During the Lithuania’s EU Presidency closing event, President Dalia Grybauskaitė declared that Lithuania has successfully fulfilled the tasks assigned to it and justified the trust of the entire European Union. Over 251 important EU legal acts were adopted and progress was achieved in negotiating 114 initiatives in the last six months. 

These are very important steps that help ensure economic growth and well-being of the people in the EU, allow effectively address unemployment issues, restore Europe’s financial stability and boost the EU’s global competitiveness.

Thus, the Framework Programmes Erasmus plus, Horizon 2020 and COSME will strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy and the leadership of the Union in terms of education, research and innovation.

It is also under the Lithuanian Presidency and for the first time that the financing for strategic energy projects had been earmarked in the multiannual EU budget as well as a list of European common interest projects. This is a significant step forward at European level towards building a single internal energy market.

Concerning EU relations with Eastern Partnership countries, the EU’s association agreements initialed with Moldova and Georgia as well as other important agreements will serve to strengthen democratic development in those countries and ensure a more stable and secure neighborhood.
Over this half year, Lithuania has also moved forward negotiating free trade agreements with EU’s strategic partners. If talks are currently ongoing with the Americans, discussions had been successful with the Canadians. The Lithuanian Presidency had received mandate to begin negotiations on investment protection with China.