In late 2004, LINKS won a contract to implement a project which involved bringing Latvian parliamentary expertise to support the Georgian Parliament in the European integration process, particularly in the area of EC law approximation.
The project was funded by the European Commission under its Rapid Reaction Mechanism. The period of implementation was over six months starting in February 2005. The team project leader was Stephen Nash, LINKS director and former British Ambassador to Georgia and Latvia. The two leading international experts were Edvins Inkens, former head of the Economic Affairs Committee (EAC) of the Latvian Saeima and Ilmars Solims, an official working in the same committee.
The main aim of the project was to build up a working relationship between the EAC of the Latvian Saeima and the European Integration Committee (EIC) of the Georgian Parliament. The heads of the two committees, Oskars Kastens MP and David Bakradze MP played important roles in the implementation of the project. Activities involved in the project included:
| 7-11 February 2005 | Visit of the Team Leader to Riga to meet Latvian experts and plan implementation of the project |
| 13-19 March | Visit of Team Leader and Latvian experts to Tbilisi to plan “exposure” visit to Riga and return visit to Tbilisi |
| 8-17 May | "Exposure" visit to Riga by Georgian delegation led by the Speaker, Mrs Nino Burjanadze, including a Conference opened by the Latvian Speaker, Mrs Ingrida Udre, followed by workshop discussions with MPs from various Saeima committees and officials from various ministries. This was one of the most important building blocks of the project |
| 28 May-7 June | Return visit to Tbilisi. This visit mirrored the exposure visit to Riga. It included a two-day Round Table and one-day Conference, followed by working meetings with Representatives of Parliamentary Committees, Government departments, NGOs and Embassies. Finally, there was a De-briefing which took stock of what the project had achieved and considered recommendations for future co-operation. |
| 18 July | Visit of Team Leader to Brussels for debriefing meeting with EC officials |
| July/August | Finalizing of Manual text. The Manual was an important output of the project, designed to serve as a tool for continuing the EU approximation process in the Georgian Parliament, drawing on the Latvian experience. |
The project was broadly successful in creating a working link between the European Affairs Committee of the Latvian Saeima and the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament. In his final report to the European Commission, the Team Leader made several final recommendations:
