Lithuania assumes European Union presidency

PanARMENIAN.Net - Taking the baton from Ireland to chair the Council of the European Union for the next six months, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė vowed to push through legislation that would help lift Europe out of its economic doldrums, especially provisions related to the implementation of the EU's 2014-2020 budget, EurActiv reports.

Grybauskaitė said that the main goal of the country’s presidency will be "commitment, professionalism and results."

“We will strive to be a trustworthy presidency – a presidency you can rely on. We will deliver what we promise to deliver,” she said.

Lithuania, assuming the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, will have to deal with more than 300 legislative proposals, the bulk of it related to the EU's 2014-2020 budget.

Grybauskaitė said that if the European Parliament finally endorses the budget, the presidency will be able to do the job by the end of the year, underlining nonetheless that it will be tough to re-launch Europe's economy with smaller budget.

“About 80% of the EU budget goes to traditional policies and for the rest we are trying to reshuffle our priorities in the leftovers. These are very small amounts. If we front-load for youth unemployment, we are taking away from transport and energy connections, which is again very important,” she said.

Energy security will be a key priority for Vilnius, alongside tackling unemployment, which will be at the centre of an EU leaders' high-level conference in Berlin on July 3.

The Lithuanian presidency has been tasked to present a report on equal market conditions for internal and external energy suppliers, to work on nuclear safety in the EU neighborhood and, more broadly, to reflect on how to better coordinate the external dimension of the EU's energy policy.

The country would seek completion of the internal EU energy market, as a way to secure energy supplies and competitiveness, and provide affordable prices for European citizens.

The President also advocated a coordinated approach on defense policy. “It is not only about defense, it’s about the defense industry, it’s about securitizing our neighborhood,” she said, indicating that almost eight years have gone since the last time the EU attempted to put the issue on the table.