The Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili awarded the Staffers participating in the filling process of the EU Candidate Status Questionnaire and delivered a speech of gratitude for their contribution.
The Speaker put an emphasis on the importance of the professionalism and devotion of the public officers in the EU integration process and underlined that the Questionnaire for Georgia was filled with high professionalism by the public officers, as the international partners assessed.
“We achieved a certain stage of the development of our country and in this very moment, the Parliament and the Staffers enjoy the privilege to be the part of this process, especially under the circumstances, when we face the extraordinary situation upon the decision-making by us and the EU. Lots of processes and bureaucratic processes are accelerated and it is crucial that the Georgian bureaucracy, in the best sense of this word, in this decisive moment, demonstrated its capacities to administer and exercise such an essential task,” Papuashvili stated.
He noted, that Georgia had to fill the Questionnaire of almost the same volume as other candidates, while Georgia was also restricted in time – the shortest term amongst other candidates – the country had 4 weeks for this task.
“For four weeks you have been sacrificing your time – 24 hours a day – to due fill the document carrying in mind the highest responsibility for the completion and quality,” Papuashvili stated.
The Speaker of the Parliament emphasized they are proud that the reactions they witnessed from international colleagues are extremely positive and that the document revealed the high professionalism.
“The European perspective of Georgia has been fully recognized, not only in words but in deeds – a pledge that the EU will accept us as a member. We have a long way ahead, covering years and including the legal approximation and harmonization with the EU institutions and laws; to some extent, the process provided in the Association Agreement is part of this task. As you may know, the Association Agreement covers 70% of the EU legislation, half of which has already been fulfilled. So, we are way ahead. The Parliament of Georgia, Members of Parliament, and the Staffers managed to adopt up to 60 new laws upon the signing of the Association Agreement, about 600 changes, up to 100 directives and recommendations, which is 45% of the process aimed at the achievement of the Association Agreement objectives. Thus, I would like to thank the Staffers also for participating in this very important activity,” Papuashvili stated.
