Activities of Markéta GREGOROVÁ related to 2021/2236(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Annual implementing report on the EU association agreement with Georgia (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Georgia
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the annual implementing report on the EU Association Agreement with Georgia
Amendments (50)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission’s Association Implementation Report on Georgia of 12 August 2022,
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Welcomes the European assistance programmes in support of digitalisation (e.g., EU4Digital, EaP Connect), environment (e.g., EU4Climate, EU4Environment) and youth (EU4 Youth, Vocational Education and Training); also highlights the necessity and the efforts made for accessible digital connectivity, notably in rural areas, therewith welcomes the investment initiative for fast broadband for rural settlements;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8
Citation 8
— having regard to the outcome of the sixeventh Association Council meeting between the EU and Georgia of 16 MarchSeptember 20212,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Georgia submitted its application for EU membership on 3 March 2022 in the context of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine; whereas the majority of Georgian people are in favour of the country’s accession to the EU;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas Georgia continues to make progress in its implementation of the AA and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) and is continuing to align with the EU acquis and EU standards; whereas the Commission notes that “concerns remain in the key areas of rule of law (including the judiciary) and governance, and human rights have suffered significant setbacks” in its 2022 Association Implementation Report on Georgia;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas a number of crucial laws, such as on the functioning of the judiciary and key appointment procedures, procedures for covert surveillance, and the disbandment of the State Inspector’s Service, were rushed through Parliament without the necessary consultations or analysis of compliance with EU or Council of Europe standards, as noted in the Commission’s 2022 Association Implementation Report on Georgia;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas media freedom in Georgia has deteriorated over the past years, including the safety of journalists; whereas the Georgian media landscape is diverse but also polarised and characterised by sensationalism; whereas the public’s trust in media is very low in Georgia;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas anti-EU propaganda and disinformation have significantly increased recently in Georgian media and social networks; whereas members of the ruling party continue using polarising and hostile language when referring to the European institutions and their representatives;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons is still widespread; whereas gender equality remains a challenge, in particular the issues of gender-based and domestic violence;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
De. whereas Georgia ranked respectively 49th out of 154 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index for 2021 and 55th out of 146 countries for 2022, which notes deteriorations in the fields of educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Georgian authorities to uphold the highest standards of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms and to determinedly pursue the priorities for reform set out in the Commission’s opinion and the 19 April Agreement in order to unambiguously demonstrate their political determination to implement the nation’s ambitious European aspirations, as expressed by the application for EU membership that Georgia submitted on 3 March 2022; calls on the Georgian authorities to initiate and lead the work on these priorities in an inclusive manner before the Commission reports on their implementation by the end of 2022; calls on all Georgian political forces to constructively participate in and contribute to these efforts; stresses that Georgia’s bid for accession to the EU will continue to be assessed based on its own merits and its success in meeting the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the Georgian government’s willingness to address the priorities for granting candidate status set out in the Commission’s opinion and encourages all political parties to contribute to the work necessary to fulfil these priorities; emphasises the crucial need to ensure the meaningful involvement of civil society in decision- making processes at all levels;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Encourages Georgia to continue its enhanced cooperation with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova as the ‘Associated Trio’ at all levels of governance and to boost regional cooperation via multilevel and multi-institutional dialogue;
Amendment 76 #
5. Reiterates its steadfast support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders; calls for the continuation of efforts to achieve a negotiated peaceful resolution of the conflict, including through the Geneva International Discussions, the ongoing activities of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia and the efforts of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia; notes with concern the continuatstrongly condemns the Russian Federation’s illegal occupation of the Georgian regions of illegal ‘borderisation’ activities in the occupiedAbkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia and the continued illegal ‘borderisation’ activities in the occupied regions; reiterates its call on the Russian Federation to implement the EU-mediated 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement, withdraw its military and security forces from Georgia's occupied territories and allow establishment of international security mechanisms inside those regions; calls on the Council to extend the mandate of EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia beyond 14 December 2022 and to provide it with a budget that is commensurate with its tasks to stabilise and normalise the situation and build confidence between the parties in the conflict in an increasingly tense security environment;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Emphasises the need to build and increase trust among all political and institutional actors, as well as between them and the Georgian people;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Georgian authorities to complete the country’s electoral reform and address persistent shortcomings in electoral campaigns and the conduct of elections in time for the 2024 