Paweł Herczyński, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia has advised the government of Georgia to boost the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the process of legislation making.
These comments of the European Union Ambassador came during his visit to Marneuli on the 15th of February 2024. He visited here to meet with the local government representatives, the youth, and the civic activists.
On this occasion the EU Ambassador to Georgia told journalists that the participation of civil society organizations in legislative and decision-making processes is “extremely important” and the government should think about this with seriousness.
According to the European Union Ambassador it is the government ‘s responsibility to ensure the fullest possible engagement with the civil society organization. He also signalled to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s planned visit to Brussels next week.
He expressed the hope that “Georgia and the EU will agree on exactly what needs to be done so that we can move very swiftly to the next stage for the opening of accession negotiations.”
EU Ambassador speaking further also noted that due to some internal developments in the platform in the past years some of the big civil society organizations had decided to leave the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform now, it is 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 to join the platform again.
At the same time Ambassador while responding to a question about the ruling party’s controversial proposed amendments to the electoral code noted that when it comes to legal solutions, the Venice Commission is the “highest standard setter”. The ambassador also hoped that “the recommendations provided by the Venice Commission will be implemented to the fullest possible extent by the Georgian government.
The EU Ambassador expressed his hopes that work on the nine steps defined by the EU will continue in parallel with the pre-election campaign and that it will make the smooth transition of Georgia into the European Union as well.
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