The Georgian – European Policy and Legal Advice Centre
(GEPLAC)

Georgian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre (GEPLAC) addresses the needs in terms of legal, economic policy and trade policy matters as expressed by the Georgian State Chancellery, in a formal submission of March 1996 to the EU Commission, for deepening and broadening the scope of contribution initiated by the Tacis-EES policy advice over the period 1994-1996.

Following a tender in summer 1997, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, has been contracted by the European Commission to establish Georgian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre (GEPLAC) and to manage independent policy and legal advice activities within the framework created by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

With the Ordinance N 317 (from July 24, 2000) on the Promotion of the Implementation of PCA, the President of Georgia established the Governmental Commission for the Promotion of Implementation of PCA, which at present is beneficiary of GEPLAC.

During the first project phase (November 1997 to May 1999), GEPLAC concentrated its activities on:
· Legal and economic advice to support Georgia’s accession to WTO;
· Assistance to the development of a trade policy that is adjusted to the WTO framework;
· Support to the transposition of WTO obligations into domestic legislation;
· Legal and economic policy advice to support the economic reform process in Georgia.

During the second phase of GEPLAC (June 1999 to May 2000), project activities were designed to support the implementation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Hence, the main tasks were to:
· Assist the Georgian Government and the Georgian Parliament in meeting Georgia’s obligations under the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement and other international agreements, in particular the WTO;
· Provide policy and legal advice on the formulation and drafting of legislation, taking into account in particular the areas stipulated in Article 43 of the PCA;
· Support to the policy debate in Georgia by providing independent economic analysis on specific issues. 

During the extension period of the second phase of GEPLAC (July 2000 to October 2001), project main objectives were:
· To enhance the elaboration of clear Georgian strategy for addressing the requirements of Article 43 of the PCA for the approximation of Georgian legislation with the EU legislation; 
· To establish the agreed benchmarks for the implementation of the PCA, and mechanisms for reporting on the progress against these benchmarks; 
· To support the substantive developments in specific areas of Georgian governmental policy consistent with Titles III-VI of the PCA, focusing, in particular, on the fields of trade and investment, business environment and public administration reform. 

At present - i.e. in third project phase - GEPLAC aims to assist Georgian counterparts in attainment of these commitments through 
. the identification of the priority areas for the revision of Georgian legislation in order to be compatible with relevant EU legislation and 
. elaboration of the National Programme of Harmonisation of Georgian Legislation to that of the EU, taking particularly into account Article 43 of the PCA. 

Thus in coming project phase main activity of GELPAC will be support of the Georgian Government in Elaboration of the "National Programme of Harmonisation of Georgian Legislation with that of the EU".

Activities under GEPLAC’s programme include edition of “Georgian Law Review” (GLR) and “Georgian Economic Trends “(GET) on a quarterly basis.

The above-mentioned publications could be requested at the following address:
42 Al. Kazbegi Ave., 380077 Tbilisi, Georgia
Tel.: ++995 32 537140/537142/
537143/537145/537146
Fax: ++995 32 537138
E-mail: geplac@access.sanet.ge

GEPLAC is lead by a Georgian Director and has about 28 professional experts and support staff.

The Management Team of GEPLAC consists of: the Director of GEPLAC, the Team Leader/Chief Economic Adviser, Chief Legal Adviser, the Deputy Director for Legal Issues and the Deputy Director for Economic Issues.