The European Parliament supported the recommendation to accelerate the decision-making process for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia's EU membership and called for all three nations to make significant progress.
"The EU should change its decision-making processes for the admission of new members and do away with the requirement for unanimity, replacing it with a qualified majority to become a more reliable and effective global actor," the report added. The paper added that MEPs urge member states to fulfill the EU's promises to the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership nations and to guarantee that no alternative to full EU membership is given to candidate countries. Along with better monitoring, reporting, assessment, and conditionality, MEPs proposed that the expansion process prioritize democratic transformation and the rule of law. "The expansion process must prioritize democratic change, the rule of law, and better monitoring, reporting, assessment, and conditionality," they added. The New EU Strategy for Expansion Recommendation voted by MEPs calls on the EU to increase the visibility of EU financing and its concrete effects in enlargement nations. They also urged the EU to take steps to stop outsiders from interfering with these nations' political, electoral, and other democratic processes.
"At the same time as ensuring that any stagnation or backtracking in the EU-related reform process is sanctioned in real-time, the EU should also reward candidate countries when they make sustainable progress, including by phasing them into the EU single market. They demand clear deadlines for concluding negotiations with the accession countries and insist they should finish by the end of the current decade at the latest," reads the statement.
The recommendation has been adopted with 502 votes in favor, 75 votes against, and 61 abstentions.
Earlier, Caucasus Watch reported that in a letter to President Salome Zourabichvili dated November 7th, 12 members of the European Parliament pleaded with her to use her authority to commute the sentence of Mtavari Arkhi TV Chief Nika Gvaramia. While acknowledging that Georgia's journey to European integration has not been easy, the MEPs underscored that the great majority of the Georgian people firmly support it. They emphasized that the historic opportunity for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia was granted due to the immense sacrifices that Ukraine is making to defend the values on which also EU is built, against the Russian war of aggression, while pointing out that Georgia's path to EU candidate status has opened recently with its European perspective.
Moreover, Caucasus Watch reported that Irakli Kobakhidze responded to draft amendments to the report concerning Georgia's implementation of the EU Association Agreement by claiming that there is a global war party whose representatives are abhorrent MEPs and whose sole motivation is to provoke the processes taking place in Georgia. Kobakhidze said, "Although some odious MEPs are attempting to make utterly unnecessary and fraudulent revisions, the resolution's main wording is fair and accurately depicts Georgia's progress in implementing the Association Agreement."
