At the meeting of the Defence and Security Committee, the Government's Parliamentary Secretary, Vakhtang Bachiashvili, presented the draft law on amendments to the Law of Georgia on the Rules for Planning and Coordination of National Security Policy.

According to the rapporteur, the proposed amendments relate to the liquidation of the National Security Council's Office and the transfer of its functions to the Government.

"As of today, the Council is an advisory body directly subordinated to the Prime Minister of Georgia and chaired by the Prime Minister. Given that the country has fully transitioned to a parliamentary system of governance—thus significantly enhancing the Government’s executive functions—the experience of recent years has shown that maintaining the Council as a separate institution is no longer justified, especially since it no longer holds constitutional status. Moreover, the permanent members of the Council are predominantly Government ministers and heads of special state agencies subordinated to the Government/Prime Minister, who already engage in continuous coordination and cooperation as part of daily governance", - V. Bachiashvili stated.

He further noted that, for these reasons, the Government has deemed it expedient to liquidate the National Security Council as a separate body. The changes are set to enter into force on 1 September of the current year.

During the session, V. Bachiashvili also introduced to the committee members the draft law on amendments to the Law of Georgia on the Structure, Powers, and Rules of Operation of the Government of Georgia, along with the accompanying legislative package.

As noted by the rapporteur, under the proposed changes, a state sub-agency may be established not only under the authority of a ministry but also within the structure of a special-purpose state institution.

The committee unanimously supported submitting the draft laws for consideration in a plenary session under the accelerated procedure.