All conditions for EU candidacy “almost met" - ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed the domestic authorities had “almost fulfilled” the 12 priorities outlined by the European Union last year for granting Georgia its membership candidate status. 

In his comments while presenting a report on the implementation of the conditions, Kobakhidze said the country had three months remaining to "practically implement" several of the conditions, before the bloc's scheduled decision on the status in December. 

He added the Government needed consultations with the bloc structures on three topics involved in the conditions, which Kobakhidze said included deoligarchisation, judiciary, and regulations related to financial crime and money laundering. 

Discussing each priority, Kobakhidze said the meeting of another condition, on depolarising the domestic political environment, required efforts both from the ruling party and the opposition, noting a part of opposition actors had refused to join the Government's work to meet the conditions. 

On the recommendation related to increasing effectiveness of domestic institutions, Kobakhidze highlighted strengthening of Parliamentary supervision and electoral reform. He also noted more than 90 percent of the electorate would cast votes electronically in the 2024 Parliamentary elections.

Reviewing "very important changes" in the domestic judiciary as part of work to meet another condition, he said the procedures for electing judges in the Supreme Court and in the first and second instance had been improved. 

Georgia officially applied for EU membership in March 2022. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge. 

He said the changes also included “increased accountability” for candidates  applying for membership of the Supreme Court, new regulations to ensure impartiality of judges and disciplinary proceeding, adoption of a bill on the new, temporary procedure for electing the Prosecutor General with its first reading, and election of three of the five members in the High Council of Justice - a body selecting and appointing judges across the country. 

Noting the condition on anti-corruption efforts, the lawmaker made a mention of the newly created Anti Corruption Bureau, abolition of the State Inspector’s Office in 2021 and the establishment of two separate entities for probing abuse of power and personal data protection.

In remarks on the condition on deoligarchisation, Kobakhidze said the ruling party was expecting “concrete responses” from the bloc over the specific note, following the Venice Commission’s recommendations last month that called for a “systemic, not individual approach” to the issue.

Reviewing recommendations on combating organised crime and improving media environment, Kobakhidze said the Parliament had approved the 2022-2024 action plan against organised crime and stressed the law on broadcasting had undergone “major changes”. 

To meet the condition on human rights, the human rights strategy has been approved, in addition to a new law on personal data protection, he said,adding the  Government had approved two action plans -  the National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Resolution 1325 on Women for Peace and Security and the National Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. 

To ensure gender equality in line with the related condition, the official stressed state concepts of gender equality and the economic empowerment of women had been approved and the law on violence against women had been amended. He noted changes had also been introduced in the election code for gender quotas and the criminal law had regulated the issues related to sexual crimes, involuntary abortion and forced marriage. 

Georgian officials say they expect "a fair. merit-based" decision from the EU on the candidate status later this year. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge. 

Discussing the condition on the engagement of the civil sector in decision-making, Kobakhidze said domestic organisations had been invited to the working groups to work along with other actors for meeting the conditions, except those which he said had been demanding change in the Government months before the launch of the work. 

To ensure enforcement of the European Court of Human Rights rulings - the 11th recommendation - Kobakhidze noted a bill had been approved that required domestic courts to consider ECHR judgements while making decisions. 

Addressing the final condition, on the election of an unbiased Public Defender, Kobakhidze said an opposition candidate had been approved earlier this year with 96 votes in the 150-member Parliament. 

In his comments, Kobakhidze also claimed not receiving The EU candidate status would be a “negative signal” and “not a merit-based decision”, adding while granting the country the status was unlikely to end political polarisation, it would ensure “fundamental changes” to the domestic political scene. 

He also accused unspecified foreign forces of backing the “radical United National Movement” opposition party since it lost elections to the Georgian Dream coalition in 2012, adding it was a "local division of the global war party” which he claimed aimed at “dragging” Georgia into the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

The main factor why the  European Council last year refused to grant Georgia the [EU candidate] status was the negative influence on the body [by the unspecified forces]", Kobakhidze said, adding it was "easy to influence the Council, because 27 states make a decision by full consensus”. 

He also asked “Moldova is forgiven for being cautious [with policies on the backdrop of the war] and Georgia is not?”, in reference to critics of the Georgian Government's decisions with regards to relations with Russia since the start of the conflict. 

Kobakhidze also noted the presence of UNM in Georgian politics was the “source of political polarisation", which he said would "continue until their destruction".