EU-Georgia Association Agreement: Working today for a European tomorrow

you the comissioner’s insight on Georgia’s European future.

2014 has been a historic year for EU-Georgia relations. The signature of the Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, is an achievement of which we can all be proud and a major opportunity for greater prosperity, modernisation and stability in Georgia.

The Agreement deepens our political and economic relations, and will gradually integrate Georgia into the EU’s internal market. It will open up new markets to businesses and create job opportunities which will lead to considerable and rapid growth. Georgia will become more competitive and trade and investment will be boosted. Indeed, we estimate that the agreement will lead to Georgia’s GDP increasing by 4.3% each year, which is an additional €292 million in national income. The EU is already Georgia’s first trade partner, with 27% share in total Georgian trade in 2013. Georgia’s exports to the European Union are expected to rise by 12%, while imports from the European Union should rise by 7.5%. There are already some positive signs on increasing trade. For instance, in September 2014 the imports from Georgia to the EU went up by +52.7 percent, amounting to total of 67.8 million Euros. If similar trends continue, this will be an important boost to the Georgian economy and companies. And these figures do not include growth in investment, which we expect to increase substantially.

“2015 will be the year to engage effectively in the implementation of our Association Agreement in earnest. With this comes greater responsibility. All of society must be mobilised to carry through the reforms that will progressively bring Georgia closer to the standards of the European Union.”

And this is but one of the ways in which Georgia can expect to benefit from the agreement. It will also further embed core European values into Georgian public life such as profound respect for the rule of law and institutional stability, and will safeguard the services and rights citizens expect from their government. In due course, it will deliver a higher quality of life to all Georgians.

2015 will be the year to engage effectively in the implementation of our Association Agreement in earnest. With this comes greater responsibility. All of society must be mobilised to carry through the reforms that will progressively bring Georgia closer to the standards of the European Union. Some of this will take time, but the EU’s tools and expertise are at Georgia’s disposal as it undergoes these important but sometimes difficult changes to its rules and political system.

This agreement is the beginning of a new relationship between Georgia and the EU. It will form a stepping stone to further reforms to consolidate a democratic society characterised by pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity, equality and human rights. This is the choice I believe Georgians have made for their future, and I am very happy that the EU will be accompanying Georgia as it follows this chosen path.