- 2026-07-14 “Thank you, Thomas, dear vice president, Dombrovskis. I will turn to Lithuanian. Well, the Irish presidency marks the start of the work of our presidency Troika together with Greece. And Lithuania looks forward to closely working together over the next 18 months while ensuring continuity, steady progress, and on the common European agenda. Lithuania welcomes the priorities of the Irish presidency, in particular, the focus on the EU security. We appreciate Ireland's commitment to providing comprehensive support to Ukraine, strengthening The US competitiveness, and upholding our common European values, including human dignity, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights. Lithuania agrees that EU enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability, and prosperity across Europe. We'll look forward to significant progress in the access negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. We also support Ireland's ambition to conclude access negotiations with Montenegro and accelerate negotiations with Albania. The negotiations on the future NFF will be of particular importance, and we support Ireland's ambition to make significant progress in the negotiations and reach an agreement by the end of 26. Thank you.”
EU enlargement
- 2026-07-13 “35:30 - 14:38:14): Thank you very much, chair, commissioner, colleagues. Women's participation in agriculture is not only a matter of equal opportunities, but also that of sectors' competitiveness, innovation, generational renewal, and the vitality of rural areas.
Therefore, we support the goal set forth in the vision for agriculture and food to create such an agricultural sector that is attractive to both women and young people, and we are convinced that long term results are not only, help to achieve not only the visibility of women, but also to ensure equal opportunities to establish and develop farms, invest, acquire new knowledge, and participate in decision making process.
Lithuania can actually share positive experience in this area in our country. Women manage more than 43% of farms, and this is 1 of the highest figures in the EU. We also see what added value is created by including women in local leadership.
Through the implementation of the LIDAR method, full gender balance has been achieved in the governing bodies of local action groups. Women and women and men account both for 50%, and more than 7 61% of board chairs are women.
And this experience is a case in point that act by actively involving women in decision making processes, we can strengthen leadership.
When it comes to practical solutions to purchase, inherit, and establish farms, it is important to ensure that women and men have equal access access to support financing, knowledge, and investment opportunities.
Lithuania does not imply separate support measures based on gender. All interventions are equally accessible under the strategic plan to both women and men. But of course, we also see challenges. Women led farms are typically smaller, so 1 of the most important tasks is to strengthen opportunities and to invest in the development of such farms to promote knowledge transfer, the implementation of innovations, and create favorable conditions for successful generational renewal.
We're convinced stronger rule for women in agriculture means more innovation, greater resilience, rural communities, and more sustainable future for the agriculture sector as such. Thank you. Thank you, Rolandis. Next up is France followed by Czechia and Portugal. Annie, the floor is yours. Miss”
Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- 2026-07-13 “Mr. chair, we support Visegrad Group and other countries concern as regards crisis management and agri food sector. In order to manage challenges better, we need to have a more complex and more flexible system and also to ensure the unity Safety net and its effective functioning and enable a timely response to crisis. We also support Italy's concern regarding the planned reduction in funding for the EU Agricultural and Food Products Promotion policy in 2027. This is an important EU instrument that helps promote EU agricultural and food products in international markets when the challenges are growing in international trade. This is a necessary investment into the competitiveness and resilience of the EU sector. We urge the Commission to ensure that funding for this policy is in line with the strategic importance and guarantees its effectiveness. Thank you.”
Export of EU agri-food products
- 2026-07-13 “Thank you, Martin. We would like to wish you overall success and you and your team. The success of your presidency means the success for all of us here around this table and ourselves as the future presidency as a partner in the trio will constructively contribute to all the priorities and objectives that you have listed.
We hope that we will cooperate successfully, and we will achieve a good result at the end of our presidency trio.
I would like to thank Maria as well for the excellent work during the Cyprus presidency and the commissioner for the questions, 2 very important documents that have been presented to this discussion.
Livestock is a strategically important sector for food security, vitality of rural areas, and strategic resilience both of Lithuania and the entire European Union.
For Lithuania located on the eastern border of the EU, these are particularly important aspects, let alone other challenges we encounter in this area.
We appreciate the commission's attention to the problems of the Eastern Border Region and hope that this will also be reflected in the context of the negotiations of the future at MFF.
Farmers face many challenges in livestock farming. Successive crisis, decreasing profitability and losses are disincentives to engage in this activity.
On the contrary, the farmers are rapidly withdrawing from the livestock sector. Systematic solutions are needed to reverse this negative trend.
A long term coherent competitiveness focused livestock strategy is exactly what we needed.
It is important to focus on its implementation without losing sight of the economic viability of farms.
We need to ensure the conditions for modernization, innovation, risk management and improving the position of farmers in the food supply chain, keeping in mind small farms as well.
When proposing new restrictions, realistic transitional periods and sufficient EU funding must be ensured for their implementation.
Apart from that, we support strengthening the capacities for the early detection of animal diseases, disease management and prevention, increasing research into vaccine and their use, and ensuring adequate funding for these activities.
However, we should not expect that the CEP funds alone can cover all these needs for the objectives of the strategy.
In the context of livestock farming, I must return once again to the critical situation in our dairy sector.
The negative pressure is not declining, and I would like to support the Romanian, Bulgarian, and other colleagues.
In Lithuania, the farm gate milk prices are at the lowest level in the EU and continue decreasing and by minus 4% since our last Luxembourg discussion.
And we also see a negative downward trend in the results of the global dairy auctions.
Commissioner, I understand the existing situation in the agricultural reserve for milk producers. But I would like to once again call for the mobilization of the support of our milk producers and the activation of the private storage facility for cheese and butter.
Regarding the protein plan, we agree on the need to strengthen the EU strategic autonomy in this area and that we need to increase local protein production.
Sufficient long term EU funding and effective risk management tools must be ensured in order to improve protein supply.
We support cooperation with Ukraine, which is an an important strategic focus. Thank you.”
Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
- 2026-07-10 “33:03 - 11:35:42): Dear chair, dear Simon. So first of all, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Ireland on taking over the presidency. I would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the Cyprus presidency for its excellent work and dedicated efforts over the past 6 months.
Looking ahead, Slovenia will assume the presidency of the council in the first half of next year. We look forward to working closely with our Irish colleagues and to continuing our joint efforts in advancing the European agenda.
We support the president's ambitions to agree on a council mandate in October and stand ready to continue constructive technical and political work towards this objective. We agree that the identified items capture the key political issues that need to be resolved for a final agreement to be reached.
As repeatedly highlighted by both the commission and many member states, the various elements of the package are closely interlinked and should therefore be assessed as a coherent whole. There is no single issue or pillar that can be considered in isolation as progress in one area inevitably affects the overall balance of the package.
