Debate: Implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Georgia
Date: MONDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2020
Speaker: Kati Piri
Language: EN

As we are discussing a report focusing on the implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia, I would like to recall that the Association Agreement is a comprehensive framework that covers a wide range of policy areas from political dialogue, rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, all the way to economic and trade relations. The report points out that enhanced cooperation and EU assistance to Georgia are based on the more-for-more principle and are conditional on continued reform processes across all policy areas. Georgia has undertaken ambitious reforms and achieved a lot. It deserves to be underscored that Georgia’s European aspirations enjoy broad support among almost all the political parties as well as among the Georgian people. The report also recalls that the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and ECFTA aims to gradually integrate the country with the EU single market and calls on the Commission to be more vocal in promoting and advancing this goal. Political life in Georgia, as we all know, is lively and dynamic. A worrying trend is the increased polarisation of the political scene. This report underscores the need to de-escalate the political discourse and continue reforms in order to guarantee media freedom and independence of the judiciary. Recently, Georgia has experienced a period of tensions between the government and the political opposition over changes to the electoral system. At the end of June the Georgian parliament passed a constitutional amendment that is designed to provide for more proportional representation and, hopefully, for more pluralistic political discourse after the parliamentary elections in 2020. With those elections approaching, the report emphasises the need to uphold and protect media freedom and guarantee equal access to the media for all political parties during this important election campaign. The elections will take place on 31 October, and I believe that if the COVID-19 situation allows for it, the European Parliament should also dispatch an election observation mission to Georgia. The report commends Georgia’s internationally-acclaimed response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and I would also like to highlight the exemplary cooperation between the EU and Georgia in responding to this crisis. And while assessing the progress Georgia has made, we cannot forget that one fifth of the territory of the country continues to be occupied. Hundreds of thousands of people are unable to return to their homes or face restrictions to their fundamental rights and freedom. And in addition, Georgia continues to be a target of Russian hybrid activities. The report strongly condemns the ongoing provocations and the borderisation activities that continue along the administrative boundary line. Finally, the report received the almost unanimous support of the Foreign Affairs Committee in this House, and the rapporteur, Sven Mikser, would like to thank all the political parties and the Groups who expressed their support to the legitimate aspirations of the Georgian people as well as to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.