The Georgian Parliament is preparing amendments to the Law on Grants that would exempt certain grants from requiring government approval. The draft legislation will be presented at the Parliament’s Bureau meeting next week.

Under the proposed changes, grants issued within several specific programs would no longer need government consent. The amendment specifically targets Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the existing Law on Grants, which would be reworded as follows:

“The procedures established by this article shall not apply to grants issued by international sports associations, federations, and committees; individual financial assistance provided for general and higher education and scientific work outside Georgia’s borders; as well as grants issued under the European Union’s research and innovation program ‘Horizon Europe’ and the EU’s Erasmus+ program.”

According to the current legislative framework, grants from the EU’s research and innovation program “Horizon Europe” and the Erasmus+ program require government approval. However, the explanatory note accompanying the draft law argues for change:

“Given that Georgia makes specific contributions (in the form of financial payments) to implement these programs, grants issued under these same programs can be considered lower risk in terms of threats to sovereignty, political intervention, or security concerns.
Therefore, it is advisable to extend exceptional procedures to these programs.”

The amendment has been initiated by nine members of the Georgian Parliament: Archil Gorduladze, Tornike Cheishvili, Alexandre Tabatadze, David Matikashvili, Rati Ionatamishvili, Aluda Ghudushauri, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Guram Macharashvili, and Akaki Aladashvili.