The European Union and Georgia have maintained relations since 1992, following an agreement between the former European Community and the newly independent Georgia. In 2006, a five-year "Action Plan" of rapprochement was implemented in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). In 2009, relations between the two were further upgraded under the auspices of Eastern Partnership. In 2016, a comprehensive Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia went into force, providing Georgia with visa-free travel to the EU, as well as access to some sectors of the European Single Market. Following Brexit, most of the existing EU-Georgia agreements applicable to the United Kingdom were renegotiated and agreed upon in 2019 bilaterally with the United Kingdom.
Both the governing Georgian Dream and opposition United National Movement support Georgia's integration in the EU, and nearly all parties in the Georgian parliament are pro-Western in orientation. A European Union Monitoring Mission has been operating in Georgia since 2009. In January 2021, Georgia was preparing to formally apply for EU membership in 2024. However, on 3 March 2022, Georgia submitted its membership application ahead of schedule, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In June 2022, the European Commission established Georgia's eligibility to become a member of the EU, but deferred giving it official candidate status until after certain conditions were met. Later that month, the European Council expressed readiness to grant Georgia the status of a candidate after completing a set of reforms recommended by the commission. In April 2023, a nationwide poll by the International Republican Institute found that 89 percent of Georgians support joining the EU, the highest number recorded for years.
Adjara crisis (2004)
In Adjara, leader Aslan Abashidze was forced to resign in May 2004 following the Rose Revolution. EU CFSP Chief Javier Solana indicated in February 2007 that the EU could send troops to Georgia alongside Russian forces.
South Ossetia crisis (2006–08)
In July 2006 the European Union referred to then recent developments in South Ossetia zone of and to the Resolution of the Georgian Parliament on Peacekeeping Forces Stationed in the Conflict Zones, which was adopted on 18 July 2006 as follows:
After the 2008 South Ossetia war an EU cease-fire monitoring mission in Georgia (EUMM) was sent to monitor the Russian troop withdrawal from "security zones" established by Russia around South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The mission started on 1 October 2008 and was prolonged by the EU in July 2009 for one year while the EU expressed concern that Russia was blocking other observers from working there A United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at extending its UN Observer Mission in Georgia was vetoed by Russia on 15 June 2009.
European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan (2006–11)
On 2 October 2006, a joint statement on the agreed text of the Georgia-European Union Action Plan within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was issued. The Action Plan was formally approved at the EU-Georgia Cooperation Council session on 14 November 2006 in Brussels.
Association Agreement (2013–present)
To enhance their relationship, the EU and Georgia began negotiating an Association Agreement (AA) and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. In November 2012, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Stefan Fule stated that the AA negotiations could be finalized by November 2013. In February 2013, Tamar Beruchachvili, the Deputy State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, stated that Georgia had no plans to join the Eurasian Economic Union, which Fule has warned Ukraine would be incompatible with the agreements with the EU. A ceremony on the initialling of the AA by the Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton was held at the Eastern Partnership summit on 29 November 2013. It was formally signed on 27 June 2014, and had to be ratified by the EU, Euratom, their member states and Georgia. A second agreement, governing the country's involvement in EU crisis management operations, was also signed.
The Association Agreement, much of which provisionally came into force in September, has been fully ratified by Georgia and all EU member states. On 18 December 2014 the European Parliament approved the Association Agreement. Members backed the treaty by 490 votes in favour to 76 against, with 57 abstentions. The agreement entered into force on 1 July 2016.