Economy Minister says Gov’t expecting EU candidacy after meeting with bloc envoys

Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Monday said his Government expected to be granted the European Union membership candidate status, with the comment coming after his meeting with a delegation of special envoys of the EU and the bloc’s member states in the Eastern Partnership programme. 

We talked about the upcoming decision of the European Commission [on whether Georgia should be granted the status], which we expect to be positive [...] Our expectation is that Georgia will receive not only candidate status, but also successfully continue the integration process in Europe”, Davitashvili said.

He added the meeting also reviewed the progress made by the country after gaining a European perspective last year, and said the Government had approved over 100 regulatory acts over the past and “addressed all requirements” made by the bloc for the status.

The Minister said the delegation lauded the domestic progress in economic development. 

It was also mentioned that Georgia is quite convincingly implementing reforms that are an example for other countries. We also talked about the prospects of economic cooperation with the EU, especially emphasising the issues of connectivity - this was Georgia's initiative in the process of EU integration, which should be as useful for the bloc as it is for Georgia”, Davitashvili said.

The official said the meeting also drew “significant attention” to improvement of transport and logistics connections, as well as direct electricity supply. 

All this is important not only for our economy, but also very important for the economic security of Europe”, the Minister said.

The meeting was attended by EU special envoys from Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.