Georgia’s European Path: From Declared Aspirations of Membership to Official Accession Goal
Eka Pkhovelishvili
Abstract
The article below discusses contemporary EU-Georgian relations. Considering the decision of the Government of Georgia to apply for accession into the Union by 2024, the article analyses the key achievements and challenges along Georgia’s path towards further European integration. The article also describes legal and technical issues associated with membership, focusing on the experience of European integration of the Western Balkans, as well as the necessary political and technical steps that Georgia needs to take to achieve the membership.
Attainment of EU membership is one of the key priorities for Georgia’s foreign policy. The legal framework of EU-Georgian relations was established in 1996 with the signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). In 2004 Georgia became part of the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy, while joining the Eastern Partnership initiative in 2009.
In 2014 the EU-Georgian Association (AA) and its integral Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Agreements were signed, with Georgia gaining visa-free travel to the Schengen zone in 2017, which provided additional impetus to the relations with the EU, increasing the prospects of further integration.
Georgia has taken regular steps towards European integration, however, the date for accession was not known. Nevertheless, in October of 2020 the Government of Georgia outlined a rather ambitious and specific political goal of submitting the application for accession into the EU by the end of 2024 and taking particular steps to that end.1
The process of preparation of the application will elevate the integratory processes to a qualitatively new level. It is clear that Georgia wants to further deepen relations with the EU, with the achieved progress supporting the overall strategic goal of the EU integration. The EU membership goal is solidified by the unwavering support of the majority of the Georgian population and is entrenched in the Georgian constitution.2
European integration was outlined as one of the most central national interests of Georgia. Nevertheless, it must be taken into account that, apart from sheer political will, accession into the EU requires the completion of a set of preconditions and procedures.
Along with the EU integration process, the article discusses the specific nature of the development of EU-Balkan relations, which may act as a good guiding experience for Georgia along the same path. The paper also touches upon the issue of which way of submitting the membership application (individually or collectively with the ‘Associated Trio’) could better serve Georgia’s interests.
According to Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty, any European nation may apply for accession into the EU if said country shares the conditions outlined in Article 2 of the same treaty: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.”3 Conditions for accession were further detailed in the 1993 Conclusions of the European Council in Copenhagen. An aspirant state must comply with specific political, economic, and administrative criteria.4
In terms of technical and legal frameworks, the process of accession into the EU is comprised of the following stages:5
- An aspirant state submits its application to the Council of the European Union, namely, to the presiding EU-member, which changes every 6 months on a rotational basis;
- The European Commission provides a pre-assessment of the level of readiness of the aspirant state in terms of the “Copenhagen Criteria”. The European Commission bases this process on various sources, including a self-assessment questionnaire provided by the aspirant state;
- The Council, then, makes a decision regarding the provision of the candidate status, which is followed by the commencement of accession negotiations;
- During the process of negotiations, the European Commission launches an in-depth inquiry into the state of the candidate country. This process is referred to as “Screening”, with the final report disseminated to the EU member-states;
- The goal of negotiating 35 chapters (Chapter of the acquis) is to prepare the candidate state to take on the obligations entailed by EU membership;
- After the conclusion of the reforms outlined in the aforementioned obligations and the harmonization of the legal framework, the accession treaty is signed;
- Afterwards, the process of ratification of membership of the candidate state begins, with all EU members providing consent in accordance with their national legislation;
- The candidate state receives the status of an EU member state, active from the date outlined in the accession treaty.
Different states undergo the process from stage 1 to stage 8 at a different pace. For example, Serbia submitted its application for accession in 2009, receiving the candidate status in 2012. The following year saw the EU launch accession negotiations with Belgrade.6 Bosnia-Herzegovina submitted its application for accession in 2016. After the request for review from the Council, the European Commission published a negative assessment of Sarajevo’s candidacy in May of 2019.* The Council obliged in December of the same year.7
The period from the initiation of accession negotiations to membership usually lasts 5 years on average, however, timeframes differ for individual states, depending on the dynamics of internal reforms and political will from both parties.8
There are two main paths towards the submission of the application of EU membership: An application through the “European Perspective” (so called Western Balkan Path) and a direct application.
