Civil society organizations address to EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi

To Mr. Olivér Várhelyi

European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement

Copy to: EU Delegation to Georgia,

Diplomatic Missions of EU Member States accredited in Georgia

Dear Commissioner,

We are pleased that in December 2023 European Union decided to grant Georgia Candidate status. It is an important step forward on the way towards EU membership for our country, which should be accompanied by speedy reforms in 9 priority areas identified by the EU Commission.

The involvement of civil society in the legislative and policy-making process still remains one of the key components across these nine steps. The undersigned organizations express readiness to play an active role, contributing to the European Integration and democratic transformation of Georgia, ensuring that the aspirations of the majority of the Georgian citizens to join the EU are adequately reflected in state policies.

We continue regularly monitoring the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, formulating suggestions for effective reforms, and advocating for the prioritization of the nine steps within the internal reform agenda. A Coalition uniting 12 CSOs [1] led by the Civil Society Foundation (formerly the Open Society Georgia Foundation) has prepared a detailed vision outlining how the nine steps defined by the European Commission should be effectively fulfilled to move to the next stage in European integration.

We are fully aware, that according to the established practice, the EU Commission evaluates the progress in implementing the reforms by enlargement countries on an annual basis. However, in our opinion, a publicly accessible midterm assessment would significantly accelerate the efficiency of the reform process. The interim oral report released on June 23, 2023, proved to be a positive experience, playing a crucial role and serving as an incentive for certain reform measures. It has emerged as a significant instrument for monitoring by Civil Society Organizations as well.

In light of the above-mentioned, and in the interest of facilitating and fostering the reform process, we kindly ask you to consider the possibility of preparing an interim evaluation report on Georgia. We believe that this approach will significantly enhance government accountability, and transparency in the reform process, and promote inclusivity and effective oversight.

Your support in this matter will contribute to the successful realization of our shared objectives.

Signatories:

1. Civil Society Georgia Foundation (CSF)
2. Union Sapari
3. Democracy Research Institute (DRI)
4. Governance Monitoring Center (GMC)
5. Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS)
6. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA)
7. Social Justice Center
8. Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
9. Georgian Court Watch
10. Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS)
11. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
12. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)