Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted status of the candidate country in December 2023, on the understanding that Georgia takes the relevant steps set out in the European Commission recommendation of November 2023.

“Congratulations, today is a historic day! 27 EU countries unanimously decided to grant the candidate status to Georgia. Congratulations […], first and foremost, to the people of Georgia, who devotedly support European integration. The voice of the people of Georgia is clearly heard in the European Union. As I am hearing you now and here.” – stated EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski. 
See photos from the celebration event here.

Following Georgia’s application for EU Membership in March 2022, the country’s European perspective was recognised in June of the same year, and Georgia was granted candidate country status on 14 December 2023.

Half a year later, on 27 June 2024 the European Council announced that the EU accession process for Georgia was “de facto halted”, due to backsliding on the steps set out in the Commission’s recommendation for candidate status. On 17 October 2024, the European Council recalled that the EU accession process for Georgia was stopped and called on Georgia to adopt democratic, comprehensive and sustainable reforms, in line with the core principles of European integration.

The nine steps set out in the 2023 Enlargement Package include fighting disinformation and foreign information manipulation, improving alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy, addressing the issue of political polarisation, ensuring a free, fair and competitive electoral process, improving parliamentary oversight and institutional independence, ensuring a holistic and effective judicial reform, addressing the effectiveness of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, ensuring a systemic approach to de-oligarchisation, and improving the protection of human rights and ensuring meaningful involvement of civil society.

Find out more what does the EU Candidate Status mean for Georgia here 

“My sincere congratulations to all political leaders in Georgia. My sincere congratulations to the government, to the opposition, to the Parliament, to the President, to the civil society, to the media, but first and foremost – to the people of Georgia, who have always consistently, in an unwavering way, supported Georgia’s European path. This is a big recognition from the European Union of the progress achieved within the last years. European aspirations are uniting all Georgians.”- The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski

Watch his full statement ⇒