Georgian Parliament this morning convened for a meeting on the fulfilment of nine steps proposed by the European Commission on the country’s EU integration path. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that today’s meeting will discuss the Special Investigation Service, Personal Data Protection and General Courts. Representatives of relevant agencies will attend.

Papuashvili said the attendees would review the Venice Commission’s latest opinion and hear additional ideas.

According to the Speaker, the Georgian Parliament adopts laws in Georgia, while the Venice Commission “is not a second chamber” of the supreme legislative body.

“We take recommendations as advice, which we may or may not take into account. We have a single approach that we agree with the EU regarding the Venice Commission’s recommendation. We either follow the recommendations of the Venice Commission or, if we do not, we explain why. This is not a directive or a dogma, the Venice Commission’s opinion is a discussable issue. When it is not considered, for example, in connection with the electoral code, we explain why we do not take this into account and believe that our argument this time is more weighty,” Papuashvili said.