For Lithuania, most of the issues identified by the presidency are important for reaching final agreement. In particular, we want to highlight the need to, first of all, maintain a balanced approach to ESMA's direct supervision based on clear significance criteria. Second, preserve an appropriate balance between ESMA's executive board and board of supervisors as it was mentioned many times earlier.
Third, ensure that ESMA's financing architecture reflects proposed changes and effective involvement of national competent authorities as well as advanced solutions on depository passport, post-trading integration, and the DLT pilot regime.
Therefore, in our view, the overall balance of the package will be crucial. No individual issue should be prioritized at the expense of others. Progress of individual elements should be considered in the context of the broader compromise, ensuring that the final outcome delivers tangible benefits for European capital markets. Thank you.”
Financial regulation
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you, chair, the Executive Vice President. Dear colleagues, Lithuania has several targeted instruments to support people in accessing housing. One of the key measures is state support for housing acquisition. It may be provided as subsidies for purchasing or for covering the down payment of a loan, or part of it for low income residents. The state provides subsidies ranging from 15 to 30%. The amount depends on specific circumstances of the family, like number of children or having disabilities. The support is available to low income residents purchasing housing anywhere in Lithuania. Families may also receive support regardless of income and assets in certain territories. This contributes both to housing affordability and regional development. This measure is in high demand. Consequently, its funding has been increased significantly. Another important instrument is rental reimbursement, which is especially relevant for low income persons and families, including students. In 2025, the assistance reached one third more households than the previous year. Looking ahead, a key priority is to create a municipal affordable housing instrument alongside social housing, to support more vulnerable groups. Improving affordability requires a more transparent rental market, better, better data and targeted monitoring. At the same time, financial support should be combined with measures to increase the supply of affordable housing and assistance for young families and low income residents, and battling housing policy with regional development, employment and services. Thank you.”
EU policy on urban development
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you chair. Dear colleagues, we warmly welcome the first EU anti-poverty strategy. We particularly value its life cycle and comprehensive approach, as well as clear link to the EU 2030 targets. In Lithuania, we are addressing poverty through social assistance, indexation and housing support. In 2026, the investments in social assistance have been raised by almost 20% in comparison to the previous year. The minimum income reform was implemented. The indexation mechanism of social benefits based amounts was linked to both the minimum consumption needs basket and wage growth. This change enables more responsive and adequate indexation. We also enhance family benefits and child care support to reduce children poverty. From this June, the universal child benefit has been increased by more than one third and child care benefits have been extended to all Non-insured parents. We aim to facilitate the take up of social benefits. For example, we relaxed eligibility rules for families raising children with disabilities. We also strengthened the incentives to work, retaining part of social assistance upon entering employment to support the integration of daughters into labour market. We introduced a debt holiday system since 2025. This measure has helped almost 600 long term unemployed debtors return to labour market. In addition, we are introducing a network of municipal debt advisers to help individuals to manage their debts more effectively. To conclude, our priority is to ensure that support reaches people that they need it most. Thank you.”
Child poverty policy
- 2026-06-26 “14:18 - 10:15:24): Thank you. Thank you, dear chair, dear commissioner, dear colleagues. I would like to confirm that Lithuania, of course, is fully committed to the development of renewables. And, last year, we have the connection of 1 3rd of the wind and solar comparing, with all the historical, connections. And, of course, this is the way forward, and the permitting is really very important. So we thank presidency for hard work in finding a balanced compromise and resolving the main sensitivities. The compromise text provides member states with sufficient flexibility and takes into account national specificities. We particularly welcome the voluntary approach regarding, tacit approval and a single digital portal. The compromise text of the directive is an important step towards faster and more efficient and more predictable permitting procedures across the European Union. Streamlined permitting will be essential for accelerated electrification and renewable energy projects. Having said that, I would like to support the general approach. Thank you.”
EU policy on permitting for renewable energy projects
- 2026-06-26 “52:36 - 11:53:22): Dear colleagues, Lithuania also joins the 1 paper on the methane regulation. We consider that the current requirements under the methane regulation may have a significant impact on energy prices and could create risks, for, secure energy security. The ongoing geopolitical instability and constraints on global gas and oil supplies continue to put pressure on energy markets. The implementation of the methane regulation should not limit access to diversified sources of gas and oil. Therefore, it is necessary to postpone certain obligations or introduce a transitional period with 0 penalties in order to safeguard security of supply and avoid unnecessary market disruptions. Thank you.”
Natural gas
- 2026-06-26 “09:09 - 11:12:39): Thank you, Michael. Dear commissioner, Dan, dear colleagues, today, we are looking forward, towards a critically important decision to ensure the protection of critical energy infrastructure and entire energy security. I would like to thank, the Cyprus presidency, for all your efforts to find a balanced compromise. In our view, positive progress, has been achieved in the negotiations. We would like to highlight that protection, resilience, and swift repair of damaged energy infrastructure remain the most important elements of the 10 year regulation. We must, have applicable legal and financial instruments to ensure its effective practical implementation. The measures should be effective both in addressing the scale of infrastructure that needs to be protected and restored and in enable enabling swift repair when damage occurs. Lithuania views the current text as sufficient in principle, but there is still a need for improvements. I would like to underline 3 areas where further improvements are required to have applicable instruments which would help to achieve tangible results. 1st, we welcome the inclusion of the provisions on ex post emergency repairs and thank the president and the commission for addressing this issue. At the same time, it is not clear yet legally and practically how this will work in practice. It is important that the framework is workable in practice and enables swift repair of damaged infrastructure. We appreciate the commission's constructive approach and trust that the same spirit of support and solidarity will prevail when member states face actual cases of cross border energy infrastructure damage. 2nd, we regret that there have been no positive changes regarding the financing provisions on the 5% cap. Adequate and sufficient funding is essential for the protection of critical engine infrastructure and for rapid restoration when damage occurs. Understanding that there are different priorities and limited funding, we were constructive and suggested different solutions. It is unfortunate that neither of them was considered. 3rd, the protection of natural gas infrastructure is not sufficiently reflected in the compromise. We are not advocating for investments in new gas infrastructure or an extension of its lifetime. However, existing gas infrastructure remains essential for the security of supply and dispatchable energy generation. Therefore, it should be adequately protect adequately protected. Looking ahead, parts of the infrastructure could be repurposed, for alternative uses including, hydrogen transport. Finally, Lithuania joins 5 other member states in a joint statement welcoming progress in the negotiations while also expressing the view that the legal basis for the security category could be clearer, more effective, and more targeted. Having said that, for the sake of compromise and timely agreement with the European Parliament, Lithuania could support the proposed compromise. I would like to congratulate Cyprus and wish good luck to Ireland to, achieve the agreement with the parliament before the Ukrainian presidency. Thank you.”
