Brussels, 13/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 February, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle and the Georgian minister for foreign affairs, Alexandre Petriashvili, signed a €20 million financing agreement to support the reform process in Georgia - particularly comprehensive institution building. The programme, which builds on another project totalling €9.7 million launched in 2011 to support EU-Georgia agreements, will help key Georgian institutions to undertake the necessary reforms in the fields of trade, oversight and public accountability, and also in the coordination of agreements between the EU and Tbilisi.
This aid thus aims to strengthen public accountability and the rule of law by supporting the parliament, the public defender's office and the state audit office. It should also support the institutions that play a key role in aligning Georgian goods with EU standards and thus enhance Georgia's ability to trade with the EU and other partners. The institutions concerned are the national food agency, the national accreditation centre and the Georgian agency for standards, technical regulations and metrology. Lastly, the European aid will help promote the coordination of the prime minister's office, the ministry of foreign affairs, the state ministry of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and other governmental bodies.
Füle calls for better cohabitation. Füle also met Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanichvili to remind them that “pragmatic and value-based cohabitation are needed to deliver on Georgia's EU aspirations (Ed: including the conclusion of an association agreement) at the Vilnius summit (end of November 2103)”. Georgia is currently in the grip of tension between political parties (see EUROPE 10738). (CG/transl.fl)