Georgia Action Plan Review 2023-2025

Georgia’s fifth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... spans government transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., and social inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr.... The co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... stalled several times and many proposals from civil society were excluded or reduced in scope, resulting in a less ambitious action plan. The reintroduction and passage of the “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence” in May 2024 has negatively impacted the relationship between the government and civil society, putting Georgia’s continued participation in OGP at risk.

Georgia’s fifth action plan has 10 commitments, most continuing ongoing government programs or unfinished activities from previous action plans. The IRM identified CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 2 as the most promising. This commitment would provide, for the first time, a legal framework for government agencies to publish open data. The other commitments are limited in scope and if implemented, would lead to only modest results by the end of the action plan.

The action plan is a result of an intermittent co-creation process that lasted from January 2020 to December 2023. During this time, Georgia missed two consecutive action plan cycles and was placed under procedural review by OGP’s Criteria and Standards Subcommittee (C&S).[1] The government suspended the OGP process in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed it in June 2021 at the request of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the OGP Georgia Forum.[2] The co-creation process stalled again after the Forum meetings in January and February 2022 when the government and CSOs were unable to agree on the commitments to include in the action plan. Transparency International (TI) Georgia, the co-chair of the Council, presented on behalf of CSOs a list of 45 proposals from civil society members of the OGP Georgia Forum.[3] These proposals included the creation of an Independent Anti-corruption Agency with investigative functions, the adoption of a stand-alone Law on Freedom of Information, and increasing the transparency of issuing government grants. On 21 December 2022, nearly one year after the last Forum meeting (in February 2022), the government presented a document to CSOs with justifications of relevant state agencies for each proposal.[4] CSOs generally disagreed with the government’s justifications for declining many of these proposals, noting in a response letter that “in some instances, government alterations have fundamentally changed the original goal of the commitment”.[5] One interviewed CSO stakeholder argued that the government ”continues to keep the OGP process at the national level as a formality”.[6] At the Council meeting on 20 December 2023, civil society decided to approve the action plan to avoid Georgia being designated inactive in OGP. However, CSOs noted that their approval was a formality since the government did not share the final action plan with them prior to the meeting and most of their recommendations were not included.[7]

Several commitments continue from previous action plans, such as increasing the transparency of the state grant funding system, ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in public life, and increasing transparency in municipalities. Commitment 4 covers transparency in the extractives for the first time in a Georgian OGP action plan, despite being a point of advocacy by CSOs since 2013.[8] Overall, the action plan is less ambitious compared to Georgia’s previous plans, with a high number of commitments having unclear or modest potential for results. Moreover, the ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... of most commitments did not match the original proposals from civil society. For example, CSOs proposed a commitment for Georgia to join the Extractive IndustriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental ... Transparency Initiative (EITI), but Commitment 4 envisages only an assessment of Georgia’s institutional and legal readiness for joining EITI and developing an action plan for membership.

Upon initiation of the draft bills “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” (12 February 2023) and “On Registration of Foreign Agents” (22 February 2023) in parliament, CSOs suspended their membership in the consultative group of the Open Parliament initiative[9] and requested the OGP C&S to initiate a Response Policy for Georgia in March 2023.[10] A Letter of Concern submitted by CSOs in April 2023 highlighted that the Government of Georgia had, in recent years, demonstrated significant discrepancies with the OGP’s core documents, such as the Open Government Declaration and the Articles of Governance.[11] The government reintroduced the bill in April 2024 (under the title “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence”) and adopted it on 28 May 2024. The law entered into force 60 days from its adoption, with the obligation of registration being triggered in August-September, ahead of the parliamentary elections in October. This law requires organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to identify as organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power, raising concerns among Georgian CSOs about their stigmatization and ability to operate freely in the country. On 11 June 2024, CSOs in the Open Government Interagency Coordinating Council announced their decision to leave the Council and the OGP Georgia Forum over the adoption of the law.[12] International reactions to the passage of the law have been strong.[13] The European Union (EU) stated that enactment of the law would lead to a backsliding on the European Commission’s recommendation for Georgia’s EU candidate status and will negatively impact Georgia’s EU path.[14] The Venice Commission and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights gave Urgent Opinions on the law in May 2024.[15] In July 2024, the EU effectively froze Georgia’s EU accession process as a result of the law.[16] At the same time, the U.S. Secretary of State announced a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Georgia.[17] In late July 2024, as a result of that review, the United States decided to pause more than $95 million in assistance that directly benefits the Government of Georgia.[18] Meanwhile, the C&S urged the Government of Georgia to develop a work plan to withdraw the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence and other discriminatory legislation, protect freedom of association and press, and enhance access to information.[19] The C&S also noted that failure to develop and implement a work plan could lead to Georgia being suspended from OGP until the concerns are resolved.