EU energy infrastructure integration
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. And let me also start by thanking the presidency for your efforts to advance negotiations on this challenging file. We are also willing to keep the constructive approach in the negotiations, balancing between the competitiveness, climate, ambition, ensuring and electrification, which remains the key technology for all of us. Consistency and predictability, as mentioned by a number of colleagues, is really our guiding principles in this regard. We can show openness to support the 2035 target of 90% greenhouse gas reduction, with limited and clearly defined flexibility measures to help manufacturers to meet the targets. At the same time, we would like to emphasise that the decarbonisation of the transport sector is inevitably linked to electrification. High fuel prices and energy security needs to determine the transition to completely zero emissions technology, which is not a climate but also an economic and social imperative in order to protect consumers and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Over the last year in Lithuania, we have registered 58% increase of electric cars. However, despite this, the share of electric vehicles in the entire fleet still remains rather low. In further negotiations, my country will keep constructive approach in balancing between competitiveness, decarbonisation objectives and lowering the administrative burdens. And last but not least, we look forward to continue work during the Irish presidency for the balanced outcome. Many thanks.”
Road transport environmental policy
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. And also many thanks for including this important Time item into the council's agenda. Just to reconfirm that the chemical sector is under intense economic pressure and industry requires really predictability. Therefore, on your first question, from our side, we fully agree that Comitology offers a practical way to modernise reach in the short term, updating registration data requirements, improving the use of new approach methodologies, harmonising safety data sheets, and simplifying small volume authorisation procedures are all sensible steps. However, this technical adaptation should also help ensure coherence across the EU chemicals framework and reduce administrative burden without reopening the regulation. On your second question, we share the concerns about the existing compliance gap, especially for imported substances and articles. Stronger cooperation between customs market surveillance and rich authorities is essential, as well as better use of digital tools and risk based targeting. We believe that the enforcement challenges deserve serious discussion at EU level. At the same time, any new legislative act dedicated to reach enforcement would still require careful consideration. Last but not least, we remain committed to constructive work on both fronts technical updates through Comitology and stronger, more coordinated enforcement. At the same time keeping an open discussion on long term needs. Thanks.”
Chemicals regulation
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. We also thank Spain for raising this important issue. And all over the years, live program has earned a reputation for supporting high quality, innovative and scalable environmental projects in Lithuania. Life has significantly contributed to the strengthening of our regions and civil society, especially environmental NGOs. Thanks to the technical assistance offered by the program, they are now regularly implementing unique projects, including also local communities. Therefore, unfortunately, the currently proposed framework threatens to dismantle life as a standalone program. We see life as a very important instrument, fostering innovation, ensuring resilience and increasing competitiveness, especially at the local level. Therefore, we believe that it is key to ensure the continuation of life action with dedicated funding. As a standalone program emphasizing the EU's commitment to its ambitious climate and environmental targets, especially nature restoration. Thanks.”
Nature protection and restoration in the EU
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. Uh, we also fully share, uh, EPA's assessment that all businesses depend on, uh, depend on healthy ecosystems and the services they provide. Biodiversity is a critical component of economic security, competitiveness, and financial stability. At the same time, we recognize that prevailing models of economic activity are contributing to the loss of biodiversity. Eu member states should make every effort to implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the National Restoration Regulation, as well as the global diversity framework to achieve their objectives. Adequate and diversified financial resources are needed, drawing both on public and private sources. For this purpose, we consider a nature credit schemes as scalable and sustainable financial mechanism, which could foster better voluntary business engagement and could help to bridge the financial gap. Nature credits can also incentivise the aggregation of smaller, fragmented land plots into larger landscape scale restoration projects. Although agri environmental schemes and eco schemes under Cap strategic plan provide some level of support for grassland and wetland restoration and management, they are not always sufficiently targeted to habitat specific needs and uptake by land owners is uneven, reliable and attractive. Nature credits could help unlock greater ecological, financial and financial impact. Last but not least, we also have a new life project, Live Beograd Baltic, which will examine how the outcomes of hepatitis restoration can be linked to high integrity biodiversity credit schemes. This will ensure long term monitoring and market feedback, promoting the development of sustainable financial mechanisms for nature restoration, both at national and regional levels. Many thanks.”
Nature protection and restoration in the EU
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. We also welcome the president's initiative to discuss water European water resilience strategy. We believe that further progress will depend on sufficient funding, application of science and innovation, and close cooperation between the Commission and Member States. At the national level, we are actively updating our legal frameworks. Currently, we are preparing the National Water Sector Plan for 2033, which will ensure sustainable and integrated management of water bodies, marine environments and flood risks. We are aiming at achieving environmental goals while addressing today's complex political and socio economic challenges without increasing the administrative burden. We expect the upcoming EU wide Digitalisation Action Plan to provide strong support for the implementation of modern monitoring tools and early warning systems. These digital elements are essential for the precise detection of incidents, enabling faster investigations and better preventing planning. As an EU external border state on the eastern flank, neighbouring Russia and Belarus. Lithuania also faces unique security challenges with increasing incidence of drinking water security breaches in Europe. Protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring water resilience is our top priority. We have actively reallocated a high number of funds to strengthen the physical and operational security and resilience of our drinking water infrastructure. Finally, to accelerate the implementation of the strategy, flexible and innovative financing instruments are essential. Ensuring a safe, high quality and affordable water supply is vital for stability and economic functioning. Therefore, we fully support continued EU level cooperation to strengthen our collective water resilience. Thank you.”
EU policy on water management
- 2026-06-22 “Thank you, David, for your initiative. We support it. Well, we support the initiative regarding the revision of the monitoring requirements for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, combining the criteria of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority. The proposed amendments are justified and could reduce the administrative and financial burden on the competent authorities and laboratories, while maintaining a high level of protection of animal and public health. This would allow the human and financial resources saved to be channelled towards strengthening the prevention, control and monitoring of other relevant animal diseases and so on, especially in light of the increasing biosafety and animal health challenges in recent years. We call upon the Commission to review the current BSE monitoring requirements on the basis of the latest scientific data and risk assessment. Thank you.”
Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
- 2026-06-22 “We thank Germany for raising this relevant issue. Lithuania shares the assessment of Germany and of the Member states that supported it, that many of the current provisions and envisaged decisions related to the implementation of the EU Fisheries Control Regulation, and the IUU regulation creates a disproportionate administrative burden and cause practical difficulties for both operators and administrations of the Member States. We, therefore call on the Commission to fully take into account the concerns expressed by Member States and the findings of the evaluation. That is, concerns on traceability, remote electronic monitoring, engine power control and other related measures. At the same time, it is important to be consistent with the Commission's own priorities of reducing administrative burdens and simplifying regulation and strengthening the EU's competitiveness. Thank you.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- 2026-06-22 “De Maria. Commissioner. Colleagues. Thank you for the presentation of the communication, which marks the start of the process of fixing fishing opportunities for 27 and paves the way for future discussions in the autumn. For Lithuania, the most important principles include science based decision making process, proper assessment of the socio economic impact, and a balanced approach to sustainability. We agree with the conclusion that the progress in reducing the impact on of fishing on fish stocks must be recognised. The EU fishing sector has taken on significant responsibilities in recent years, and has made an important contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the CFP. However, the situation in the Baltic Sea clearly shows that restrictions on fishing alone are not sufficient. Fish stocks continue to be significantly affected by the state of the environment, pollution, climate change and other factors outside the EU fishing sector. The commissioner mentioned this and he noted that I would also like to personally add, like my colleague from Latvia, that we need to take into account the unsustainable fishing activities by Russia. It is clear that we need to find solutions that would cover all the factors that influence the state of fish stocks, and the discussion on recovery trajectories and greater predictability in setting fishing opportunities could be an important step in this direction. However, we believe that recovery trajectories should not be based solely on the long term reduction of fishing pressure. They will only be effective if the socio economic consequences for the fishing sector are duly taken into account. We also hope that any new management instruments will be discussed in detail, with the Member States, assessing not only the potential benefits for resources, but and the state of ecosystems, but also the potential risks to the economic viability and social sustainability of the fleet. To sum up, when setting the fishing opportunities for 2027, we expect an approach on two equally important elements based on two equally important elements the best available scientific advice and a responsible assessment of the socio economic impact. Thank you.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- 2026-06-22 “At the moment, Mauritanian waters are one of the most important areas of activity for the Lithuanian long distance fishing fleet. And in the absence of a fisheries partnership agreement with Morocco, there are currently no real alternatives to this fishery, as the Latvian minister has said. It is a matter of concern that the negotiations for a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership agreement between the EU and Mauritania involves significant reduction in pelagic fishing opportunities, and consider additional operating conditions that would further complicate the activities of the EU fleet. The proposed reduction does not reflect the fishing capacity and operational needs of the EU pelagic fleet. Under these conditions, there is a real risk that fishing activities in Mauritanian waters will become economically unviable for the EU fleet. We call on the Commission to make every effort to reach an agreement with Mauritania that ensures the continuity of fishing activities, a fair balance between the EU's financial contribution and the granted fishing opportunities, and an economically viable operating environment for the EU fleet. We need to avoid a situation where the EU fleet is forced to leave the strategically important fishing zone. The resulting vacant space would consequently be occupied by the fleets of third countries, including Russia, China and Turkey, which do not abide by the same sustainability, control and management standards as the EU fleet. We would like to emphasize that this is not just a question relevant for Lithuania, Latvia or other supporting countries. We are talking about one of the most important EU External Fisheries Partnership agreements, the result of which will have a direct impact on the competitiveness of the EU fleet, food security and the EU strategic role in the Western Africa region. Thank you.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- 2026-06-22 “Dear Vice Prime Minister, Lithuania supports the position of Romania and we don't have as many bears as you have, but we have other animals and other wild birds that cause unimaginable damage to our crops. However, our situation is not even as serious as the one in Romania and in Slovakia. We believe it is necessary to have a balanced approach when it comes to managing managing the population of wild bears. Thank you very much.”
Large Carnivores
- 2026-06-22 “In reply to the second question, we would like to stress that the CFP needs to better adapt to a fundamentally changed operating environment characterized by the consequences of climate change, geopolitical changes, increasing competition for maritime space, increasing operating costs, and the need to strengthen Europe's food security and strategic resilience. Particular attention should be paid to the modernization and energy transition of the fleet, ensuring that the regulatory framework and financial instruments provide real opportunities to invest in a safer, more efficient and less environmentally impactful fleet. It is also necessary to strengthen the external dimension of the CFP by ensuring a level playing field for EU operators and a more effective representation of EU interests in relation with third countries and in international fisheries organizations. Finally, we believe that further discussion should focus more on the development of sustainable aquaculture. The evaluation clearly shows that the EU aquaculture sector is not realising its potential in terms of food security, regional development or competitiveness. It is therefore necessary to ensure a simpler regulatory environment, adequate and stable financing and to facilitate the development of the sector. Thank you.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- 2026-06-22 “Thank you. Maria. Thank you for this opportunity to continue the discussion that we started a month ago in Cyprus. We welcome the presidency's insights on the evaluation of the CFP and share the view that the main objectives of the CFP remain valid, but their implementation measures need to be reviewed and better adapted to the current realities. In response to the first question, we believe that the priority should be given to three areas simplification, better integration of socio economic aspects, and higher compatibility between policy objectives and financial resources allocated to achieving them. The environmental, economic and social pillars of the CFP should not be seen as competing objectives. On the contrary, an economically viable fishing sector is a prerequisite for achieving environmental objectives, ensuring ensuring food security, generational renewal and the viability of coastal communities. We therefore support a more balanced decision making system based on the sustainable management of fish stocks, the integration of socio economic aspects, and greater stability and predictability for the sector in the further process. Particular attention should be paid to reviewing multiannual plans, control requirements and other implementing measures in order to reduce the administrative burden and ensure more effective policy implementation.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- 2026-06-22 “Thank you Maria. I would also like to greet the three new colleagues. Some of them are old new colleagues for me. I would like to thank the presidency and you personally, chair, for your efforts and the work. When preparing a proposal for the regulation and the financing of the Common Fisheries Policy. We appreciate the progress and especially the Member States efforts to take into account the investments into the fishing fleet, modernisation and aquaculture, fisheries control and data collection. But these questions are still open, and they require new discussions. Lithuania is still very much concerned about the architecture of the future Ecosystem and the NRP regulation and relationship to this regulation. We still don't. Uh, the, uh, we don't, we still, uh, uh, are very much concerned as to whether the proposed framework will provide member states and operators with sufficient certainty as to the scope of support, the mandatory interventions, the possible support intensity, and the availability of long term funding. Uh, it is also important to keep the necessary funding to those areas which are compulsory to member states according to EU, are key. First of all, uh, fisheries control and data control. And we are ready to continue our work, which will ensure more comprehensive system and guarantees for the future. Cfp, aquaculture and marine policy funding. Thank you.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- 2026-06-16 “Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. And of course, thank you presidency for submitting a revised Knickerbox. Dear Marilena, you described your books as a balanced one. However, we feel that our voice was lost in in this balancing exercise. Uh, and some works, um, work is still to be done. Uh, a few comments from my side. Uh, first on the eastern border, uh, from the first day of negotiations, we have been signaling that eastern border regions is are facing a fundamentally new reality shaped by real and persistent security threats. The future MFF must be equipped to respond to this reality. Otherwise it will fail to remain fit for purpose. Uh, our regions, uh, bear additional, uh, economic security, social burden. Uh, and, um, just recently we updated our figures, how much money would we need to to invest into proper protection of our national critical infrastructure. And, and we, um, have come up with a figure of €1.1 billion needed to invest into our protection of energy, health, education, transportation infrastructure. Second, um, hybrid threats have become our new reality. The commission calls. Its MFF proposal a modern and equipped with tools to respond to new challenges and urgent needs.”
