NGOs ask the Government of Georgia to publish responses to the EU questionnaire

2022/05/74456-1651649624.jpg
Read: 3239     11:00     04 Май 2022    

30 non–governmental organizations, including Transparency International – Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and Open Society - Georgia, call on the Georgian Government to publish the answers to the first part of the EU self-assessment questionnaire.
The NGO's statement followed the Georgian government's refusal on April 29 to publish the responses. Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili said that the answers contain questions that are inappropriate to make public.
According to the statement of human rights defenders dated May 2, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, public information can remain confidential only if it constitutes a professional, personal, commercial, or state secret.
NGOs are calling on the Government to make public the responses or present appropriate arguments in favor of refusal.
According to them, there is a high public interest in Georgia's accession to the European Union. In this context, based on the results of a public opinion poll, it is said that 88% of the population supports Georgia's membership in the EU.
In their opinion, "if the information provided to the European Union does contain professional, personal, commercial or state secrets, the relevant parts should be encrypted, and the rest should be made public."
It is noteworthy that before that, the non-governmental sector, like the opposition, asked the government to publish the questionnaire itself.
They wrote a letter to the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement, Oliver Varhay, asking him to promote transparency in the process of filling out the EU membership self-assessment questionnaire. After that, the Georgian Government published the first part of the EU questionnaire on April 15.

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NGOs ask the Government of Georgia to publish responses to the EU questionnaire

2022/05/74456-1651649624.jpg
Read: 3240     11:00     04 Май 2022    

30 non–governmental organizations, including Transparency International – Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and Open Society - Georgia, call on the Georgian Government to publish the answers to the first part of the EU self-assessment questionnaire.
The NGO's statement followed the Georgian government's refusal on April 29 to publish the responses. Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili said that the answers contain questions that are inappropriate to make public.
According to the statement of human rights defenders dated May 2, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, public information can remain confidential only if it constitutes a professional, personal, commercial, or state secret.
NGOs are calling on the Government to make public the responses or present appropriate arguments in favor of refusal.
According to them, there is a high public interest in Georgia's accession to the European Union. In this context, based on the results of a public opinion poll, it is said that 88% of the population supports Georgia's membership in the EU.
In their opinion, "if the information provided to the European Union does contain professional, personal, commercial or state secrets, the relevant parts should be encrypted, and the rest should be made public."
It is noteworthy that before that, the non-governmental sector, like the opposition, asked the government to publish the questionnaire itself.
They wrote a letter to the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement, Oliver Varhay, asking him to promote transparency in the process of filling out the EU membership self-assessment questionnaire. After that, the Georgian Government published the first part of the EU questionnaire on April 15.

apsny.ge





Tags: