Georgia-EU relations after EaP Vilnius Summit

Georgia and the EU on 29 November formally committed to deeper integration with the initialling of an Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius. State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration speaks about Georgia-EU relations after EaP Vilnius Summit.  

It is an honor for me to address you after the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit. Initialing of the

Association Agreement including Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU at the

Summit, was an important step-forward towards Europeanization of Georgia.

Joining the European family of nations is the choice of Georgian people. After last years historic

parliamentary elections, all major political actors have reached consensus on foreign policy priorities,

including strong impetus to accelerate EU integration. Georgias recent presidential election has

even stronger stressed the populations choice for Europe.

Together with the EU we devoted significant efforts to negotiate the Agreement and reached the

most difficult "Post Vilnius implementation stage which requires mobilization of institutional

capacities and intensification of the reform process. At the same time, we believe that solid political

and financial support from the EU would have a crucial importance for effective implementation of

EU- integration agenda.

The Government of Georgia is committed to ensure sustainability, irreversibility and continuity of the

reforms in order to advance the political association and deep economic integration with the EU as

well as to enhance cooperation with the Partner Countries.

We are confident that the Association Agreement will bring the political and economic relations

between the EU and Georgia to the qualitatively new stage and will make the Europeanization of the

Country irreversible. In addition we believe that the DCFTA will open the EUs internal market,

promote export and increase investment attractiveness of the country. Association Agreement

together with the DCFTA could be seen as a modernization plan for the Country that will allow us to

achieve the level of development we have never reached before.

I am pleased with the first positive assessments of the implementation of the Visa Liberalization

Action plan by Georgia. Visa Liberalization is one of the most important deliverables from the EU side

as the real integration is impossible without close people-to-people contacts and cultural exchange.

Today, the EU is one of the strongest supporters of Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity and

European Union Monitoring Mission remains the only monitoring mechanism in the vicinity of

Russian-occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

At the same time we very much rely on EUs more active involvement in regional security and stability. We believe that the EU and the Eastern European partners share similar interests in building up a common space of stability and peace, as

far as our security is interlinked.

At the same time, vigorous promotion of the Moscow-led Eurasian Union indicates a new reality in

the EaP region and we have to face this changing environment. The EaP can only be successful and

bring feasible results if it thoroughly implements basic principles of differentiation, a tailor-made

approach that would facilitate individual partners to meet their expectations and allow the EU to

effectively apply the "more-for-more principle.

We are step-closer to achieving the final goal, which requires consolidated efforts aimed at making

Europe more secure and prosperous. We believe that Georgias advancement on its way to European

and Euro-Atlantic Integration through further economic modernization and democratic development

will greatly contribute to the reunification of the country and bring long-awaited prosperity and

stability.

This article was published in the newsletter of the Mission of Georgia to the European Union.