EU Commission’s report on Georgia’s EU candidacy conditions “confirms Gov’t efforts” - Parliament Speaker

Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Friday said the European Commission’s oral report on Georgia’s implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the former body last year for granting the country the European Union’s membership candidate status had “confirmed the efforts” by domestic authorities to meet the recommendations.

Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, said Georgia had “fully met” three of the conditions, “partially met” seven, showed “limited progress” on the deoligarchisation and “no progress” on media pluralism, following an informal meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Stockholm on Thursday.

The conclusion contrasted with statements by Georgian Government officials over the recent weeks, who had estimated all of the recommendations would be fulfilled by late June, but Papuashvili said the report had not reflected the Georgian Parliament’s most recent work on the conditions.

He also pledged an “intensive communication” with the bloc about “all moves and efforts” by the Georgian authorities to fulfil the conditions, to ensure they were “completely reflected” in the European Commission’s forthcoming report in October for the European Council on whether to grant Georgia the status in December. 

Considering the [interim] report, we are confident that by late October, when there is the final assessment based on our further work, all recommendations will be considered fulfilled”, Papuashvili said.

He also added Tbilisi was also expecting the EU Commission’s “clear stance” on its condition on deoligarchisation, following the recommendation of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to the Georgian Government earlier this month to ensure a “systemic” and not “personalised” approach to the issue. 

Government officials have claimed the European Commission’s 2022 recommendation on the issue contradicts the opinion of the Venice Commission and calls for a personalised legislative initiative targeting potential oligarchs in the country.