Parliament official: legislative body will withdraw deoligarchisation bill if European Commission considers it “unnecessary”
The Committee Chair responded to the comments by saying if they meant the Commission said the bill was “not necessary, then we will withdraw it”, while adding “if they say that it is necessary, they should explain to us how it is necessary”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday said the legislative body would withdraw the bill on deoligarchisation, a part of conditions for the country to obtain the European Union membership candidate status, if the European Commission considered it “unnecessary” for the country.
Kadagishvili’s comments followed the final opinion by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on the bill, which on Monday said the Georgian authorities had “chosen to tackle the destructive influence of oligarchisation through a [...] ‘personal approach’” with the bill “[r]ather than pursuing [a] multi-sectoral, ‘systemic’ approach” to the issue.
The Committee Chair responded to the comments by saying if they meant the Commission said the bill was “not necessary, then we will withdraw it”, while adding “if they say that it is necessary, they should explain to us how it is necessary”.
The Venice Commission does not have a problem with the legal status of the bill - it has a problem with whether or not there is a need for a law that personally defines who can be an oligarch”, the Parliament official noted, adding the Parliament would approve the bill and wait for the position of the European Commission on the matter.
In his turn, Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, cited Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, as having referred to the bill as a “good” legislative piece.
Sarjveladze added the attitude had created expectations that Ukraine, which has been working on its version of the bill, would start working on its implementation, and noted it was “unclear” why the opinion of Georgia’s Western partners “would be different” for the domestic version of the legislative initiative.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said he had addressed Claire Bazy Malaurie, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, with a request for an “urgent opinion” on the proposed domestic bill for deoligarchisation.
The Legal Affairs Committee in the Georgian Parliament on Wednesday supported the amended version of the deoligarchisation bill - proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of the work to meet the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status to the country - with the majority of votes.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the feedback received from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on the domestic bill on deoligarchisation, a part of the conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status, would be taken into account.
The Georgian parliament on Thursday approved the bill on deoligarchisation, a part of the conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status, in its first reading.
The Georgian parliament on Tuesday passed the deoligarchisation bill, with 81 votes against two, in its second reading, proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of the work to meet the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status to the country.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday highlighted the need for a “serious, conscientious and fair” attitude towards the country from the domestic opposition and the European Union.
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Saturday said the bloc needed to receive “good news” from Georgia regarding its progress on the conditions outlined by the EU last year for granting Tbilisi its membership candidate status, in order to create a “positive atmosphere” for future relations between the sides.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the ruling team would take into account requests of European partners and not approve the domestic bill on deoligarchisation - designed to address one of the conditions for Georgia to be granted the EU membership candidate status - until December.