Georgia - EU Association Agreement Officially Comes into Force

TBILISI- The long-awaited EU-Georgia Association Agreement (AA), which provides a legal cooperation framework between Georgia and the European Union, officially came into force after the EU Foreign Affairs Council announced its decision to end the procedures needed for ratification of the AA on Friday.

The ratification process, which lasted two years, was finalized in December 2015 after Belgium became the last EU country to successfully pass the resolution.

Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official statement that the ratification of the agreement is further proof that the current EU Member States support Georgia’s European integration.

The Association Agreement between Georgia, the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States was signed on June 27, 2014, in Brussels and began a phased implementation process on September 1 of the same year.

“As of today, all provisions of the Association Agreement will be fully in force and Georgia’s political association and economic integration into the European political, trade-economic, social and legal structures will become irreversible and continue at full speed,” the Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement.

The AA is a broad framework agreement between the EU and countries that aspire to join the world’s largest economic bloc. The EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade and human rights reform.

In the case of Georgia, the agreement also includes a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). 

By Tamar Svanidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller