Abstract
This chapter deals with the expansion of the European security community to Georgia in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It addresses the main issues affecting Georgia’s post-Soviet transition, from the turbulent 1990s to the post-Rose Revolution normalisation. It maps and traces the evolution of perceptions towards European integration and advances generalisations regarding the mechanisms of ideational change set in motion through institutional cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Georgia in the context of the ENP and the Eastern Partnership (EaP).
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Notes
- 1.
Transcaucasia was the designation established by Moscow for the regions south of the Caucasus mountain range. Transcaucasia means literally ‘beyond the Caucasus’. After independence, in 1992, the designation became linked to Soviet dominance and new designations emerged, including ‘South Caucasus’, mainly privileged by the EU.
- 2.
For an insightful overview of Georgia’s strategic documents developed during Shevardnadze’s first term in office and the contradictions in Georgia’s strategic thinking, see Darchiashvili (2000).
- 3.
Both missions were terminated in 2009, after Russia’s boycott to the renovation of their mandates.
- 4.
See website on the OSCE Mission to Georgia http://www.osce.org/georgia/13199.html [10.06.2017].
- 5.
The concept of non-predatory bandwagoning alignment was put forward by Mark Kramer (1999) (cited in Spero 2003). This concept applies to states seeking to attain gains from adherence to a security system providing external security and stability, but also states seeking to institutionalise a value system inherent to the security system they are about to enter.
- 6.
A thorough study of the potential for the development of a Stability Pact for the Caucasus was carried by the Centre for European Policy Studies, in Brussels. See Celac et al. (2000).
- 7.
The current Constitution forbids members of Parliament (article 53) and of Government (article 80) from economic activities, while in 1998, the Parliament of Georgia passed a law ‘On the Incompatibility of Interests in Public Service and Corruption’.
- 8.
Outstanding issues included the time frame for the Action Plan implementation (Georgia wanted three years and the European Commission insisted on having five years); Georgia wanted a Free Trade Agreement and visa facilitation agreement; Georgia was also hoping for a statement acknowledging Georgia’s aspirations to membership; a stronger commitment by the EU on conflict resolution, namely in the Joint Control Commission in charge of the negotiations on South Ossetia; and finally Georgia was also pushing for a reference to regional cooperation in the framework of the Black Sea instead of the South Caucasus (Interview 2006d, e, 2007b).
- 9.
One European Commission official illustratively called it a process of ‘letting them in to the garden, but not into the house’ (Interview 2006a).
- 10.
The streamlining of legislation, necessary for acquis transfer, suffered from divergent priorities and lack of preparation. While the European Commission insisted on an even application of the acquis throughout the entire neighbourhood, the Georgian government sought instead a ‘selective convergence’ with the acquis, making use of the joint ownership principle of the ENP.
- 11.
Since 2003, following the EU-Russia summit in St. Petersburg, both actors have been engaged in negotiations towards visa-free regime. By 2006, a visa facilitation agreement had been signed by the two parties, which caused great concern of the Georgian authories. Russia’s policies of attributing Russian passports to Abkhazian and South Ossetians would thus become more attractive to these peopulations, undermining the Georgian government strategy of portraying Georgia’s approximation to Europe as an appealing reason for reintegration. Following the war over South Ossetia, in August 2008, the EU sped the process of granting visa-free status to Georgia, in an alignment of member states’ willingness to display greater support for Georgia (see European Commission 2008).
- 12.
Saakashvili’s personal connection to Ukraine became particularly visible when President Poroshenko appointed him Governor of the city of Odessa, in the South of Ukraine, with a clear mandate to fight corruption.
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Simão, L. (2018). Georgia: Building a European State. In: The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus. The European Union in International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65792-9_7
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