Cohesion and rural funding
- 2026-06-16 “Thank you. Marilena and I will continue in Lithuanian. Uh. First of all, I would like to thank the Cyprus presidency and especially you, Marilena, for all the hard and consistent work while drafting three partial general approaches and seeking compromises on the GnRH regulation. We have several remarks, and of course, we want to thank you, Marilena, for amending the priority on security and defence and including elements that are of great importance to Lithuania, such as defence infrastructure, hybrid threats, civil protection, military mobility corridors and missing links, and also more funding options for military infrastructure. We can support partial general approach, but we will have a national statement on CAP, since the main elements of CAP of its structure of implementation and also its continuity in national plans. All these elements have not been coordinated yet and they are not protected yet on the European Competitiveness Fund. We can support what is being proposed, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Baltic states, together with Poland, have prepared a declaration which reflects also what our terms has just mentioned. Now, as for Global Europe regulation, we. We welcome Cyprus efforts. We thank you for a good compromise and we are ready to continue. Works Together with the presidency, with Ireland as well. We are ready to cooperate and to achieve the best result possible. Thank you.”
Defence spending
- 2026-06-16 “31:43 – 16:32:46): Thank you. Thank you, Marilana. And I would like to use, an opportunity to speak a a less thanian. Yes. I want to thank the partners of the incoming trio, Alexandra and Thomas, for their constructive cooperation in the preparation of the program. Special thanks go to the council secretariat for their sincere and professional assistance in harmonizing the text.
I'd like to thank my team for their professional work and diligent work. What matters most is that the trio partners were able to elaborate the main orientations of the strategic agenda in the light of today's realities.
And we have come up with a truly balanced text, what you citizens expect from us, security, strong economy, and upholding democratic values. Lithuania stands ready to work together to achieve the ambitious goals and targets set out in the program. Thank you so much.”
EU political integration
- 2026-06-16 “But seeing the Negro box, we are not sure how we will be able to respond to the urgent, persistent hybrid threats when we see relevant legal provisions being deleted, watered down or formulated in a restrictive manner. Third, we are repeating the same mistakes while recognizing security and defense as one of top priorities. The updated Negro box proposes cuts of -4% in defense. Window in competitiveness fund and connecting Europe. Facility. Few words on agriculture. I just I would like to remind you that the level of direct payments in Lithuania accounts only 79% of EU average. My last point is on revenue side. And of course the Commission's proposal on own resources cannot simply be accepted in its entirety. But of course we can't. Ignore the proposals and we are ready to to consider all the proposals that we received from the Commission and from other EU member States. Um, from our side and from the beginning of the negotiations, Lithuania continues to advocate for a bigger budget and is ready to contribute more in finding a proper solutions how to finance, uh, the challenges that we are facing all in, in our neighbourhood and globally. Thank you very much.”
Size of EU budget
- “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Colleagues, first of all, I would like to thank the Commission and to congratulate it on having prepared this important document. That is the strategy for generational renewal in agriculture. The ambition is high. But I would like to talk about reality. The 6% allocation recommended in the strategy sounds nice, but with the current budget squeeze, this proportion is simply not possible to achieve without losses to other areas. If we want to turn this vision into action, we need to make clear where the money will come from and not just where we want it to go. All the objectives of the Cap are important. Putting one of them above the others will upset the balance. I believe that we all understand that generation renewal is an intellectual challenge. We need not only coordination but also commitments from other policies. If we want young people to remain in rural areas, we need to create an attractive environment and not simply present them with a tractor. My wish is for this strategy to become an opportunity for all farmers, both those starting out and those who are transferring their farms. Thank you.”
Agricultural funding
- “(17:16:42 – 17:22:10): Thanks a lot, minister Damiano, dear colleagues. I would like, first of all, to thank minister very much for both for today's excellent meeting, but also for the remarkable progress under your leadership during Cyprus presidency on most important issues for space. And, well, there is no need perhaps to remind that space importance for our daily life and for our strategic perspective is difficult to over overestimate.
So today, as I said, we discussed really very important issues, and I will try to briefly run through what was most important. First of all, I would stress importance of discussions about European competitiveness fund, money for space in the next multi annual EU budget, next MFF. We are now in the final stretch of the negotiations on European competitiveness on the council side, and we're making great progress. Thanks a lot again for presidency. I I thank everyone and also member states for constructive atmosphere. And looking ahead, really, must maintain an ambitious budget for space and defense, which are strategic priorities for Europe.
Second, what we discussed, also very important topic, is European Space Act. We discussed progress on our proposed Space Act. And again, I would like to thank very much Cyprus presidency for good progress. As everybody knows, you use Space Act. It has a goal to protect against exponential increase of space debris, to protect space, to protect our infrastructures, and also to mobilize the European Union single market for space in order to avoid its fragmentation.
Today, we're focused on an essential aspect for such an EU space market, like mutual recognition of technical assessments, great which is great for space companies approval in 1 member. The state means approval in all based on trust. So the technical bodies that make these assessments really must be robust. We also discussed solution for dual use satellites for military and civilian use. And while I would like to expect that the council will consider a general approach to this Space Act still this year during Irish presence. But again, I would like to thank Cyprus presence.
Additional point, very important was and strategic point was policy debate on space for economic security. And again, thanks a lot to the presidency and for policy note on this topic. Our economy and prosperity really depend on space. Up to 10% of our GDP depends on space, And space will only become more important with the growth of the space economy. To protect our economy, we must protect also space. Our security depends on the dual use space economy.
We have many dual use initiatives that will protect our security. Galileo, with PRS, Iris Square, as observation governmental service. And we need definitely, to look how to protect our space assets against jamming and spoofing hybrid threats and physical attacks. And we must protect critical supply lines in order to develop our space infrastructure.
