EU offers additional €8m to support Georgia’s EU assimilation

The European Union (EU) has allocated a further €8 million (19 million GEL) to help Georgia improve its environmental legislation and make its institutions more transparent.

A corresponding financial agreement was signed by Georgia’s State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration David Bakradze and the EU Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman today.

The document will see the EU support Georgia to meet specific provisions of the Association Agreement (AA), the EU-Georgia deal signed last year which intended to bring the country closer to the EU.

Improving services provided to Georgia’s citizens will be the main focus of this EU financial aid, the Euro-Atlantic Integration Ministry said.

"Georgian institutions will seek the support of expertise and technical assistance in order to increase the quality of the services of some sectors of the public administration; and the adoption of legislation in the environment sector [to make it] in line with EU standards. More transparency will also facilitate the access to environment-related information by citizens,” the Ministry wrote on its website.

A portion of this financial package will be spent on supporting the country’s Data Exchange Agency, Parliament of Georgia and the Inter-Agency Gender Equality Commission.

See a more detailed scheme of how the money should be spent below.

• €3 million -- the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Recourses of Georgia; Purpose: Improving the environmental policy; ensure better understanding of environmental needs; better public access to environmental information and more transparency; approximation of the Georgian legislation with EU standards.
• €1.3 million -- Data Exchange Agency; Purpose: Establish a regulatory framework for electronic communications;
• €1 million -- Parliament of Georgia; Purpose: Increasing citizens' and Parliament's oversight on matters of security;
• €2.4 million -- Inter-Agency Gender Equality Commission; Purpose: Raising awareness among Government agencies of the gender issue; encourage stronger Inter-Agency Gender Equality Commission.
• €300,000 for information and awareness for Georgian citizens; Purpose: Providing more information for Georgian citizens about the implementation of the Association Agreement (AA).

The EU is already supporting Georgia through a €20 million (48 million GEL) package for the preparation and implementation of the provisions of the AA, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) and Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements.

Moreover, authorities said the EU would grant a new financial package worth €410 million (1 billion GEL) to Georgia if the EU assessment mission prepared a positive report on the country’s progress in May.