Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Change 1

ChangedI. whereas the illegitimate Georgian parliament has established the Temporary Parliamentary Investigative Commission on the Activities of the Regime and Political Figures of 2003-2012, which was the period when President Mikheil Saakashvili was at the helm and paving the way for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic ambitions; whereas this commission is a tool for the further persecution of political opponents, especially leaders of opposition movements; whereas on 22 May 2025, Zurab ‘Girchi’whereas, Japaridze,since the leaderestablishment of the Girchi – More Freedom party andso-called oneparliamentary ofcommission, the leaders ofpolitical thesituation Coalitionin forGeorgia Change,has wasfurther arrestedgravely fordeteriorated refusingdue to appear before thisthe politicallyarbitrary motivatedarrest, commissionjudicial createdpersecution and controlled bysentencing Georgianof Dream,prominent whoseopposition long-termpolitical ambitionleaders, isincluding toZurab eradicateJaparidze, politicalMamuka oppositionKhazaradze, inBadri Georgia;Japaridze, whereasGiorgi onVashadze, 29Nika MayGvaramia 2025,and Nika Melia, another leader of the Coalition for Change, was arrested one day before he was due to appear in court for refusing to appear before the Temporaryon Parliamentarypolitically Investigativemotivated Commission;charges;

Change 2

Changed3. Deplores the dismissal of approximately 700 civil servants since December 2024 due to their participation in or support for pro-European protests; stresses that such retaliation erodes public trust in democratic institutions, violates freedom of expression and association, and contributes to the deepening authoritarian tendencies of the current regime; calls on the Georgian authorities to abide by labour law standards and to allow civil servants to register a trade union in order to protect them from the unjustified restriction of their labour rights; expresses its concern about the growing politicisation of civil service appointments, and calls for a repeal of the amendments to the Law on Public Service adopted in December 2024 that remove the competition rule for the appointment of civil servants and instead grant direct appointment powers to the heads of public institutions; reiterates that these amendments constitute worrying backsliding from the successful public service reform that was implemented by Georgia under the EU-Georgian Association Agreement and calls for their repeal; 4. Stresses the need for an immediate and comprehensive audit of the EU’s policy towards Georgia given the ongoing democratic backsliding and the increasingly repressive political and legislative environment that constitutes a regression for many of Georgia’s democratic achievements and successful EU reforms, fundamentally weakens democratic institutions and further consolidates power in the hands of the ruling party; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to review the implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the light of the blatant breach of Georgia’s obligations regarding the general principles laid down in Article 2, namely respect for democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms; reiterates that non-fulfilment of these obligations may result in the conditional suspension of economic cooperation and the privileges afforded by the Agreement;

Change 3

Added4. Stresses the need for an immediate and comprehensive audit of the EU’s policy towards Georgia given the ongoing democratic backsliding and the increasingly repressive political and legislative environment that constitutes a regression for many of Georgia’s democratic achievements and successful EU reforms, fundamentally weakens democratic institutions and further consolidates power in the hands of the ruling party; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to review the implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the light of the blatant breach of Georgia’s obligations regarding the general principles laid down in Article 2, namely respect for democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms; reiterates that non-fulfilment of these obligations may result in the conditional suspension of economic cooperation and the privileges afforded by the Agreement; calls, in the light of the blatant breach of the principles under Article 2, for the application of Article 422 of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement related to the non-fulfilment of obligations;

Change 4

Changed6. Underlines the responsibility of Bidzina Ivanishvili and other officials and political leaders, including Irakli Kobakhidze, Shalva Papuashvili, Vakhtang Gomelauri, Mayor of Tbilisi and Georgian Dream Secretary General Kakha Kaladze, and the former Georgian Dream chair Irakli Garibashvili, for the deterioration of the political process in Georgia by enabling democratic backsliding resulting in the autocratic consolidation of power and by acting against the country’s constitutional objective of Euro-Atlantic integration; calls, therefore, for immediate and targeted personal sanctions to be imposed against Bidzina Ivanishvili, his family members and his companies and calls for the EU, in cooperation with other jurisdictions, in particular the United Kingdom, to freeze his financial assets; deploresreminds the obstructionHungarian byand Slovak Governments of the principle of sincere cooperation, which requires that Member States refrain from any measure that could jeopardise the attainment of the EU’s objectives; urges the Hungarian and Slovak GovernmentsGovernments, oftherefore, theto Councilrealign decisionstheir onforeign policy with EU positions and principles and to lift their veto against the imposition of sanctions against individuals responsible for democratic backsliding in Georgia;Georgia and for the repression against the legitimate protests; condemns the unilateral actions by the Hungarian Government seeking to legitimise Georgian Dream;

Change 5

Changed10. Condemns the unlawful prosecution of political opponents by the investigative committee of the de facto Georgian parliament under the leadership of the Georgian Dream party, which disproportionately targets the actions of the government that ended its mandate more than twelve years ago; highlights the political nature of the ‘investigation’, noting that the Georgian Dream party has been in power since 2012 but launched the investigative committee in parallel with its attempts to ban genuine opposition parties; notes with concern the statements by the chair of the investigative committee, Tea Tsulukiani, spreading Russian narratives; strongly condemns in the strongest possible terms the arrest and sentencing of Zurab ‘Girchi’Japaridze, JaparidzeMamuka andKhazaradze, Badri Japaridze, Giorgi Vasadze, Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia and theother threatsopposition topoliticians arreston otherpolitically politicians,motivated charges and considers these individuals to be political prisoners;

