At the conciliation stage of the co-decision process on macro-financial assistance (MFA) for Georgia, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement to:
- apply the principles of the Joint Declaration on MFA to the case of Georgia;
- use the advisory procedure for assistance up to a threshold of €90 million (as the European Parliament wanted);
- enforce stricter conditions for paying out funds when conditions are not met (as the Council wanted).
The European Parliament delegation was fully united throughout the whole process and our Group can agree with the final deal as it stands.
The S&D Group is pleased that, with this regulation, we can finally give financial assistance to Georgia. The agreement is also positive from an institutional perspective as it respects the powers of the European Parliament.