On 3 March 2022, Georgia submitted an application to join the European Union (EU). The European Commission’s Opinion on the application, published on 17 June 2022 and endorsed by the European Council on 23 June, issued a recommendation to grant Georgia European Union candidate status provided it fulfils 12 priority objectives as elaborated in the recommendation. The priorities concern a range of issues including, among others, to address existing political polarisation, to strengthen the independence of all state institutions, to improve the electoral framework, to implement a systemic judicial reform, to intensify efforts to address high-level corruption, to strengthen the media environment, and to enhance human rights protection and gender equality.