The European Commission publishes its fourth report on visa-free monitoring.
According to the document, member states reaffirm good cooperation with the Georgian authorities on return and readmission.
The report of the member states also mentions cooperation in the field of security with Georgia.
The report also discusses judicial reform in Georgia, including the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
It is noted that Georgia continues to meet the visa liberalization criteria and has taken measures to consider the Commission's recommendations. However, according to the document, further efforts are needed to address the issue of unfounded asylum applications in the Member States, as well as in the areas of prevention and combating money laundering, corruption, and organized crime.
The document provides recommendations for Georgia.
In particular, the following areas need to be further addressed :
- Continue to proactively address the issue of unfounded asylum applications in Member States; tailor the information campaigns on the visa-free regime to relevant migrant profiles, including as regards vulnerable groups, overstays, and unfounded asylum applications.
- Improve the efficiency of anti-corruption institutions and law enforcement agencies in order to address the cases of high corruption better; ensure that all such cases are investigated.
- Finalise the reform of the Supreme Court by bringing the selection procedure for judges fully in line with Venice Commission recommendations and with European standards; 26 finalize the reform of prosecution, including by the separation of functions between investigators and prosecutors; finalize the operational development of the FIU by ensuring that (a) it is able to obtain necessary information from reporting entities and (b) has full access on a timely basis to the necessary financial, administrative and law enforcement information to undertake its functions properly; continue the efforts in the prevention and fight against organized crime, in particular against the laundering of profits from illegal activities; continue efforts to fully align national legislation with the EU acquis on AntiMoney Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing.
- Ensure further alignment of Georgia's visa policy with the EU lists of visa-required third countries, in particular as regards those third countries which present irregular migration or security risks for the EU.