Change 6

Changed14. Points out that the upcoming municipal elections in autumn 2025 presentwill yettake anotherplace testin fora worsening legal environment following the resilienceadoption of new amendments to Georgia’s democracyOrganic Law and to the Election Code in December 2024 and under conditions of increasing political pluralism;repression callsand onpersecution of political opponents by the oppositionGeorgian toregime; seizeconsiders that, under the opportunitycurrent presentedpolitical byand theselegal conditions, the municipal elections topresent reflectenormous thechallenges unityfor ofany thepotential Georgianparticipant peopleexpecting ina favourfree ofand democracyfair contest and that, further, such participation will be used by the ruleself-appointed authorities as recognition of law,the asnew alreadystatus demonstratedquo; inbelieves thethat peacefulthese protestsupcoming againstelections do not present an opportunity to reflect the manipulationdemocratic choice of the parliamentaryGeorgian electionspeople unless the imprisoned and repression;detained callspolitical foropposition theleaders municipalare electionsreleased toand bethe elections are held in an improved electoral environment, overseen by an independent and impartial election administration and monitored through diligent international observation to guarantee a genuinely fair, free and transparent process;

Change 7

Removed15. Is deeply concerned, in this context, by the further deterioration of the electoral system and the overall democratic environment ahead of the municipal elections, in particular the fast-tracked adoption of new amendments to Georgia’s Organic Law and to the Election Code in December 2024 that undermine the principle of equal suffrage and aim to solidify the ruling party’s dominance at all levels of governance; recalls that these amendments have been criticised by the Venice Commission and calls for them to be repealed; calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Member States to consider imposing additional individual sanctions against Georgian officials if the upcoming municipal elections fail to meet the criteria for fair and free elections;

Added15. Strongly condemns the continuing and deliberate destruction of the environment for Georgia’s vibrant civil society, with the adoption of several pieces of restrictive Russian-style legislation, including on the transparency of foreign influence, threats, and stigmatisation by the authorities; strongly denounces the new legislative initiative that requires the registration of all civil society organisation grants with the government and that obliges foreign donors to obtain executive approval to disburse grants to local organisations; regrets the recent decision by the authorities to freeze the bank accounts of crowdfunding initiatives and campaigns in support of political prisoners and their families; calls on the authorities to immediately cease the intimidation, threats, politically motivated prosecutions and physical assaults against civil society representatives, political leaders, civil activists, journalists and media workers in Georgia; condemns the arbitrary and unjustified refusal of several European journalists’ entry to Georgia; reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mzia Amaghlobeli and the withdrawal of all charges against her, which are politically motivated, expressing deep concern over her critical eyesight deterioration in detention and urging urgent access to trusted medical care;

Removed16. Strongly condemns the continuing and deliberate destruction of the environment for Georgia’s vibrant civil society, with the adoption of several pieces of restrictive Russian-style legislation, including on the transparency of foreign influence, threats, and stigmatisation by the authorities; strongly denounces the new legislative initiative that requires the registration of all civil society organisation grants with the government and that obliges foreign donors to obtain executive approval to disburse grants to local organisations; regrets the recent decision by the authorities to freeze the bank accounts of crowdfunding initiatives and campaigns in support of political prisoners and their families; calls on the authorities to immediately cease the intimidation, threats, politically motivated prosecutions and physical assaults against civil society representatives, political leaders, civil activists, journalists and media workers in Georgia; condemns the arbitrary and unjustified refusal of several European journalists’ entry to Georgia;

Added16. Condemns the recent adoption, without due public consultation, of legislation that enables further political persecution, limits the right of assembly, and further shrinks the space for civil society, independent media and the opposition to operate freely, including the Russian-style foreign agent law, the amendments to the Law on Public Service, the amendments to the Law on Grants, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as new restrictive amendments to the Broadcasting Law; calls for the Georgian authorities to repeal these legislative changes; stresses that Georgian Dream’s political conduct, including its strategic alignment with the Russian Federation and the accelerated adoption of tools characteristic of authoritarian regimes, mirrors such developments within Russia itself; expresses concern about the latest wave of assaults on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the demand by certain state institutions, such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau, for NGOs to provide detailed financial, legal and operational information for the last one and a half years within three working days; underscores that this demand is unfeasible by design and, as such, risks paralysing the work of the targeted organisations and suspending their activities;

Removed17. Condemns the recent adoption, without due public consultation, of legislation that enables further political persecution, limits the right of assembly, and further shrinks the space for civil society, independent media and the opposition to operate freely, including the Russian-style foreign agent law, the amendments to the Law on Public Service, the amendments to the Law on Grants, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as new restrictive amendments to the Broadcasting Law; calls for the Georgian authorities to repeal these legislative changes; stresses that Georgian Dream’s political conduct, including its strategic alignment with the Russian Federation and the accelerated adoption of tools characteristic of authoritarian regimes, mirrors such developments within Russia itself;