PM reviews EU cooperation at Integration Commission meeting

Questions of the cooperation between Georgia and the European Union were discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of the country’s EU Integration Commission, led by the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

Members of the Commission reviewed the Government’s report for the European Commission, prepared for the first time in accordance with the Copenhagen criteria - a set of evaluations for estimating a country’s eligibility to join the bloc - within the framework of the EU enlargement package. 

The process of producing the report was coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government Administration said, with the European Commission set to assess the country’s progress based on political, economic and sectoral parts.

The meeting also noted Georgia’s switching from an associated country status to the ranks of states subject to enlargement last year, following the European Council’s granting of the European perspective to Georgia. The Commission will now prepare annual evaluation reports on Georgia, similarly to other countries in the process of accession.

Prepared according to the structure corresponding to the Copenhagen criteria, the Government report consists of 35 chapters and details efforts carried out within the framework of integration with the European Union over the past year.

Its compiling began in late February in accordance with the request of the European Commission, with all state agencies, legislative bodies and judicial authorities involved in the process.

The report describes the legislative, institutional and other types of activities carried out in connection with the rapprochement with the EU from May 2022 to the present day, including information on work in various sectoral areas.

The evaluation report of the European Commission will be published in the fall of 2023, with the European Council deciding whether to grant Georgia the membership candidate status based on the document.