Again, this demands such a vision, such an ambition, to develop our space economy and and security of our infrastructure demands an ambitious MFR for defense and space. And we are at the start of a, of a really big developments in space, what I call space revolution. We need also security revolution and defense revolution.
In addition, also, I had a poll opportunity to present our proposal on EUSPA, the Union Agency for Space Services, that will give, our agency a clear legal base for the years ahead. We have possibility to discuss, those proposals. And, the director general of ESA of European Space Agency, Josef Asbacher, gave an important presentation on the East European resilience from space. The program which provides essential developments to ensure a smooth start for the next MFF and work to get towards Defense Readiness 2030 for space.
And I am, I really can enjoy that we have very good cooperation with European, Space Agency as commission. And we welcome the initiative presented by France to organize a space summit in September in Paris. Great and important initiative is a kind of ambition Europe needs now in space. And finally, we look forward to welcoming the Irish presidency of the EU starting in July. And I am absolutely sure that Irish presidency will be also as successful as Cyprus presidency, which again, I would like to thank very much for everything what you managed to achieve. Thank you, Commissioner. I think we are now ready to take the questions. Stefan?”
EU competences on space policy
- “Dear colleagues, Lithuania welcomes the Industrial Accelerator Act as a timely step to strengthen EU industry, speed up decarbonisation and reduce dependencies while boosting demand for low carbon and EU made products. Its success, however, will depend on practical and flexible implementation. Member states must have enough flexibility taking into account differences in industrial capacities, energy conditions and dependencies on supply chains. Lithuania welcomes proposed common baseline permit for industrial projects in industrial accelerating acceleration areas. This could contribute to faster and clearer investment procedures and in turn, attract domestic and foreign investors to reduce administrative burden. Implementation should rely on standard templates, digital tools and better links between existing systems and databases. A high energy prices continue to negatively affect our companies. Therefore, alongside regulatory measures, we need faster development of clean energy infrastructure. Electricity grids and more integrated energy market. The proposed measures should also be supported by sufficient EU financing, especially under the future Multiannual Financial Framework. The needs and capacities of SMEs and smaller Member States should properly considered Lithuania's East European preference and low carbon criterion in public procurement as potentially useful tool to support strategic sectors and expand clean manufacturing capacities in European Union. However, the European preference principle should be applied only in clearly defined strategic sectors, remain in line with EU rules and international commitments and avoid fragmenting the single market. We must also ensure that the new public procurement framework supports SMEs and gives fair opportunities to regional suppliers, including companies from the Baltic and Central and Eastern Europe. Thank you.”
"Buy European" provisions
- “Madam president, Mr. Commissioner, dear colleagues, we'd like to thank the Commission for the work it has done up to to date in implementing this strategy. We welcome the code or regulation and in terms of setting criteria for the use of the most harmful substances for critical uses. We believe that this work should continue. That is why we will call on the commission to speed up the revision of the Reach regulation and making a draft proposal on amending it accordingly. The reach, we believe, should be changed in a targeted way following the impact assessment, and that gaps with respect to requirements should be filled. We see some challenges coming up in terms of, in particular, insufficient progress on a limitation of the unnecessary use of PFAS. This is something which should be should happen as quickly as possible. Everything possible should be done to speed up this process. Another challenge is the growing Burden with respect of work for the European Chemicals Agency. There is a need for many experts in waste and drink, water and other issues that requires that is essential to in terms of ensuring the necessary personnel and resources. We believe that the long awaited framework regulation with respect to the European Chemicals Agency should be forthcoming as quickly as possible. One needs to streamline the working methods and to ensure more flexible financing. Thank you.”
Chemicals regulation
- “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Colleagues. I have already mentioned today the special importance of the Baltic Sea fishery and its future for Lithuania. Many of the issues raised by the Swedish delegation are very relevant for Lithuania as well. These include the shortcomings in the implementation of environmental legislation, the damage caused by uncontrolled populations of cormorants and seals. Lithuania has consistently advocated a balanced approach of the CFP, combining environmental, economic and social objectives. We are in favour of the rational application of scientific advice and the need to give Baltic fish as a brake. We consider the caution proposed by Sweden to be excessive, and we therefore invite you to seek a common approach in the goldfish format, which will be chaired by Sweden as of the 1st of July. We look forward to a meaningful and constructive dialogue, and as the Baltic fishing sector faces existential challenges, we call for unity and shared responsibility for the future of the region. This autumn, when discussing fishing opportunities, Lithuania calls for a strong unanimity of position that quotas should be set on the basis of sustainable fishing ranges established by science, and not on the basis of other interpretations. Thank you.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- “Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, let me start by underlining that Lithuania is fully committed to a strong and ambitious framework program that should strengthen Europe's scientific excellence, competitiveness and resilience. However, we believe that to achieve this ambition, the challenge today is not a political will that apparently is present at the table, but the need for greater strategic and operational clarity. After months of negotiations, we agree on the main pillars and the principles, but the fundamental elements remain unclear. And this is why we as Lithuania, we co-signed the AOB poetries by our Spanish colleagues, and we agreed that we need a well-articulated strategic priority setting mechanism coupled with a clear governance structure, particularly in relation to EKF. Furthermore, we need clarity on how we will ensure future proof European partnerships and as incubators for emerging technologies, how we will demonstrate the added value of the new investment model in research and technology infrastructures. How the program will address the concerns raised previously by the Member States regarding dual use by default, while also preserving cooperation with associated countries, and also how we will ensure the effectiveness of the package and its potential to address the long standing innovation gap. We appreciate to hear the Commission's position regarding urgency insufficient clarity on these aspects. Neither delivers simplification nor strengthens Member States flexibility, and this uncertainty then, does not remain in Brussels to ensure smooth and effective implementation of the programme from day one. We will need to align our national programmes, our national systems with the programme to have a true multiplier effect. We need to plan synergies of our with our financial instruments. Our International agencies may need to adapt in a timely manner so that we all can benefit in the future. To sum up, we appreciate the Commission's commitment and we hope that with the efforts of all the Member States around the table, our ambition will be underpinned by a credible and workable implementation. As Lithuania, we stay fully committed to a constructive, speedy debate. Thank you.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dear Commissioner, Lithuania welcomes the Commission's proposal on ECF. If designed well, the fund can be an ambitious tool to modernize our single market and strengthen Europe's global position. I would like to underline a few elements first. Consolidation which matters. Bringing financing and the one fund and one rulebook can make access simpler and faster. Too often companies, especially SMEs, face a jungle of programs, each with different rules. A single fund can cut red tape, reduce uncertainty and give businesses and investors the clarity they need. Second, inclusiveness is key for smaller member states like Lithuania. Access is not automatic. Our companies often compete with fewer resources when applying for EU funds to ensure a level playing field. The fund must include proportionate mechanisms such as simplified calls for SMEs or geographically balanced envelopes, so no member state is left behind. Third, we must not forget geopolitical realities. Competitiveness today is inseparable from security for Lithuania and other eastern border countries. Threats are not theoretical. We face hybrid attacks, cyber intrusions and energy supply disruptions. The fund should dedicate resources to resilience projects in border regions, cyber security centres, dual use infrastructure, stronger logistics chains for the defence, Digital and space sectors deserve priority. Europe cannot remain competitive if it neglects industries that underpin both security and innovation. Closer cooperation between civil and military research, for example linking Lithuania cyber security expertise with EU defence innovation will help us stay ahead. And finally, predictability matters to mobilise private capital. Rules must be clear from the start and remain stable throughout implementation. Bureaucracy must be minimised throughout digital, digital one stop shops and lighter reporting for SMEs. Thank you very much.”
