Lithuania takes over EU Presidency
Anna Sonny, 5 July 2013
Lithuania has now taken over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is the first time a Baltic state has ever held the 6-month Presidency.
The outgoing Irish Presidency can give itself a pat on the back, having overseen the overwhelmingly complex task of securing an agreement on the EU Budget 2014-2020, as well as making progress on EU-US trade talks, banking union plans, and the conclusion of negotiations on CAP reform.
Lithuania is taking the helm at a tough time; pro EU sentiment is not exactly high, with youth unemployment on the rise across the continent and protests springing up in city after city.
At a bureaucratic level, 70 different laws need to be introduced to enact the EU budget 2014-2020 and the EU’s newest member Croatia needs to be integrated. European elections will also be held in May 2014, so Lithuania will have a busy schedule.
The country has named its presidency objectives as a ‘credible, growing and open Europe’, focusing on issues such as financial stability, the deepening of the internal market and the promotion of democratic values in Europe.
An interesting dimension of Lithuania’s presidency will be its work on the Eastern Partnership project, which was launched by Poland and Sweden in 2009 and signed by Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The agreement aims to improve political and economic ties with the former Soviet states through establishing free trade areas and providing economic aid. In return the EU obliges the six countries to commit to reforms on democracy, rule of law and human rights.
Although a small country with a population of around 3 million, it will be interesting to see what role Lithuania will play in bringing the former Soviet nations closer to the EU. The region has not been an easy area for the EU to influence; long-standing points of tension include poor records on human rights in countries like Belarus and Azerbaijan, and in particular the imprisonment of Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which is widely believed to be politically motivated.
Lithuania will also have to tread carefully so as not to damage ties with Russia, who has denounced the Eastern Partnership as an attempt by the EU to muscle in on its sphere of influence.
A summit on the Eastern Partnership will be held this November in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.