The term “European Perspective” is a widely used political expression in the context of EU enlargement, which first saw daylight in the concluding protocol of the meeting of the Copenhagen European Council in 2002. According to said document, the EU bestowed the European Perspective to the Western Balkan states, which, in actuality, presented a promise of future membership.9 Taking this into account the term holds much political weight.
The journey of the Western Balkan states towards the “European Perspective” was long and arduous. In this regard, it is important to note that, despite the fact of variability in the speed and nature of integratory processes of individual Balkan states, the fact stands – all of them received said membership promise simultaneously. The progress in terms of accession negotiations is also uneven, which, naturally, delays membership. In order to fulfil outlined obligations, Western Balkan states must continue reforming the following areas: the rule of law and human rights, judiciary reform, eradicating corruption, economy and properly functioning democratic institutions.10
Nevertheless, by adopting a renewed strategy in 2018, the EU elevated its relations with the Balkans to a new level. The EU underscored that Serbia and Montenegro would be ready for membership by 2025, with North Macedonia and Albania reaching the benchmark by 2030.11 Said strategy may be considered as a catalyst, providing additional impetus in terms of solidifying reforms undertaken by the aforementioned states.
It is noteworthy that holding the “European Perspective” is not the only precondition for accession into the EU. According to Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty any European state has the right to apply if it respects European values and is willing to spread them further.12
It is not clear which of the aforementioned two avenues towards the submission of the application of accession are universally better in terms of the outcome. The awarding of the “European Perspective” does not automatically mean that the aspirant country will receive the status of a candidate state. Therefore, in both cases, the main concern for aspiring states must be ensuring the irreversible harmonization with the EU’s political, economic and administrative standards.
Simultaneously, the EU itself faces serious challenges when it comes to enlargement. “Enlargement fatigue” is at the heart of all debates in this regard, which means that, politically speaking, the EU is not ready to include other members, while candidates for accession, in turn, are not ready in terms of political criteria to join the Union.13 Despite this, the example of West Balkans illustrates that EU continues is enlargement policy, which is reassuring for aspirant states, including Georgia.**
Unlike the Western Balkan states, the EU has not yet awarded the Associated Eastern European states (Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova) with the “European Perspective”. Despite this, Georgia, as a recognized (eastern) European state within the framework of the Association Agreement, can apply for membership at any time.
It must be taken into account that, since the founding of the EU, every European nation that submitted an application for accession was granted candidacy. The only case of refusal took place in 1987, when Morocco applied for candidacy, but failed to comply with geographic criteria.14 Therefore, it would be difficult for the EU to refuse an application submitted by a European Georgia, as this would create an undesirable precedent, which might result in the rise of Euro-skepticism across partner states, especially due to the fact that the Russian disinformation and propaganda machine will use this to sow further dissent among European nations.
In terms of European integration, Georgia’s successful steps (namely, inter alia, the signing of the Association Agreement (including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement), a liberalized travel regime, and many other processes associated with sectoral integration) have created the necessary foundations to realize its ambitions. The country must comply with political and democratic criteria, based on the EU-Georgian Association Agreement. Therefore, Georgia’s application will primarily be judged based on the degree of implementation of the Association Agreement.***
It is also possible that the issues outlined in the reports of the European Commission and Parliament regarding Georgia’s progress along its path towards reforms can play a pivotal role in the assessment of the aforementioned application. On the other hand, particular attention may be directed towards the priorities outlined in the Roadmap 2EU, especially in terms legal harmonization of the legal framework of Georgia with that of the EU.
The main focus for Georgia must be to achieve the highest order of compliance with the Copenhagen criteria. The EU must see that Georgia is compatible with these criteria. Supporting the development of democracy and reforms must be the primary concern for Georgia before submitting the application for accession as it will automatically increase compliance with the aforementioned criteria.
