Minister: Georgia, EU complete talks on association agreement
Georgian State Minister for Integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures Alexi Petriashvili has met with members of the board of public advisors on European integration.
According to the minister, the meeting discussed the dynamics of the negotiations between the EU and Georgia on signing an association agreement.
"We want the public to be informed about the process of negotiation. The last round of talks was held recently and today we have every reason to state that the initialling of the document will be possible at the Vilnius summit which will take place in the autumn," Petriashvili said.
Georgia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani noted that negotiations on the association agreement are almost complete and the parties are currently working on the technical details.
As was noted at the meeting, discussion of the most difficult parts of the agreement fell to the new Georgian government.
Relations between the EU and Georgia started in 1992 just after Georgia regained its sovereignty in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union. Bilateral relations have further intensified since the 2003 "rose revolution" which brought to power a new Georgian administration committed to an ambitious programme of political and economic reforms.
EU-Georgia bilateral relations are regulated by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) which entered into force on July 1, 1999. The European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan endorsed by the EU-Georgia Cooperation Council of November 14, 2006 aims at fulfilling the provisions of the PCA and contributing to a closer relationship with Georgia, involving a significant degree of economic integration and deepening the political co-operation. It covers a period of five years.
On the basis of bilateral priorities, also a National Indicative Programme (NIP) has been adopted in agreement with the Georgian authorities. The NIP covers the period from 2007-2010. For this period an indicative total sum of €120 million has been allocated; in addition to the ENPI national programme, Georgia will also benefit from the ENPI regional and interregional programmes, plus a number of thematic programmes such as the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights - EIDHR.