EU-Georgia Association Parliamentary Committee praises progress achieved in 2014-2018
The conclusion released by the EU-Georgia Association Parliamentary Committee praises the efforts of the Georgian government to peacefully resolve conflicts. Photo: Parliament’s press office.
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EU-Georgia Association Parliamentary Committee, which discusses and assesses progress in the EU-Georgia relations, has held its eight meeting in Strasbourg yesterday and praised the progress achieved by Georgia between 2014 and 2018.
The meeting was chaired by head of Parliament’s European Integration Committee Tamar Khulordava and chair of the EU-Georgia Association Parliamentary Committee, a member of the European Parliament Sajjad Karim.
The committee concluded that the EU-Georgia Association Agreement (AA) and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deals are being successfully implemented.
One of the biggest achievements of the EU-Georgia relations is a visa free deal, with 300,000 Georgians using the opportunity,” the committee said in its conclusion.
The committee welcomed the measures taken by the Georgian government to hamper illegal flow of Georgians to the EU-member states.
The Georgian government members briefed the committee regarding the measures against the illegal flow of Georgians abroad and the situation in the two occupied regions of Georgia. Photo: Parliament's press office.
The committee conclusion in short:
- We believe that the new format of meeting between the Georgian PM and the head of the European Commission firstly held in 2018 is important for the Georgia-EU relations.
- We welcome the use of the AA and DCFTA deals by the Georgian government which has made the EU the top trade partner for Georgia.
- We welcome the regulations pushed forward by the Georgian government, as well as the information campaign, which aim to meet the demands of the EU-Georgia visa-free agreement.
- We welcome the readiness of Georgia to be Europe’s top partner for energy security in the region. We also welcome the development of new transport ties between Europe and Georgia.
The committee reaffirmed its strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, condemned Russian aggressive activities on the Georgian territory and welcomed the steps by the Georgian government to peacefully resolve conflicts.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has warned Georgian citizens, who have plans to enter the Schengen Zone, to have all necessary documentation and on their person, as Georgian embassies in the Schengen Zone countries have no legal levers to interfere in the decisions of immigration officers if they say that some of the documents are absent or invalid.
The third Association Implementation report released by Euroepan Commission says that Georgia's Association Agreement commitments, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, have been implemented in line with agreed timelines.
The process for changing one’s surname has been made more difficult with the amendments prepared by the Ministry of Justice and passed by the Georgian parliament. The new regulations will help the Georgian government to easily identify citizens who violate visa free travel rules while the current law allows a person to change one’s surname 25 times or more on different grounds.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has confirmed today that new regulations will be established concerning the changing of surnames to prevent Georgian citizens from violating the Georgia-EU visa free regulations.
The Georgian parliament has presented the action plan of the implementation of the EU Association Agreement (EUAA) for 2019-2020, defining the parliament’s activities in the process.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition are blaming one another for the inability of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee to agree on the text of a joint resolution during its ninth meeting in Strasbourg yesterday. Ruling party officials say that the country has a ‘harmful opposition’ who is unhappy with Georgia’s progress under the current state leadership, while the opposition says that the government is ‘incompetent and dangerous.’