Georgia questions meaning of joining EU

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili expressed doubt about the expediency of the republic joining the European Union amid talks of transitioning from the principle of unanimous decision-making within the organization to the principle of qualified majority.

As Papuashvili noted, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul earlier proposed abolishing the rule under which one country can block a common decision. According to Wadephul, decisions on EU foreign policy and security should be made by majority vote.

"For large states, such a model may be acceptable, since their size, economic weight and political influence on the decision-making process already provide an important advantage. However, for small countries these would be catastrophic changes. Therefore, the question is becoming increasingly relevant: what is the point of membership if your main advantage and lever is taken away immediately?" Papuashvili wrote on Facebook.

As the head of the Georgian parliament noted, EU membership is important so that a country can support decisions useful to itself, promote its interests and suspend decisions that could harm it. "If a country is deprived of this opportunity, then the European Union is also deprived of its importance as a means of protecting national interests. Accordingly, the political attractiveness and fundamental motivation for membership disappear," he stressed.

According to him, under such conditions it might be better for small countries to remain outside the bloc, at least because they would retain the right to freely make certain decisions.

Source: TASS