EU Ambassador Urges Government to Maximize CSO Involvement in Legislative Process
On February 15, during his visit to Marneuli to meet with the local government representatives, the youth and the civic activists, EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński told journalists that the participation of civil society organizations in legislative and decision-making processes is “extremely important” and that it is the government ‘s responsibility to ensure their fullest possible engagement. He also alluded to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s planned visit to Brussels next week, and expressed the hope that Georgia and the EU “will agree on exactly what needs to be done so that we move very swiftly to the next stage, to the opening of accession negotiations.”
According to Amb. Herczyński, this requires “inclusivity on part of the government and constructive approach on part of the opposition, as well as full involvement of civil society, so that there is a national unity on the issue of Georgia’s advancement on the path towards EU membership.”
In this context, the EU Ambassador noted that “due to some internal developments in the platform,” some “big civil society organizations” decided to leave the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform, and “now it is the the responsibility of the Georgian authorities to find a way in which all civil society organizations, the platform and also others who have left the platform, will be involved.”
Responding to a question about the ruling party’s controversial proposed amendments to the electoral code, which did not take into account the Venice Commission’s relevant recommendations, he noted that when it comes to legal solutions, the Venice Commission is “highest standard setter” and expressed hope that “the recommendations provided by the Venice Commission will be implemented to the fullest possible extent,” adding that this issue will “for sure” be discussed next week.
The EU Ambassador expressed the hope that work on the nine steps defined by the EU will continue in parallel with the pre-election campaign. He promised to support Georgia in its efforts, but noted that “the work needs to be done by Georgians themselves.”
Parliamentary Elections 2024
Paweł Herczyński announced his and EU ambassadors’ meetings with Georgian with political parties. He said: “Our intention is to meet all of them in the next couple of months so that we are very well informed as European Union member states about different ideas, different electoral programmes of every political party in Georgia.”
The EU Ambassador expressed hope that both the elections in 2024 and the preceding electoral campaign will be conducted “up to the highest international standards.”
Also Read:
- 01/02/2024 – EU Ambassador Talks Election Monitoring Importance at ISFED’s Election Support Project Launch
- 26/01/2024 – EU Ambassador Herczynski on Georgia’s 2024 Elections, Nine Steps, Reforms, EaP Index
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