"Buy European" provisions
- “Ah, dear chair, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, let me first mention that Lithuania welcomes the presidency's view on ensuring that Framework programme prioritizes the areas where only collective action can outperform national initiatives and where joint investment is critical to Europe's long term competitiveness. Secondly, we believe that the Commission has already proposed broad thematic priority areas, so-called policy windows for the European Competitiveness Fund and also for the pillar two of the framework Programme. And from our perspective, we can confirm that these windows are very well aligned with our National Smart Specialization Strategy, which includes three important pillars first, health technologies and biotechnologies. Second, new production processes, materials and technologies. And third, information and communication technologies. As to the priorities that may require substantial public and private investment, we can mention capital and risk intensive strategic technologies such as semiconductors, photonics, quantum technologies, industrial artificial intelligence, and also commercialization of deep tech. However, and this is my third point, we strongly believe that for these or any other areas that were mentioned around the table to become European level priorities and be selected for European Union funding, we need more efficient and transparent strategic priority setting system and the review of Horizon Europe strategic planning processes. If Europe wants to invest strategically, our political choices must be guided by scientific evidence and robust foresight. And to make this happen, we offer the use of mechanisms that already exist and are currently revised or can be adapted. Here we suggest, as also the colleagues from Austria, that the proposed steering mechanism for the next, including the Competitiveness Coordination tool, might support a more coherent top down alignment of priorities. And we are looking forward to the promised communication on that. And also, we believe that ESC Scientific Council and also EIC board could offer invaluable perspectives on emerging research and technological trends relevant for policymaking. And last but not least, we are looking forward for further discussion in Cyprus Cypress on on the proposal and would like to also thank the Danish presidency for the progress that is made in negotiations and and also the. Christina. Very happy birthday to you.”
Research priorities within the EU
- “Thank you Markus. In general, we fully support the overarching goals of removing barriers to cross-border capital market activities and increasing supervisory efficiency, reducing administrative burden and simplifying financial market regulation. While we are open to the to discussing improvements to the supervisory framework, we remain cautious about the broad, broad centralisation of supervision. Any new supervision supervisory mandates granted to ESMA must demonstrate clear added value and contribute to a genuinely more efficient and harmonised EU level framework. Suggestions to include small financial entities like crypto asset service providers or small central securities depositories into the scope of central supervision would not adhere to these principles and would also raise proportionality. Questions on governance. We believe that the balance between the powers of the new Executive Board and the Board of Supervisors is not right. National competent authorities should be more involved in the decision making process by providing the Board of Supervisors with adequate mandate. National competent authorities have accumulated extensive experience and possess the deepest understanding of their local markets and participants. Therefore, robust and structural cooperation between asthma and national competent authorities is absolutely essential. Thank you.”
Financial regulation
- “Chairman. [00:01:30] Commissioner. Colleagues, I'd like to thank the presidency for this timely discussion, and I can only agree that advanced materials and related research and innovation are important for the economic security and competitiveness. At the outset, let me confirm that Lithuania supports the four priority areas identified by the Commission, that is energy, mobility, construction and [00:02:00] electronics, and that Lithuania contributes to their development by implementing smart specialisation priorities. At the start of this year, Lithuania launched three mission oriented programmes that is innovation for health smart and Climate Neutral Lithuania and Safe and Inclusive E-society. Science and businesses have come together in consortia in three competence centres based on themes of the missions to develop innovative products and services. [00:02:30] Now there's another important national initiative that I am pleased to share with you that is the development of semiconductor based chip ecosystems. This new ecosystem will encompass not only science and businesses, but education that is, integrate the knowledge triangle. We're making every effort to ensure that participants in the national chip ecosystem will successfully, successfully participate in the creation of national Chip competence Centres and join the European [00:03:00] Chip Competence Centres. It. We would like to thank the Commission for the open discussion on the use of dual technologies. That is also important in this area. I'd like to stress that in order to improve the coordination of research and innovation of advanced materials, and to fully exploit the potential of the EU, it is important to combine in a smart way strategic planning, open [00:03:30] coordination method and co-creation processes. There are three important elements there. First, we must make a more efficient use of existing advisory and decision making structures rather than create new ones. Second, we must create better conditions for the involvement of Member States in the initial stages of Horizon Europe strategic strategic planning, including the selection of European partnerships and third, Lithuania calls for increasing compatibility [00:04:00] and synergies among the various EU funds. Thank you for your attention.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “Investing in our region is existential for the whole European project, and we need to take it more seriously in the next MFF on Ukraine. We appreciate the continuation of separate special instruments. €100 billion is what we asked. How am I having in mind that deteriorating Ukraine's debt sustainability. We support the approach to provide more grants to Ukraine than loans On CPU. Around 30 degree decrease in CP seems problematic. We would have preferred ring fencing the whole CP, and it's important to achieve convergence of direct payments, as disparities within the internal market are not acceptable on cohesion. Full support to keeping the treaty based cohesion funds. We would also have preferred ring fencing cohesion budget in the national plan. We are worried about that. The new structural flexibilities will lead to cohesion becoming a crisis instrument, moving away from its treaty based objectives on two specific issues. Ignalina programme and Kaliningrad Special Transit Scheme. I would like to thank a commission for the proposed separate allocation for both programmes coming with sufficient amounts agreed and expert level. And finally on overall budget size. Due to new challenges, we have always supported bigger budget and are ready to contribute more via JNI contributions. However, there is one important correlation. If no increase in the budget size, there is no need for new owned resources. Thank you.”
