(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission said Monday it would launch talks with Georgia next month on easing visa rules as part of rapprochement moves to encourage reforms in the former Soviet republic.

"We hope we can now start our first negotiations... at the beginning of January," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said after talks with new Georgian Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili.

There was no precise date given for the start of the talks on easier visa access to the EU for Georgian visitors, which will take a close look at Tbilisi's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

On Wednesday the European Commission will present its proposals for deepening its ties with Georgia and five other former Soviet republics -- Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Moldova.

Visa facilitation agreements will form part of those plans, with the long-term goal of scrapping visa requirements altogether.

The commission is also planning to begin talks with the six on "association agreements" and free-trade zones.

But Ferrero-Waldner said it was "a little bit early to speak about that with Georgia."

There is "a lot to be done on the democracy side and the question of good governance," she said.

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