The European Union's Delegation to Georgia urged civil society organisations to take part in the process of meeting the 12 recommendations of the European Commission for EU candidate status. "We encourage all Georgian stakeholders to ensure that relevant NGOs are invited and able to meaningfully participate in all working groups, including on electoral reform." 

In the tweet from August 19, it was stressed that the tenth priority, which calls for the participation of CSOs in decision-making processes, is particularly pertinent to the work that is now being done in Parliament. According to a statement from the EU Delegation, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), one of the most important CSOs working on elections, was not invited to the first meeting of the electoral reforms working group, which was meant to develop the legislative changes needed for candidate status.

Earlier, Caucasus Watch reported that the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili, met with a delegation of six MEPs as part of their visit to Georgia. The European Parliament’s delegation included MEPs David McAllister, Sven Mikser, Željana Zovko, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Thierry Mariani, and Assita Kanko. Noting that Georgia's future in Europe hinges on the visit of the MEPs, the president emphasised the importance of listening to the MEPs and their comments at this time. In this regard, the President reprimanded the Georgian Dream party's leaders for engaging in a back-and-forth with MEPs and declared that claims that the EU expects Georgia to launch a war and establish a second front are unacceptable. Previously, President Zourabichvili stressed the need to promptly commence work on the twelve recommendations identified by the European Commission for Georgia's EU membership candidacy.