Accession of Georgia to the European Union

The accession of Georgia to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU.

Following an application by Georgia in March 2022, the EU established Georgia's eligibility to become a member of the Union, recognizing the country as a potential candidate. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission issued an official recommendation to grant candidate status to Georgia, which was confirmed on 14 December 2023.

It is one of nine current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

History
The European Union and Georgia have maintained relations since 1992, following an agreement between the former European Community and the newly independent Georgia. On 12 January 2002, the European Parliament noted that Georgia may enter the EU in the future. In 2006, a five-year "Action Plan" of rapprochement was implemented in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). In 2009, relations between the two were further upgraded under the auspices of Eastern Partnership. In 2016, a comprehensive Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia went into force, providing Georgia with visa-free travel to the EU, as well as access to some sectors of the European Single Market. Following Brexit, most of the existing EU-Georgia agreements applicable to the United Kingdom were renegotiated and agreed upon in 2019 bilaterally with the United Kingdom.

Both the governing Georgian Dream and opposition United National Movement support Georgia's integration in the EU, and nearly all parties in the Georgian parliament are pro-Western in orientation. A European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia has been operating since 2009. In January 2021, Georgia was preparing to formally apply for EU membership in 2024. However, on 3 March 2022, Georgia submitted its membership application ahead of schedule, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In June 2022, the European Commission established Georgia's eligibility to become a member of the EU, but deferred giving it official candidate status until after certain conditions were met. Later that month, the European Council expressed readiness to grant Georgia the status of a candidate after completing a set of reforms recommended by the commission. In April 2023, a nationwide poll by the International Republican Institute found that 89 percent of Georgians support joining the EU, the highest number recorded for years. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended giving candidate status to Georgia. On 14 December 2023, Georgia was given candidate status by the EU.

Following the Georgian government's approval of legislation which would require non-governmental organizations to register as foreign agents or "organizations carrying the interests of a foreign power" and disclose the sources of their income if the funds they receive from abroad amount to more than 20% of their total revenue, which led to widespread protests in the country, the European Council stated in June 2024 that this represented "backsliding on the steps set out in the Commission’s recommendation for candidate status" and that the accession process would be de facto on hold until the government changes course. On 9 July 2024, the EU ambassador in Georgia announced that the European Union had suspended the country's accession process as a result of the legislation.

Stabilisation and Association Agreement
To enhance their relationship, the EU and Georgia began negotiating an Association Agreement (AA) and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. In November 2012, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Stefan Fule stated that the AA negotiations could be finalized by November 2013. In February 2013, Tamar Beruchachvili, the Deputy State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, stated that Georgia had no plans to join the Eurasian Economic Union, which Fule has warned Ukraine would be incompatible with the agreements with the EU. A ceremony on the initialling of the AA by the Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton was held at the Eastern Partnership summit on 29 November 2013. It was formally signed on 27 June 2014, and had to be ratified by the EU, Euratom, their member states and Georgia. A second agreement, governing the country's involvement in EU crisis management operations, was also signed.

The Association Agreement, much of which provisionally came into force in September, has been fully ratified by Georgia and all EU member states. On 18 December 2014 the European Parliament approved the Association Agreement. Members backed the treaty by 490 votes in favour to 76 against, with 57 abstentions. The agreement entered into force on 1 July 2016.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The ratification was based on The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Association Agreement) (Georgia) Order 2015, made in accordance with section 1(3) of the European Communities Act 1972, after having been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

The agreement applied to the United Kingdom as an EU-member state until Brexit on 31 January 2020. During the transition period that followed Brexit, the agreement until 31 December 2020, the agreement still applied to the UK.

Free trade area
The agreement established a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between the EU and Georgia, including "the removal of import duties for most goods traded between the EU and Georgia" and "broad mutual access to trade in services for both partners".

Public opinion
A March 2023 survey conducted by the International Republican Institute found that 85% of Georgians (70% 'fully', 15% 'somewhat') were in favour of EU membership, up from 75% before the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Negotiations
Georgia has not yet started the negotiation process.

Economy
Georgia is expected to have to adopt the euro and become a member of the Eurozone in the future if it joins the EU.

Travel
Since 28 March 2017, Georgian citizens have been able to travel visa-free to the Schengen area. Starting in 2025, like all nationals from visa-exempt countries, Georgians will also need to comply with the EU's ETIAS system before entering any of the EU/Schengen member countries.

Reactions

 * 🇦🇲 Armenia: On 7 February 2024, prime minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan congratulated neighboring Georgia for obtaining EU candidate status. During an address to the National Assembly, Pashinyan stated, "Many significant realities have changed in our region, and one of those realities is the fact that Georgia has received the status of a candidate for EU membership, which has an objective impact on our region. It turns out that two of our neighboring countries have the status of a candidate for EU membership, and if before it was possible to say, where is the EU, where is our region, now the EU is actually our region, and we are aware of this fact."