers.

Critics will see the shift in Europe's stance on Tunisia as an admission that the controversial 2023 Tunisia-EU deal prioritizes reducing EU migration numbers over human rights.

The EU has so far denied accusations of wrongdoing in its dealings with Tunisia, saying it has one of the most sophisticated systems for monitoring human rights abuses.

However, officials have now confirmed that new arrangements are being worked out for relations with the increasingly authoritarian North African country "in the coming years".

A commission spokesman described the reset as a "reenergization" of relations between the two countries, adding that a series of subcommittees would be established over the next three months to ensure that between now and 2027, human rights are at the forefront of its relationship with the country. The core of the country’s dealings.

"Human rights and democratic principles are at the heart of the EU's relationship with its partners," the spokesman said.

EU ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, whose recent report concluded the commission was not transparent about the information it held on human rights in Tunisia, said: "Reports on the human rights situation in Tunisia are very worrying ”

O'Reilly said she Urged to introduce conditions to claw back EU funds in cases of abuse breaches.

"I ask the European Commission to set clear criteria for suspending EU funds due to human rights violations," she said.

The Guardian report last September prompted the European Union to call on Tunisia to investigate the allegations, but nothing has been made public since. Instead, the commission has taken the matter into its own hands to ensure that its dealings with Tunisian President Kais Saied did not involve abuse.

There are reports that repression in Tunisia has intensified since Saied was awarded a second term in October last year, resulting in a crackdown on immigrant rights activists and some media.

Human rights groups believe a tougher EU stance against Saied could prompt the bloc to take similar measures against other countries that have struck deals to reduce migration in Europe.

Concerns have been raised over human rights reviews agreed by the EU with Egypt and Mauritania, as well as plans to provide more funding to other countries such as Morocco.

O'Reilly, who will leave her job next month, said: "The apparent normalization of outsourcing of migration to non-EU countries must not obscure the fact that the fundamental rights and obligations of EU institutions remain unchanged.

“These obligations should not be sacrificed for expediency or to satisfy geopolitical concerns.”