News

Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
We are grateful to the Spanish Presidency for inviting candidate countries to a midterm European Council for the first time. We share the views on the strategic goals of the European Union for the next decade. The candidate countries should continue to be a part of the process through involvement in relevant Council formations. I would like to make four brief points.First, on development. Lithuania supports EU policies aiming to improve the trade environment for the developing countries, primarily in the WTO framework. Lithuania plans its eventual becoming a partner in development co-operation. Initially we are prepared to share our expertise and experience. We shall indicate this in Monterey. As for sustainable development, Lithuania is aiming to adopt its national strategy before Johannesburg. We also plan to ratify the Kyoto protocol, but our national specificity requires finding a solution to increased emission after the closure of our nuclear power plant. Second, a more flexible labour market is a good way of creating more jobs, and there the coordination between the national education systems, language teaching, increased teacher and students exchanges, simplified recognition of qualifications, setting up a European science network are needful steps. In addition – and that is a logical step towards creating a more flexible and bigger labour market - new members should have full access to the EU labour market as soon as possible. Third, we support a more open and integrated EU energy market. Lithuania is restructuring, liberalising and privatising its energy sector. For us the key word is interconnection of networks. The so-called "Baltic Ring", both for electricity and gas, must become an integral part of the European energy market. Again, the closure of our nuclear power plant and the resulting need to ensure a stable and sufficient supply of energy to our citizens and industries add urgency to these projects. Fourth – transport. Lithuania is taking part in the development of two TINA transport corridors – First and Ninth – which are of international importance and which cross our territory. After enlargement, the First corridor will be the European Union’s most Eastern transport corridor of North-South direction. A very close co-operation between the countries involved is therefore absolutely necessary. But above all and in conclusion, Mr. President, it is the enlargement of the European Union – through enlarged markets, increased competition and stronger intellectual potential - that will make the Union the most dynamic economy. Thank you, Mr. President.