Maka Bochorishvili: The report proves once again that Georgia, together with other candidate countries, is an integral part of the EU enlargement policy, and talk about stopping the EU enlargement process is baseless

The presented report proves once again that Georgia, together with other candidate countries, is an integral part of the EU enlargement policy and the talk about the termination of the EU enlargement process in relation to Georgia is groundless, said Maka Bochorishvili, Chairman of the European Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, responding to the enlargement report published by the European Commission.

According to Maka Bochorishvili, despite the fact that the report contains critical assessments in certain areas, which are not alien to the process of integration into the European Union, Georgia is not lagging behind in terms of indicators determining the level of general readiness.

"On October 30, within the framework of the EU enlargement package, the European Commission published its annual evaluation report. The evaluation report includes an evaluation of the candidate countries within the EU enlargement package, including the states of the Balkan region, Turkey, as well as Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The European Commission, together with other candidate countries for EU membership, is assessing the quality of Georgia's rapprochement with the European Union for the second time.

The presented report proves once again that Georgia, together with other candidate countries, is an integral part of the EU enlargement policy, and the talk about the termination of the EU enlargement process in relation to Georgia is groundless.

Georgia applied to join the European Union in March 2022, taking into account the Constitution of Georgia, the will of the Georgian people and the successful implementation of the Association Agreement.

The granting of candidate status to Georgia in December of last year was based on the evaluation and analysis of the progress made by the European Commission in relation to Georgia, which revealed Georgia's progress in terms of democratic development, political association with the European Union, and economic integration.

The report published today assesses for the first time the legislative and institutional rapprochement of Georgia with the European Union, the effectiveness of reforms carried out within the framework of sectoral integration, and the fulfillment of 9 priorities defined by the European Council.

It is significant that the mentioned report quite positively assesses the degree of legislative and institutional compatibility of Georgia with the requirements of the European Union.

As you know, the degree of rapprochement with the legislation of the European Union is the most important basis for joining the European Union, without which membership in the European Union is impossible and unthinkable.

The report positively assesses progress in such areas as: education, public finance management, transport, energy, statistics, social policy, employment and protection of labor rights, as well as entrepreneurship and industrial policy and policy to support small and medium enterprises (SME).

It is also worth noting the positive assessment in such areas as the fulfillment of the commitments made within the framework of the Deep and Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), for example, food safety, customs control, public procurement, free movement of goods, services and capital, and competition policy.

The report emphasizes that Georgia cooperated with the European Union so that the territory of Georgia and legal entities registered in Georgia were not used to evade the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia;

Although the report contains critical assessments in certain areas, which are not alien to the process of integration into the European Union, Georgia is not lagging behind in terms of determining the level of general readiness.

On the contrary, despite the challenges that the Georgian government had to deal with during the current year, the progress recorded in the report is truly welcome and appreciated.

The report includes evaluations and recommendations in all 35 areas.

We will carefully study each recommendation, make an in-depth analysis of them and take them into account as much as possible in the process of further implementation of the EU Association Action Plan.

Taking into account the already achieved progress and the existing experience, the Georgian authorities have the ambition to fulfill more than 90 percent of the obligations under the Association Agreement with the European Union by 2028.

With this, Georgia will reach the highest point of rapprochement with the European Union and a solid foundation will be created for Georgia to be the most ready for EU membership in 2030 among the candidate countries.

During the last 10 years, Georgia has become an advanced country in the region in many directions, precisely on the basis of the successful reforms carried out under the governance of "Georgian Dream".

This is confirmed by studies and ratings of various independent international organizations.

Based on the trust declared by the Georgian people on October 26 and the strong mandate obtained, we can confidently say today that the government of the Georgian Dream will continue to fight for the development of the country and lead the country to a worthy European future.

In order for Georgia's progress towards the European Union not to be hindered, the process should take place in the format of a dialogue.

We expect that there will be enough openness on the part of the European Union so that, taking into account the progress and aspirations of Georgia, by working together and cooperating, we can successfully continue the process of integration of Georgia into the European Union and achieve even more progress in the near future", said Maka Bochorishvili.