27/02/2023 (Agence Europe) – The spokesperson for the European External Action Service underlined, on Friday 24 February, the “serious concerns”, raised by the proposed Georgian draft law on ‘transparency of foreign influence’. If the law is adopted as it stands, any organisation receiving more than 20% of its income from a ‘foreign power’ will have to register in a ‘register of foreign agents of influence’, under penalty of a fine of up to €8,900. Recalling that the creation and maintenance of an enabling environment for civil society organisations and the guarantee of media freedom were at the heart of democracy and an essential element of the EU accession process, the spokesperson warned that the adoption of this law would be inconsistent with Georgia’s aspirations for continued development, EU membership and EU standards and values. (CG)