The Committee considered the Change N1 to the Grant Agreement between Georgia and USA of December 22, 2015 on Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth.
The Deputy-Finance Minister, Giorgi Kakauridze spoke about the changes. As noted, the project aims at improvement of economic management and administration, establishment of global business standards, increase of competitiveness in target sectors, effective management of natural resources of Georgia and creation of market-oriented job opportunities.
The change envisages increase of the allocation by USAID with 13.1 ml USD. The total allocation constitutes 57,298,636 USD. The grant amount also increases with 14 ml. 970 k. USD.
The project directions remain unchanged: conflict mitigation and reconciliation; education; infrastructure; agriculture; private sector competitiveness and environment. The grant for agricultural activities has increased with 700 000 USD to constitute 3 ml. 260 k. USD. The Committee supported the document.
The Committee considered and endorsed the supervisory plan of the spring session, envisaging hearing information about various agricultural activities and respective decision-making.

Former Prime Minister of France, presidential candidate of the country Francois Fillon has declared that Ukraine and Georgia have no place in NATO and the European Union. He told this in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, reports RIA Novosti
“I will remind you about the irresponsible statements of those who wanted the entry of Georgia and Ukraine in NATO. You just need to admit that Ukraine and Georgia are not designed to enter the EU and NATO,” said French ex-Prime Minister.
Fillon has criticized Western countries for waging an aggressive policy against Russia, he noted that Russia has a lot of responsibility, but not by her. According to him, the military competition with Moscow is a big mistake. He also called the false question of missile defense near the Russian borders.
“Is it always the West has been a reliable partner? Isn’t he deceived Russia on Libya, in Kosovo, for economic partnership with the EU? Why did we need to deploy missile defenses near the Russian border? We made a lot of mistakes,” said Fillon.
Earlier the candidate in presidents of France Francois Fillon has declared that relations with Russia – a strategic issue for Europe’s future. According to Fillon, the issue of restoration of relations with Moscow is very important for Europe, and for this repair it is necessary to solve the Ukrainian question and to respect the Minsk agreement.

The Venice Commission Delegation, with invitation by the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze, is serving the working visit to Georgia on January 20.
The Delegation, chaired by the President of the Venice Commission, Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, will hold the meetings with the Chairman of the Parliament, the representatives of the executive and legislative authorities and the President of Georgia. On the first day of the visit, the Commission will visit the Parliament to meet with the Chairman.
The Venice Commission will also meet with the representatives of the Factions “Patriots of Georgia” and the Minority Factions.

In a report published today, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), acknowledged considerable progress in reducing corruption in Georgia and improving the country’s standing in international indices, and called on the Georgian authorities to continue implementing  the reforms aimed at preventing corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.
Among the positive developments noted by GRECO is the introduction of a monitoring mechanism for submitting asset declarations by public officials including parliamentarians, judges and high-level prosecutors.  It is crucial now that the new rules be extended to cover all prosecutors, that they are effectively applied in practice and kept under constant review.
GRECO noted measures taken to prevent corruption among the members of parliament and increase accountability of their work, and recommends further enhancing transparency of the legislative process through the publication of all draft legislation, and developing an enforceable code of ethics/conduct. It also called for mandatory disclosure of parliamentarians’ conflicts of interest, in order to monitor and determine when and how personal interests of MPs might influence the decision-making process.
GRECO stressed the need to carry on with the important reform of the judiciary. It is of prime importance that the bill on the third stage of reform which is pending before the Parliament should now be adopted and implemented. GRECO recommends reforming the recruitment, promotion and transfer of judges, introducing an objective and transparent system for the allocation of cases (e.g. via random assisgnment), defining more precisely disciplinary offences, and limiting immunity of judges to activities related to their participation in judicial decision-making (”functional immunity”).

Human Rights Watch, American-founded international non-governmental organization has published the 2017 World Report, which also refers to Georgia.According to the report, free access to communication operators network by the security services has caused risks in terms of privacy. 
It also says there is less chance law enforcers to be held responsible for their crimes.  According to the document other concerning fields are media freedom and LGBT people rights. 

The European Parliament will vote visa liberalization issue for Georgian citizens at plenary session at February 2. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is said in the European Parliament’s February agenda.
As you know, LIBE Committee supported visa free regime for Georgian citizens. 45 deputies participated in the voting. Only 2 deputies came against visa liberalization for Georgia. The Plenary session will hold in February.
Coreper confirmed an achieved agreement with European Parliament at 13 of December, 2016. As it is reported, Georgian citizens will allowed in Schengen Zone without visas in the nearest future.