EC Director General: Agents’ Law Will Create Serious Obstacles for EU Integration
On May 2, the European Commission’s Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman spoke to journalists about the Foreign Agents draft-law and the ongoing protests against it, stressing that the law “as it stands unacceptable and will create very serious obstacles on EU accession path”.
Director General Koopman commented on the current situation in Georgia, underlining that it’s “really worrisome”, condemning violence on the streets of Tbilisi and emphasizing that the law if passed will stand in the way of Georgia’s EU integration. He also stresses that “progress on the nine steps is so far limited and that is also not a good thing, however, there is still time,” and that before the recommendations are issued in September and a report on enlargement is published in October, “the ball is very firmly is in the court of the [Georgian] government” to work on implementing these necessary reforms.
“My door is always open, Commission is here to work with candidate countries. I detected some openness to pursue this. I know that the Georgian people want to move closer to the EU and trust that their government will also want that, I also sense that.” he said adding that he hopes that current “the very difficult situation” “can be addressed” He also noted that “ultimately it is now for the Georgian government to step forward.”
Koopman emphasized that the time that is left before the law is fully passed “needs to be used to debate the substance of the law,” adding that the law “clearly is not acceptable to us as it stands, it’s not compatible with European values” adding that as such, transparency is a good thing. He said: “So I hope that this law will not be adopted as it stands and that it can still evolve.”
Answering to the question on what is the difference between the Georgian draft law and the draft law proposed in the European Union, Koopman stated the EU has proposed a” very different type of law… The law is not meant to identify specific actors in society, to target them, and it certainly doesn’t designate them when their receive funding from foreign sources as working in the interest of foreign sources, so it’s a different set up all together.”
Commenting on the ongoing protests, Koopman stressed: “I think it is clear that seeing so many people in the streets is a clear sign of stress in society. Violence is always a bad thing so we’re concerned about that.” In addition, he noted that “generally there is a very tense climate in Tbilisi, there is escalation and polarization and I call on everyone to take the temperature down, this is very unhealthy.”
Also Read:
- 02/05/2024 – US Ambassador: GD Declined to Discuss Bilateral Strategic Partnership at Highest Level
- 02/05/2024 – Robin Wagener: EU Integration Will not Happen if Agents’ Law is Adopted
- 02/05/2024 – International Outcry over Police Crackdown on Protest against Foreign Agents Bill
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
