EU accession
ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe will also serve Georgia
At the request of the Georgian ILO constituents the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe will support Georgia as of July 2023. Georgia has sought political and economic integration in the European Union since joining the Eastern Partnership in 2009. The country applied for candidate status in 2022 after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Georgian constituents want to access the experiences on EU accession from peer countries of the sub region (e.g. Western Balkan, Moldova, Ukraine).
3 July 2023
The EU-Georgia Association Agreement entered into force in July 2016 and strives for political association and economic integration between the EU and Georgia. The EU and Georgia have also entered into a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, while Georgian citizens have benefitted from visa-free travel to the Schengen area since 2017. The EU is Georgia's largest trading partner and provides over €100 million to Georgia in technical and financial assistance. The application for EU candidacy provides opportunities for convergence while requiring significant and sustained reforms in the areas of labour and social policies. In these areas the ILO has been a partner of choice for EU candidate countries in East and Southeast Europe.
In recent years, the ILO technical cooperation with Georgia focused on the adoption of the Labour Law reform package in 2020 and the re-establishment of the Labour Inspectorate, with funding from Denmark. The ILO has also been working on the use of International Labour Standards in legal procedures, entrepreneurship development, occupational safety and health in the construction sector, social protection and job formalisation, improvement of service delivery to members of trade unions and employers’ organisations.
Georgia has made much progress over the past decade. As a result of sound economic management, GNI per capita has made progress in catching up with other parts of Europe increasing from $3,048 in 2010 to $4,608 in 2021 (constant 2015 US$). The poverty rate (measured by the national poverty line) was more than halved over the same period. Nevertheless, structural challenges persist, notably weak productivity and limited high-quality job creation. More than a third of all workers are engaged in low-productivity agriculture. Poor learning outcomes and lack of skills also constitute a barrier to private sector growth. Informal economy remains high at estimated 46.2 per cent.
In recent years, the ILO technical cooperation with Georgia focused on the adoption of the Labour Law reform package in 2020 and the re-establishment of the Labour Inspectorate, with funding from Denmark. The ILO has also been working on the use of International Labour Standards in legal procedures, entrepreneurship development, occupational safety and health in the construction sector, social protection and job formalisation, improvement of service delivery to members of trade unions and employers’ organisations.
Georgia has made much progress over the past decade. As a result of sound economic management, GNI per capita has made progress in catching up with other parts of Europe increasing from $3,048 in 2010 to $4,608 in 2021 (constant 2015 US$). The poverty rate (measured by the national poverty line) was more than halved over the same period. Nevertheless, structural challenges persist, notably weak productivity and limited high-quality job creation. More than a third of all workers are engaged in low-productivity agriculture. Poor learning outcomes and lack of skills also constitute a barrier to private sector growth. Informal economy remains high at estimated 46.2 per cent.