Source: European Parliament
The Commission stands ready to support the Georgian people on their European path.
At the same time, in reaction to the developments in Georgia, including targeting civil society and restricting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people, and in line with the European Council’s conclusions[1], the Commission launched a review of its bilateral financial assistance portfolio benefiting Georgia. As a result, over EUR 120 million from the 2022-2024 envelopes were withheld or will be reallocated.
Ensuring and upholding human rights, including the rights of LGBTIQ people, is at the core of the enlargement process, annually assessed within the Commission’s enlargement report.
The Commission has repeatedly stressed that the legal initiatives targeting LGBTIQ people undermine the fundamental rights of Georgians, risk further stigmatisation and discrimination of part of the population and are not in line with Georgia’s stated aim to join the EU[2].
In 2022, the Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU over violation of LGBTIQ rights[3]. It also found that provisions of the so-called child-protection law have a concrete and direct impact on the compliance with the horizontal enabling condition on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights[4], based on the criteria under Annex III of the Common Provisions Regulation[5].
Therefore, the reimbursement of payment requests related to certain specific objectives of three Cohesion Policy programmes are partly suspended.
- [1] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/qa3lblga/euco-conclusions-27062024-en.pdf
- [2] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/georgia-statement-spokesperson-legislative-package-family-values-and-protection-minors_en?s=221
- [3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_2689
- [4] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_6466
- [5] Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of 24 June 2021.