The European Parliament acknowledges Georgia’s results in fighting low and mid-level corruption leading to a good regional ranking in perception indexes, - reads the draft report on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Georgia, which is to be brought to a vote at the plenary sitting today.

The report highlights nevertheless that high-level elite corruption remains a serious issue; commends Georgia’s implementation of the AntiCorruption Strategy and its Action Plan; calls on Georgia to ensure that the AntiCorruption Agency is independent, free of any political interference and separated from the State Security Service; reiterates the importance of an effective separation of powers and a clear dissociation between politics and economic interests, and stresses that fighting corruption requires an independent judiciary and a solid track record of investigations into high-level cases of corruption, yet to be established; considers Georgia as an important partner of the EU in different fields of cooperation such as the fight against terrorism and organised crime;

The report “urges the Georgian authorities to put in place a fully-fledged independent and effective mechanism, separated from the authority of the general prosecutor’s office, for investigating and prosecuting cases of abuse by law enforcement officials in order to address the persistent lack of accountability; welcomes, therefore, the creation of the State Inspector’s Service for the investigation of human rights violations by law enforcement officers”.

The report expresses deep concern over the pressure being exerted by Turkey on Turkish residents in Georgia, as well as on educational institutions, such as the International Black Sea University due to their alleged affiliation to the Gülen movement;

The European Parliament urges the Georgian authorities to follow the case closely, ensuring that judicial procedures and any action taken are fully in line with European principles and standards; urges the EU to support and help the Eastern Partnership countries to withstand the pressure exerted over the last few months, in particular, by Turkey.

“The European Parliament takes note of the ongoing judicial reform and signs of greater impartiality and transparency of the judiciary, but recalls the Venice Commission’s concerns over proposed legislative amendments, which do not ensure the political neutrality of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia; calls for all the necessary measures to strengthen the justice system – including through a reinforcement of administrative capacity – to be put in place and for the full independence of the Judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office to be guaranteed, and calls for democratic scrutiny of the Ministry of Interior, including the police and the security services, which need overhaul and reform, also with a view to guaranteeing transparency, notably in terms of the selection, appointment and promotion of judges as well as in disciplinary proceedings pertaining to them; 25. Underlines the importance of ongoing public administration reforms; welcomes the newly enacted Civil Service Law and expects its rapid implementation with a view to ensuring a sustainable increase in public confidence; 26. Notes with concern that the Georgian Government has failed to adopt new legislation to improve the public’s access to information; deplores the fact that the proposed reform further limits access in this area; calls on the Georgian Government to ensure effective access to public information; recalls that this is an essential commitment made within the framework of the AA”, reads the draft report.