parliamentary elections and in line with the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, in particular in relation to pressure on voters and candidates by public officials and electoral contestants, as well as intimidation, coercion and vote buying;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Reminds the government of Georgia of its promise to decrease the electoral threshold for the parliamentary elections to 2 % and urges them to do so before the next Commission assessment at the end of 2022;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls on the Georgian authorities to amend the electoral law in order to facilitate the voting process abroad, among others through postal voting, considering the unprecedented high number of Georgians living abroad;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines the importance of implementing an ambitious, genuine and thorough justice reform on the basis of a transparent and effective post-2021 judicial reform strategy and action plan through a broad, inclusive and cross-party consultation process; calls on the authorities to address the shortcomings identified by the Venice Commission in the nomination and appointment of judges at all levels and of the Prosecutor-General in order to bring the process fully in line with European standards; calls for a thorough reform of the High Council of Justice to be carried out and for its remaining members to be appointed;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that hasty and non- transparent actions in making key appointments or institutional changes only reinforce the perception of politicised justiceoliticisation of the judiciary; in this respect notes, in particular, that the Supreme Court judges were appointed before the shortcomings in the nomination process identified by ODIHR and the Venice Commission were addressed; reiterates that the lack of progress on judicial reform meant that the conditions for receiving the EUR 75 million tranche of EU macro-financial assistance by September 2021 were not fulfilled;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Georgian government to take urgent action to depoliticise the judiciary; expects the EEAS and EU Delegation on the ground to monitor all trials in Georgia related to politically motivated cases;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Georgian authorities to effectively investigate the massive illegal wiretapping revealed in September 2021; is concerned about the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia that increase the number of crimes for which covert investigative actions are permitted and the duration of these actions, which were adopted by the Georgian Parliament on 7 June 2022 and vetoed by the President on 22 June 2022; calls on the Parliament of Georgia to askimplement the Venice Commission to issue an opinion and to implement its recommendations's recommendations on this matter;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Georgian government to continue the fight against corruption and state capture, as well as the promotion of public administration reform, modernisation, decentralisation, and good governance;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Condemns the deterioration of media freedom in Georgia; urges the Georgian government to cease any political interference on media freedom and pluralism, including on social media; calls on Georgian authorities to stop the politically motivated prosecution of media workers and owners and to respond promptly and effectively investigate allegations of illegal interference and abuse of power towards representatives of the media, as well as to bring laws relating to media freedom, such as the Law on Electronic Communications, in line with international standards and recommendations by the Venice Commission;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Calls on Georgia to guarantee media pluralism and ensure transparency of media ownership, as well as to take action to improve media literacy and ensure the protection, safety and empowerment of journalists and other media professionals;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Condemns the baseless and harmful rhetoric by high officials of the Georgian government claiming the alleged intention of international partners to “drag Georgia into the war”; regrets the unchallenged spreading of anti-EU propaganda and disinformation in Georgia and calls on the Georgian government to investigate the actors behind the coordinated anti-EU attacks;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11e. Expects that the Georgian government and authorities take their obligation seriously to provide safety to those sheltering from authoritarian regimes, following reports that non- Georgian journalists experienced harassment and government interference at the Georgian border;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 f (new)
Paragraph 11 f (new)
11f. Underlines the emphasis the Commission’s opinion gave to multi-level governance, the decentralisation process and public administration reforms to establish successful European-standard local self-government and prevent the concentration of power at the central level;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 g (new)
Paragraph 11 g (new)
11g. Insists on the important role of decentralised cooperation between the EU and Georgia to accompany the needed institutional reforms and ensure a sustainable integration process; recalls that granting candidate status to Georgia will have a significant impact on the consolidation of local democracy, local autonomy and decentralisation reforms crucial for the country’s long-term sustainable development, in particular in terms of local governments’ rights, technologies, practices, administrative and financial tools;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Condemns the violence committed against peaceful participants of the Tbilisi Pride march on 5 July 2021 and the journalists covering the event; strongly denounces the lack of diligent investigations into or prosecutions of those responsible for organising the violence; notes that six perpetrators of the violence were sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison in April 2022; calls on the authorities to ensure the protection of the human rights of vulnerable groups, such as women, the LGBTQIQ+ community and ethnic minorities, as well as women;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Georgian authorities to fully implement human rights and anti- discrimination legislation in practice and combat impunity for serious violations; urges for the adoption of the human rights strategy 2021-2030 and action plan;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Urges the Georgian government to uphold the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and calls on Georgian authorities to ensure the safety of demonstrators;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12c. Calls on the Georgian authorities to further improve women’s representation and equal treatment at all levels of political, economic and societal life, to eradicate the inequality in the labour market and gender pay-gap, and to adopt gender-sensitive budgets at all levels of government; requests the European Commission and the Council to mainstream gender equality in all its policies, programmes and activities in relation to Georgia;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 d (new)