Promising Commitments in Georgia’s 2023-2025 Action Plan

The following review looks at the one commitment that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] Open Government Partnership, Letters to government administration, 2022-2023, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Georgia_Under-Review-Letter_20230207.pdf

[2] Transparency International Georgia, NGO Statement on Suspended Process of Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Georgia, 7 December 2021, https://transparency.ge/en/post/ngo-statement-suspended-process-open-government-partnership-ogp-georgia

[3] Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), IDFI’s Recommendations for the 2021-2022 Open Government Georgia Action Plan, 2020, https://idfi.ge/public/upload/OGP/translation-IDFI-OGP-Commitments-gov-eng.pdf

[4] Information provided by Lili Lezhava (Senior Analyst at Transparency International Georgia) during the pre-publication review of this report, 26 August 2024.

[5] Feedback to the Government of Georgia’s Formal Response to the Letter of Concern, 25 September 2023, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Georgia_Feedback-to-Gov-Response-with-Annexes_20230925.pdf

[6] Sandro Kevkhishvili (Anti-corruption program manager at Transparency International Georgia), interview by the IRM, 1 April 2024.

[7] Lili Lezhava (Senior Analyst at Transparency International Georgia), interview by the IRM, 1 April 2024; Giorgi Oniani (Deputy Executive Director at Transparency International Georgia), interview by the IRM, 1 April 2024; Salome Sagharadze (Project Coordinator at Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)), interview by the IRM, 2 April 2024.

[8] Open Government Partnership, Why EITI-OGP synergy matters for Georgia, 20 January 2020, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/why-eiti-ogp-synergy-matters-for-georgia

[9] Transparency International Georgia, Statement of civil society organizations on suspending membership in the consultative group of the Parliament of Georgia, 10 March 2023, https://transparency.ge/en/post/statement-civil-society-organizations-suspending-membership-consultative-group-parliament/?custom_searched_keyword=OGP

[10] Open Government Partnership, Response policy case: Georgia, 13 April 2023, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/ogp-response-policy/response-policy-case-georgia/

[11] In addition to the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the Letter of Concern highlighted issues around the shrinking space for civil society, human rights activists, and critical media, violations of fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of association and expression, and the right to privacy, restricted access to information, erosion of judicial independence, and stagnation in the national OGP process and open governance reforms. See https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Georgia_Letter-of-Concern_20230413.pdf

[12] Civil Georgia, NGOs leave OGP’s inter-agency coordination council, working group over Agents’ Law, 11 June 2024, https://civil.ge/archives/612414

[13] Civil Georgia, International reactions to presidential veto override, final adoption of Foreign Agents Law, 29 May 2024, https://civil.ge/archives/609975

[14] European Commission, Statement by the High Representative with the European Commission on the final adoption of the law on transparency of foreign influence in Georgia, Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, 28 May 2024, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/statement-high-representative-european-commission-final-adoption-law-transparency-foreign-influence-2024-05-28_en

[15] See https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-PI(2024)013-e and https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/b/d/569922.pdf

[16] Politico, EU announces Georgia’s accession is ‘stopped’ after anti-West pivot, 9 July 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/georgia-eu-accession-stopped-anti-west-pivot-russian-law-foreign-agent-bill/

[17] U.S. Department of State, Announcement of a Visa Restriction Policy for Undermining Democracy in Georgia and Comprehensive Review of All U.S.-Georgia Cooperation, 23 May 2024, https://www.state.gov/announcement-of-a-visa-restriction-policy-for-undermining-democracy-in-georgia-and-comprehensive-review-of-all-u-s-georgia-cooperation/

[18] U.S. Department of State, United States to Pause Assistance to the Government of Georgia, 31 July 2024, https://www.state.gov/united-states-to-pause-assistance-to-the-government-of-georgia/

[19] Open Government Partnership, Government of Georgia urged to follow open government recommendations to address legislation restricting civil society, 7 May 2024, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/news/government-of-georgia-urged-to-follow-open-government-recommendations-to-address-legislation-restricting-civil-society/