Busy agenda for first time Presidency
Lithuania, a rather recent EU Member having joined the EU in 2004, has a fully packed programme for a short and challenging first time Presidency mandate.

Punctuated by summer and winter holidays and much affected by the intra-institutional changes next year, there is high pressure on the Lithuanians to finalise as much work as possible on a vast array of different policy areas before the EU is forced to slowdown for the EU elections and Commission changes in 2014.

Remembering how students usually spend the last night before the exams the next day provides a good idea of the coming six months lying ahead for the Lithuanians.

Above all, the Lithuanian Presidency will strive for three goals, the first being a credible, growing and open Europe. To realise this objective, developing the Banking Union and progressing on financial market reforms will be important from a Presidency perspective, as well as addressing tax evasion in order to restore citizens’ confidence.

In this perspective, finalising the legal framework on the EU budget for 2014-2020 and reaching an agreement on the EU budget for next year will also be among the top priorities of the Presidency.

For the second objective, reinforcement of the Single Market policy as well as the effective implementation of the Compact for Growth and Jobs is foreseen by the incoming Presidency.

The completion of the internal energy market by 2014 is also an affair close to the Lithuanians’ collective hearts given their national interest in fostering EU cooperation in the energy sector and reducing dependency on Russia.

Closer integration is the third objective, and the Lithuanians have made it clear that they are seeking to revive the Eastern European Partnership policy in order to resume the dialogue, in particular with Ukraine, but also with other countries such as Moldova and Georgia.
Yet the Lithuanians are not expected to reinvent the wheel. On the contrary, they will build their work on the legacy of the Irish Presidency, with a view to pass the baton onto Greece in January 2013.

In six months it remains to be seen whether Lithuania will have managed to steer negotiations efficiently and achieve robust compromises in the various policy sectors where it will be responsible for managing discussions, uniting the diverging voices from Member States, and steering them towards a common denominator.

TO read the full press release, please see the document in attachement.