Georgia received a positive assessment from the European Commission - the questionnaire, which was filled in last May and sent to Brussels, was assessed from Europe’s capital.

“The country has several strategies in place, notably on terrorism and migration. Legislation in some areas, notably on foreigners and asylum, is broadly aligned with the acquis. However, institutional cooperation and coordination are weak. As a result, implementation is sometimes unsatisfactory.

It should further align its legislative framework with the EU acquis, by including contracting entities in the utilities sectors and further align its legislation with the concessions directive on procurement in the defence and security sectors.

In the area of statistics, Georgia has some level of preparation. To a large extent national legal instruments are in place for producing required statistical data and further developing the system to approximate it with EU standards. As regards administrative capacity, adequacy of resources is of concern. The national statistical office, GeoStat, has a relatively small number of employees and salary levels are not aligned with those of officials in other areas of public service. Financial and IT resources are also relatively limited.

In the area of financial services Georgia has some level of preparation. Georgia will need to take major additional legislative and operational steps for aligning its rules in numerous areas, in particular with Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive, Investment Firms Regulation and Directive, the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and general financial market infrastructure legislation. Furthermore, Georgia will need to reinforce its capacity substantially to implement the new measures in all areas. Insurance and capital markets remain underdeveloped.

Georgia has some level of preparation in the area of information society and media. It has taken some steps to align its legislation with the EU acquis. Georgia has several digital policy strategies in place, but efforts should be made to ensure that they are aligned with the EU’s “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future” and the “Digital Compass”. Implementation of the spectrum provisions of the European Electronic Communications Code is not evident. There is a lack of universal service regime and therefore implementation of universal services under the European Electronic Communications Code is not yet possible. There are no specific legal acts or rules on open internet access in place. Progress seems to be made towards an alignment with AVMSD”, - reads the document.