Address by Mr Sven Mikser, Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur on Georgia (Committee on Foreign Affairs) to the Parliament of Georgia’s EU integration & Foreign Affairs Committees, 3 February 2022

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I am extremely happy to be here after a number of postponements due to the Covid pandemic, the health situation and restrictions. I have been so kindly introduced by Madame Chair, I would just like to add that the capacity in which I am visiting Georgia is Rapporteur on Georgia of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. This is a Report that the European Parliament puts together periodically regarding the implementation of the Association Agreement with the associated countries. Obviously, having an Association Agreement and DCFTA with the EU represents a very special and privileged relationship of a country with the EU.

We know that Georgia’s aspirations go beyond what our relations are today and I believe these are very legitimate aspirations. Obviously, the realisation of these aspirations very much depends on the performance of Georgia with regard of the implementation of the Association Agreement but not limited to the implementation of that Agreement, so that readiness actually is very multi-faceted.

I am happy to say that the European Parliament as well as the other European institutions and the EU Member States stand by Georgia when it comes to supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and Georgia’s sovereign right to choose its own fate and decide on its own aspirations and applications for membership of international organisations. This is a fundamental principle. The previous speaker referred to the very tense security situation in Europe, particularly the Russian assertiveness and aggressiveness that we see, trying to shake the fundamentals and foundations of the European security arrangements and architecture. There is a very strong consensual position I think across the Euro-Atlantic community that there will be no return to this old concept of spheres of privileged interest, of privileged influence be it by Russia or anyone else. So, this means that no third country should have neither a veto, nor a say over the choices of aspiring countries to the Euro-Atlantic community. The support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is very strong across the political spectrum in the European Parliament and amongst the EU Member States.

It is also very strong in different European institutions and one factor, a main factor that makes this very strong consensual support possible is the fact that these aspirations enjoy the support of the vast majority of the Georgian people. Polls have indicated that whatever Georgians’ political affiliation is, whatever their other beliefs, the vast majority of people support the aspiration of Georgia to come closer to Europe, to come closer to European institutions and they also support the eventual goal of joining the Euro-Atlantic community as a full member. This makes it easy for us to say that our support to Georgia’s aspirations is not an indication of support to one or the other political parties, of political leaders, but it is support expressed to the legitimate aspirations of the Georgian people.

This is one of the central points I want to convey: I believe that it is imperative that the political class, the political decision-makers actually live up to the expectations of the people and do not fail the people. Politics, not only in this country but in many countries around the world, is growing increasingly antagonistic, increasingly polarised. Georgia, I think, is one of the examples of this political antagonism and political polarisation that has periodically brought the political discourse, the political process, to a halt. I don’t need to stress that such a stalemate, such a continued standoff obviously undermines the legitimate aspirations of the Georgian people unless it is resolved in a way that allows the political discourse to return to normality.

The European Union has offered its assistance, has offered its help, when it is needed. Obviously it is for Georgians to resolve the challenges Georgia faces. The EU is ready to help to facilitate, I think this was demonstrated by our Delegation here in the country, but also by the agreement that was mediated and facilitated by the President of the European Council. We offered, as the European Parliament, the instrument that we have at our disposal: the Jean Monnet Dialogue. This offer continues to be open to be taken up if and when Georgia feels that this might be of help.

Also, the implementation of the Association Agreement does not have to do with political fights, political differences and standoffs in the Parliament or outside the Parliament. It is primarily focused on the everyday concerns of ordinary people and we know that polls indicate that the employment, the social welfare, these are things that concern most of people. These are actually the broad goal of the Association Agreement - the improvement of people’s lives, the improvement of business climate, the improvement of employment opportunities, the improvement of social welfare, these are at the centre of the implementation of the Association Agreement.  The implementation also involves a lot of legislative work, we have seen significant progress in some areas. We know that there are also important areas where a lot work has to be done. Legislative work is important, but the implementation, which is primarily the responsibility of the executive branch, it is sometimes even more important. I can say that and I’m sure that all of you are well aware that Europe has been at the forefront of supporting those implementation efforts not only morally but also in very tangible material ways. And this support has contributed to the successful implementation of many of those reforms.

The challenges are also multifaceted. It’s not only technical work by way of implementation of the legislation, but there are also other important principles, conditions and standards that have to be met in order for a country to qualify for the next step in its integration with the EU institutions.  These include the standards that have to do with the rule of law and democracy, independence of institutions that are tasked with providing oversight of the operational executive branch, independence of the judiciary.

I would like to conclude by saying that negotiation to come close to Europe is like a quest to join sports team - let’s say a relay team -  if you want to make it to the Olympic team you will have to run 100 meters in approximately 10 seconds, you cannot negotiate standards, you just have to meet standards.  Almost 20 years ago I joined the Estonian government at the time when we were about to finalise our negotiations with the EU. I’m very acutely aware these negotiations are not about finding a middle ground between the European standards and the Estonian ones at that time, it was about to raising standards to a level to meet the European standards.

I would like to say that I’ve seen in the European Parliament, it is an institution, but it is very much compromise oriented, perhaps even more so than my own national parliament was. I’ve seen, in many parts of Europe, politicians or political parties’ readiness to define common ground and work across the isle, to build bridges, to build compromises, is seen as a sign of maturity, as a sign of strength, something to be appreciated.  Too often I’m seeing when I engage with my Georgian interlocutors from different parties and also even from outside politics,  I see that the readiness to compromise, to build bridges is seen as a sign of weakness,. I think that this is very important to overcome this attitude and reach a stage where the ability to find common ground with someone who might be your political adversary, or competitor, is seen as a sign maturity and strength.  This especially applies to areas where the common ground does exist and the European integration of the country is one of those areas. And for such areas, having political considerations dominate over the common strategic goal of the nation, this is something that needs to be avoided at any cost.

I’m very happy about this chance to be engaged in very fruitful meetings with both the representatives of the executive branch as well as independent institutions and the President of the Republic, but as a Member of the Parliament I’m particularly happy to be here among colleagues, because it is a parliamentary democracy and the primary responsibility for the direction of the country and the society lies with the elected Members of the Parliament. And finally I would like to express my happiness that we have seen some steps of political discourse returning to the Parliament and even though this is something difficult this is how it should move forward. Thank you very much.