Majority pledges moves to address “four remaining issues” for Georgia’s EU candidacy

The ruling Georgian Dream majority on Monday pledged actions to address the issues that could create obstacles for the country’s obtaining the European Union membership candidate status later this year. 

 

Following the party session, Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the GD, announced the moves the majority planned to take to address the four key issues identified during the meetings with EU High Representative Josep Borrell earlier this month and other officials from the bloc, which he said included deoligarchisation, judiciary and electoral reforms. 

 

He stressed the Governmental commission had already approved an action plan on deoligarchisation that would be finalized after additional consultations with the European Commission. 

 

He noted by the end of this week the draft action plan would be sent to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for opinion, as recommended by the European Commission. 

 

Kobakhidze stressed the deoligarchisation bill adopted by the Parliament with its second reading earlier this year had lost its “practical relevance” by the approval of the action plan, and announced state legislature was expected on Tuesday to put the bill on its third and final reading and reject it due to its “personal, and not a systemic” approach to the issue. 

 

He also called on the European Commission to abandon the personalised approach, which he said was reflected in the 12 priorities outlined by the bloc last year for granting Georgia its membership candidate status, and which had been used by domestic and foreign politicians for “speculations”. 

 

 “As for deoligarchisation, we fully respond to the request of the European Commission”, Kobakhidze pledged. 

 

He noted the second issue raised by the EU officials concerned the domestic judiciary and additional amendments to the Organic Law On Common Courts. 

 

He claimed the parliamentary majority had already developed a relevant draft law, which would be reviewed and sent to the Venice Commission by the end of this week, adding the majority would also address the third issue related to the election of the officials in the country’s Central Election Commission. 

 

He stressed the Parliament would consider and adopt the draft law in the first reading during the current session week, and “in line with the recommendation of the European Commission”, the bill would also be sent to Venice Commission for opinion. 

Kobakhidze also said in accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, the legislation related to the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Special Investigation Service and the Personal Data Protection Service would be sent to the Venice Commission for feedback by the end of this week.

 

“We have a full response to all four issues raised by Borrell. We have a proper answer to all topics”, he said.

 

In addition, in accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission a national risk assessment document on money laundering will be approved in the near future based on the recommendations of “Moneyval”, he noted, and added the “Government of Georgia is doing everything to not leave even the slightest reason for Georgia, the Georgian people and the government of Georgia to once again been refused of the candidate status”. 

 

Kobakhidze also made a mention of Monday’s claims by the country’s State Security Service on an alleged plan of destabilisation in the country if the EU rejected Georgia’s candidacy in December, and called the findings “alarming”. 

 

“We hope that the Council of Europe will make a fair decision in December that will eliminate the radical opposition’s artificial reason for inciting radicalism in the country and will qualitatively reduce the so-called Polarization, the maintenance of which can only be in the interests of Georgia’s ill-wishers”, he said.