on the implementation by Georgia of the EU recommendations
“The situation has not changed and two priorities remain to be implemented – depolarization and deoligarchization” – Vano Chkhikvadze, European Integration Program Manager, representative of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, spoke about the assessment of the degree of implementation of 12 EU recommendations by Georgia, prepared jointly by the NGO sector.
The authors of the report are the following NGOs: “Institute for Democracy Studies”, “Judicial Oversight Body”, “Georgian Democratic Initiative”, “Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies”, “Public Administration Monitoring Center”, Association of Reforms of Georgia”, “Partnership for Human Rights” and “Sapari”.
According to NGOs, out of 12 recommendations of the European Commission, one has been fully implemented, two – to a large extent, seven – partially implemented, and two – deoligarchization and depolarization – have not yet been implemented.
Details:
According to the NGO report, the requirement to actively review the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been fully implemented.
To a large extent, the items concerning the election of an ombudsman and gender equality have been implemented.
The recommendations on the involvement of civil society, vulnerable groups, electoral reform, independent judiciary, media, anti-corruption and combating organized crime have been partially implemented.
Deoligarchization and depolarization have not been implemented yet.
“Time is very short, every minute counts, considering that in mid-October the European Commission will make a final decision,” says Vano Chkhikvadze.
He adds that the Georgian government did not cooperate with non-governmental organizations in implementing the recommendations.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that the government has approved an action plan on de-oligarchization, which is among the 12 recommendations of the European Union. And, according to him, if Georgia does not get the status of a candidate for EU accession, “it will be a great injustice that we will not tolerate.”
Earlier, on September 14, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhei said that the Georgian government has implemented only three of the 12 EU recommendations, namely: gender equality, taking into account the decisions of the ECHR and transparency of the process of nomination of candidates for the post of ombudsman. Varhei emphasized that every minute is important now, as the European Commission will present its final report on the country’s progress in October.
Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze called the “three out of 12” assessment a manipulation.
On June 17, 2022, the European Commission prepared an opinion on granting candidate status to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine and Moldova were granted the status, while Georgia was ordered to first implement a 12-point recommendation plan. The Georgian government is currently working on the implementation of this plan. Whether Georgia will be granted candidate status will become clear in December 2023.
