Georgia joins Single Euro Payments Area

The Georgian parliament has adopted a package of bills necessary for Georgia to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) in the third final hearing.

SEPA is a single area in which the differences between domestic and international payments in euros of different countries into a single "home" market are completely eliminated, Sputnik Georgia reports on September 11 referring to the local parliament.

"The accelerated consideration of the package of bills is stipulated by the need to timely fulfil the criteria necessary for Georgia to join SEPA and obligations upon the Association Agreement," parliament said.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration Maki Bochorishvili said that Georgia's accession to SEPA will bring benefits in many spheres.

"In particular, it will add credibility to the Georgian banking sector in the international arena, simplify trade relations with the European Economic Area, and simplified services will be rendered to Georgian citizens, which is especially important, given the growing trend of money transfers from EU member states," Bochorishvili said.

Georgia plans to submit an application for joining SEPA to the European Tax Council soon. A special role in this process is assigned to the National Bank of Georgia, which should prepare everything at the legislative level.