The Parliament of Georgia and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum – National Platform concluded the Memorandum on Cooperation.

The Memorandum was signed by the Speaker, H.E. Shalva Papuashvili and the Chairperson of the National Platform, Nino Chkhobadze.

“Signing of the Memorandum constitutes a culmination of our particular and intensive cooperation that we have been upholding for the last 1.5 years between the Parliament and the National Platform. I believe that the Memorandum we have concluded will serve as one of the solid foundations for our successful collaboration”, - the Speaker stated.

According to him, the hereof relations acquired particular intensity after Georgia submitted the EU membership application and received the assessments and recommendations from the EU.

“Naturally, the trade and other unions contribute special merit to compliance with these recommendations. Georgia has already fulfilled half of the Association Agreement, though a lot has to be still made and the technical translation of the regulations and their inculcation into the Georgian legislation cannot be sufficient for the achievement of our outlined goal but we need a deep knowledge of various sectors. It is the most complicated task to do. Countries like Georgia, that have signed the Association Agreement, have to address a short period to ensure the transition of the vast amount of the legal acts not only in the capacity of the legislative texts but also the norms that will be acceptable, perceivable and enforceable by the society. That is the exact reason for our particular appreciation of the relations with the National Platform since on the one hand, it is a platform that unifies over 200 NGOs and thus, is capable of speaking on their behalf. Hence, it includes the organizations of all profiles, people from various sectors and professionals, and being so, the platform constitutes an everlasting source of professional advice and recommendations, and on the other hand, these relations are so valuable as any reforms and novelties need to be accepted by the society”, - the Speaker noted.

According to him, the 1.5 years of the intensive collaboration between the Parliament and the National Platform covered the convocation of two extensive conferences dedicated to the recommendations and the sector directions stipulated under the Association Agreement. And this good experience led to the idea of converting these relations from sporadic to uniform and systematic and thus, the Memorandum has been developed.

“Our tasks and objectives that we agree on under the hereof Memorandum imply the continuation of the conferences and our intensive relations. The Memorandum envisages the platform to nominate a Parliamentary Secretary to ensure close relations with the Parliament. The Parliament undertakes to proactively share all legal initiatives with the National Platform that will be initiated and to ensure close collaboration in this format”, - the Speaker stated.

As N. Chkhobadze noted, this is the day that further enhances the cooperation between the Parliament and the National Platform. According to her, the representatives of the civil sector will intensify their engagement in the decision-making process.

“We strive to be the members of a large European family. I would like to express my gratitude for your support and hope that our platform will facilitate by submitting certain proposals to our legislation for its higher transparency for the Georgian citizens”, - she noted