The European Integration Commission of the Government of Georgia chaired by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday approved an action plan to meet the conditions by the European Commission outlined in its June 2022 and November 2023 reports for Georgia’s EU candidacy and bloc’s accession talks. 

Hailing the document as “very important”, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili said the European Council was expected to make the “only right and fair” decision next month through granting Georgia the bloc’s candidacy, following the European Commission’s positive recommendation on November 8. 

He also lauded the governmental commission as a “very effective” mechanism on the country’s EU path, and claimed the “main spirit” of the action plan was to ensure an “inclusive” process, with the engagement of “all interested parties” for the country’s final accession to the bloc. 

Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was granted a European perspective in June 2022, while Ukraine and Moldova, which also requested membership, received the bloc’s candidacy, which Tbilisi assessed as a “political, and not-merit-based move” by the bloc. 

In its recommendation in November, the  European Commission raised nine conditions for opening accession talks with Tbilisi if the latter obtained the status in mid-December, while it recommended such talks with Ukraine and Moldova.