The civil initiative “Take a Step Towards the Europe” calls on the government to immediately start the reforms needed for receiving EU candidate status

“Step towards the Europe” responds to the European Commission’s recommendations to the Council of the European Union regarding the decision on whether to grant EU candidate status to the Associated Trio.

According to the document, the Commission’s views on Georgia are extremely critical, and unlike Ukraine and Moldova, it does not contain a recommendation to immediately grant candidate status to Georgia. The irresponsible attitude of the Georgian government towards the current process and the deliberate, damaging steps taken against the will of the Georgian people have undermined our country’s historic opportunity to become part of the European Union.

Despite the existing difficult situation, the European Union does not intend to abandon the Georgian people. This is evidenced by the list of actions outlined by the European Commission, which, upon fulfillment, will guarantee candidacy for EU membership. Before June 24, there is still a chance for the highest constitutional authorities to take swift steps to rectify the situation and thus send a strong message to the leaders of EU member states.

In the opinion of the European Commission based on the existing reality in Georgia, in order to receive candidate status, the following steps are necessary:

1. Reduction of political polarization in the spirit of the Charles-Michel Agreement.
2. Strengthening of the independence and accountability of all state agencies to ensure their democratic oversight.
3. Improvement of electoral legislation.
4. Justice system reform.
5. Anti-corruption reform.
6. De-oligarchization of Georgia.
7. Strengthening of the fight against organized crime.
8. Improvement of the media environment.
9. Protection of human rights, including those of vulnerable groups.
10. Enhancement of gender equality and elimination of violence against women.
11. Involvement of civil society in the decision-making process at all levels.
12. Enforcement of rulings of the Strasbourg court.
13. Selection of independent candidates in the process of electing the Public Defender.

We, the representatives of civil society, once again call on the higher authorities to show readiness to resolve the above-mentioned issues. We call on them to act and ensure that concrete initiatives are adopted so that the main obstacles are removed by June 24.

For our part, we are ready to provide the state agencies with the vision of reforms that we have produced over the years of our work.