Within the same context it is to be considered that all Western Balkan states (akin to Georgia) aspire towards EU membership. Both the Stabilisation and Association Agreements signed with the Balkan states, as well as the Association Agreement signed with Georgia outline similar obligations in terms of legal and sectoral approximation.15 Therefore, Georgia must continue to actively pursue the implementation of the Association Agreement (including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement), as well as legal and institutional harmonization with the EU. Additionally, along with the application for accession into the EU, it is important to continue sectoral integration. Such policies will support closer integration with EU institutions, ultimately paving the way for the spill-over into the institutional integration.
Most waves of EU enlargement involved regional (collective) integration, except for Greece (1981), and Croatia (2013). Therefore, it might be worth for Georgia to adopt a united regional approach to accession along with Ukraine and Moldova, submitting appropriate applications collectively. It is to be taken into account that said states addressed the EU in 2019 over the need to further deepen sectoral integration with the organization, including in terms of institutional harmonization.16 In fact, Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova very recently founded the format of the “Associated Trio” for the purpose of attainment of common goals.17
Regardless, it must also be taken into account that, unlike the Western Balkan states, the Visegrád countries and the Baltics, the members of the “Associated Trio” only share regional and, perhaps political, commonalities, while drastically differing in terms of internal development, and overall political, economic, and social landscapes. This may cause additional challenges to arise for the EU in terms of establishing a cohesive approach towards associated states.
Additionally, despite the existing challenges along the path towards European integration, Georgia remains a clear leader among the ‘Eastern Partnership’ countries.18 Therefore, there are also advantages to submitting the application for accession individually. In this regard the Croatian case stands out, which as a Western Balkan state, managed to reach unprecedented progress in terms of the undertaken reforms, which solidified Zagreb’s position as a regional leader. This provided Croatia with the opportunity to split from the Western Balkan group of states and conclude the race for EU membership on an individual basis in 2013.
Ergo, Georgia, as a leading reformer state among the members of the Eastern Partnership, must continue its efforts to maintain the high dynamism of ongoing reforms, both in terms of democratization, as well as harmonization of legal and institutional frameworks with EU standards, which will, in turn, create the necessary preconditions for Georgia to be admitted into the organization individually, akin to Croatia.
The signing of the Association Agreement and the liberalisation of the visa-regime for Georgian nationals across the Schengen Area elevated integratory processes to a higher level, spawning many new opportunities. The examination of EU-Georgian relations elucidates that the intensification of integratory processes is always followed by readiness and willingness expressed on behalf of the Georgian party to further deepen said relations. As a result, the planned submission of the application for accession into the EU by 2024 acts as a logical continuation of said irreversible integratory processes. This is precisely why Georgia continues to harmonize its legal and institutional frameworks with those of the EU within the framework of the Association Agreement (including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement).
Under current circumstances, considering Georgia’s exerted efforts in terms of European integration, it would be considered reasonable for Tbilisi to apply for accession both individually as well as collectively with the two other members of the “Associated Trio”. Along the path towards European integration, Georgia’s reputation among European institutions as a loyal and responsible partner must be further solidified.
Endnote:
* According to the conclusion reached by the Council, Bosnia-Herzegovina does not currently comply with the outlined criteria for membership and, therefore, the Council did not provide the recommendation to initiate accession negotiations.
** In this regard, it is noteworthy, that the renewed enlargement methodology bases the preconditions for the initiation and conclusion of accession negotiations on fundamental European principles of the rule of law, functioning of democratic institutions, reforming public administration, as well as a number of economic criteria.
*** At this stage, Georgia has fulfilled approximately 30% of the obligations outlined in the Association Agreement (in terms of harmonization in accordance with EU directives). It is preferable for this figure to double by the time Georgia submits its application for accession in 2024.
* Eka Pkhovelishvili – Third Secretary, EU Assistance Coordination and Sectoral Integration Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
Contents
Georgia’s European Path From Declared Aspirations of Membership to Official Accession Goal
Eka Pkhovelishvili
Russian Disinformation Campaigns and the Role of Strategic Communications in Planning Successful Foreign Policy
Mariam Orjonikidze
NATO 2030 New Vision and Eastern Expansion Policy
Rati Asatiani