DCFTA and Georgia: Means or End?

Author(s): Badri Kochoradzem
Editor(s): Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo, Hans Gutbrod
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 36
Pages: 13-15
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2012

Georgia's historical aspirations for an European affiliation could be largely met through further political association and economic integration with the EU. Both of these tracks could proceed simultaneously with an emphasis on either track depending on the particular circumstances of Georgia's ongoing internal and external developments. With the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA; concluded in 1996 and enacted in 1999) and the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP, launched in 2004) with its respective Action Plan (adopted in 2006) and Eastern Partnership (EaP, inaugurated in 2009) serving as appropriate platforms for Georgia's Europeanization for years, the dramatic changes on the ground both in the EU and Georgia prompted adjustments that resulted in an extensive review of ENP policies (especially, with the Danish EU presidency starting on January 1, 2012). Among the most important principles underpinning those policy tools are conditionality and a country-tailored approach, providing Georgia with the foundation for choosing the pace and determining the ambition with which to engage in integration processes with the EU.

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