Paragraph 12 d (new)
12d. Urges the Georgian government and authorities to implement measures against gender-based violence, including domestic violence and femicides, and underlines the importance of stepping up support for survivors, rehabilitation programmes for perpetrators, and awareness-raising campaigns, in particular at the local community level;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 e (new)
Paragraph 12 e (new)
12e. Condemns the continued discrimination of LGBTIQ+ groups and persons, including in labour, health, social and economic areas, as well as their targeting by ultra-nationalist hate groups; demands that the Georgian authorities execute a full investigation into the latter’s inciting of violence against LGBTIQ+ events, including the Tbilisi Pride March of July 2021 and Georgia’s first-ever Pride Week in 2019;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Reiterates the importance of independent oversight of Georgia’s state institutions; regretcondemns, in this respect, the dismantling of State Inspector’s Service against ODIHR recommendations and without meaningful prior consultations; highlights the positive role of the public defender of Georgia in protecting human rights, promoting good governance and strengthening the rule of law;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Emphasises the crucial role in democratic oversight of civil society organisations; calls on the European Commission and the Member States to provide political, technical and financial support to civil society and independent media;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Calls on Georgia to restrict the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) targeting human rights defenders and media representatives and thereby inhibiting their critical and independent work;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Welcomes the adoption of labour law reforms and calls on the government of Georgia to further improve Georgia’s framework for protecting labour rights, including by ensuring an effective Labour Inspection system with adequate competences, capacities and resources, improving core labour legislation to bring it fully in line with ILO standards and EU regulations, enacting a minimum wage in consultation with social partners and labour rights organisations, developing effective social protection schemes for workers, and creating an action plan for the formalisation of the informal sector;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Recalls that DCFTAs must always include strong, binding and enforceable sustainable development chapters, that fully respect international commitments, in particular the Paris Agreement, and to be compliant with WTO rules;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls on the Georgian authorities to undertake crucial steps to unbundle and certify the electricity and gas transmission system operators in order to accelerate the development of renewables and reduce the energy dependence on Russian fossil fuels in line with the REPowerEU Plan;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls on Georgia to further enhance its engagement in the fight against climate change and the protection of the environment, including through further legislative alignment with the acquis and the European Green Deal policies as well as strengthening Georgia’s administration to enable the green transition;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Regrets that Georgian SMEs export to the EU remains limited as the full potential of the DCFTA opportunities is not utilised; calls on the Georgian government to explore ways to boost SMEs trade with the EU, such as establishing laboratories in Georgia for EU certification of SPS and TBT standards;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of enhanced transport, energy and digital connectivity as a means of making full use of the geographical and economic potential of Georgia at all levels, especially in the medium, small sized and rural municipalities;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on Georgia to improve its energy sector and connectivity, while ensuring environmental sustainability, in particular preservation of biodiversity and protected sites, during the implementation process, also taking into account local community’s needs;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls on the European Commission to enhance its role in facilitating communication between the Georgian government, the civil society and SMEs and to distribute core funds to the civil society to boost capacity building and expertise; welcomes and supports the continuation of the Commission programs ENPARD Georgia and EU4Business that supports the development of local civil societies, rural and SMEs development;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Welcomes the European assistance programmes in support of digitalisation, such asEU4Digital and EaP Connect, but also highlights the necessity and the efforts made for accessible digital connectivity, notably in rural areas; therewith welcomes the investment initiative for fast broadband for rural settlements;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)
Paragraph 16 d (new)
16d. Urges the European Commission, the Member States and Georgia to increase cooperation on public health resilience, including cooperation between public health authorities, research facilities, and emergency capabilities, as well as to exchange best practice and work with civil society on establishing epidemic strategies focusing on the most vulnerable groups, including the elderly, homeless, seasonal workers, and migrants;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 e (new)
Paragraph 16 e (new)
16e. Calls for the swift adoption of Georgia’s overarching national strategy on public health for 2022-2030 and the accompanying action plan, as well as the new mental-health strategy for 2022-2030 and the accompanying action plan;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Reaffirms its commitment to supporting Georgia’s parliamentary democracy through capacity development and reiterates that the Jean Monnet Dialogue is the prime instrument of cooperation between the European and Georgian parliaments;