Cohesion and rural funding · Size of EU budget
- “Thank you. President. Polish minister. Czeslaw. Commissioner. Colleagues. This issue is not new, but it is very relevant. We can recall that the long standing protection of the names of dairy dairy products has already been established. So it would be logical that the same requirements would be foreseen for other products of animal origin. In the market. Nowadays there is a wide variety of food products and especially with the increase in the supply of plant based products, this issue naturally arises again. This decision is important for farmers and producers, but also for consumers because of possible misleading. And while choosing the products, let us call food products by their proper names. Otherwise we. It was as if we were trying to legitimize fakes. It's very nice that we all are of the same opinion. Thank you.”
Food labelling harmonisation at EU level
- “So thank you, dear colleagues. So let me start with the obvious challenge for all energy intensive sectors. So affordable energy. We need swift implementation of the Affordable Energy Action Plan and sectorial action plans, with regular cross checks. Between those plans to bring prices down, we should expand generation capacity, accelerate cross-border interconnections, complete energy market and provide targeted support to energy intensive industries. Coming from a country where heavy industry accounts for 14% of GDP. I'm convinced that Europe's steel and metal sectors are and will remain strategically important. The European Steel and Metals Action Plan is the right response to the challenges the sector faces. But timing matters. Implementation must be swift and timely to address shortages of primary raw materials and limited recycling capacity. We need to strengthen recycling infrastructure and promote raw material recovery within the European Union. Also, I would like to add a few words on chemistry industry. Eu regulations must remain proportionate, simple, Predictable and science based. The union should continue supporting clean and low carbon technologies, ensure fair access to finance and strengthen circularity. Stimulating demand for sustainable products, for example through green public procurement, is equally important. Finally, the European automotive sector is important, reinforcing the European supply chains for critical components including batteries and semiconductors, reducing administrative burden and boosting demand, and create the right conditions for investment, innovation and scaling up production in Europe. At the same time, we must safeguard fair competition with the help of trade instruments and support the transition to clean and connected mobility. So thank you for your attention.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner colleagues. We should first understand that for Ukraine, exports of agricultural products to the EU are one of the most important sources of national income. It is also one of the most important forms of our assistance to a country fighting for its own freedom and for our freedom, so that it has the means to defend itself. We support the Commission's efforts to liberalise trade with Ukraine. The renewed agreement with Ukraine is a strategic agreement aimed at integrating Ukraine into the EU market. At the same time, it addresses the sensitivities of the EU agricultural sector and establishes strong market protection measures. Thank you.”
Agricultural trade: Ukraine imports
- “Mr. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues. Lithuania, as a Baltic Sea nation, understands deeply the importance of preserving healthy marine ecosystems. They are an integral part of our identity, our cultural and economic heritage. The Baltic Sea faces complex and growing threats, from alarming biodiversity loss and eutrophication to climate change, as well as widespread plastic, microplastic and hazardous chemical residue pollution. Moreover, the Baltic Sea is a hotspot of dumped munitions left over from World War Two. Despite wide international recognition of the problem, coordination among the countries and affecting clean up actions are still lacking. Ensuring good environmental status of our seas and oceans requires close collaboration and a common approach. As the current chair of Helcom, Lithuania places great importance on regional cooperation around the Baltic Sea. However, these collective efforts are undermined by Russia, an aggressor country that does not respect any international obligations. As a result, the EU countries must mobilise even more to restore healthy marine ecosystems. To achieve that, we need the Marine Strategy Framework Directive that is updated that meets today's challenges. We must set clear, measurable targets and create common standards and evaluation criteria to ensure that the consistency among member states and regions. Second, to better address the impact of climate change, we need effective monitoring of rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Reducing the administrative burden is essential. This could be achieved by simplifying reporting using digital solutions and automating data submission. Clear guidelines could also improve coordination and reduce costs. Lastly, to implement the Ocean Pact vision, we must ensure policies across sectors such as fisheries, energy, agriculture and transport to align with the goals of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Applying an ecosystem based approach. Thank you.”
EU ocean policy
- “Thank you, Lithuania fully supports the need to safeguard the competitiveness of EU industry, as we continue the path towards decarbonisation and deepening of the integration of the common energy market. As highlighted in Draghi's report, it is critical to ensure sufficient and affordable energy supply for both industry and consumers at globally competitive prices. We agree that a large scale electrification must accompany decarbonisation efforts as we as the demand for electricity will significantly increase. We should put more focus on developing dispatchable electricity generation capacity alongside renewables while also seeking to maintain the industrial competitiveness. Europe requires reliable energy supply at predictable and affordable prices. We also agree that expanding and strengthening energy network is crucial. We support long term, holistic approach to the grid planning that evaluates infrastructure, generation, storage, and other key system elements to ensure the most efficient allocation of investment across the EU. In this context, Connecting Europe Facility, which was an absolute success budget of this facility dedicated for the energy sector should inevitably increase. And it is, as it is noted in both letters and Draghi's report. Another important element in terms of infrastructure is physical and cyber security. The ongoing war in Ukraine has shown that the energy sector is a strategic target and the current geopolitical situation ensuring the security of energy infrastructure should be a priority, particularly in the regions along the EU borders, to enhance the attractiveness of our energy market for foreign investors. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “They could be set nationally. In addition, the rules need to be simplified and made uniform for changes to strategic plans. Whatever pillar of the Cap is concerned by such a modification. Green ambitions should not harm agricultural production and food security. A balance is necessary, and I think that the requirements of EC norms one, two, six and seven should be examined. For example, flexibility and exemptions should be necessary when it comes to fodder maize, the obligation of maintaining permanent pasture is a source of controversy in Lithuania. There are questions about the usefulness of this. If the aim is to maintain diversity, we should restrict ourselves to preserving natural Uh, pastureland and meadows of high value. If we want to stock carbon, then permanent. Pasture is a possibility. But there are other possibilities, such as meadows which are rotating or direct sowing. And there are other questions which we already raised last September. Rural development requires a new approach so that farmers can use machinery and equipment bought for, uh, agricultural work with with the community. Thank you.”
Agriculture (green)
- “Thank you. Chairman. Commissioner. Colleagues. Ministers. I thank France for raising this important issue. We joined the member States, which encouraged the European Commission to launch an impact assessment later this year with a view to a comprehensive revision of the European regulation on. Maximum residue limits in plant protection products regarding imports from third countries. Well, we actually keep to very high standards when we produce, uh, the PPE. And other countries don't keep to that. That's why it's very important, uh, that regulatory inconsistencies need to be removed as this is important for human health and the environment and the EU competitiveness. Thank you.”
Maximum residue levels
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you very much for this discussion. First, we would like to stress that it is necessary to ensure the implementation of the fit for 55 package. The priority should be given to the decarbonisation of the energy sector, the reduction of fossil fuel and energy security in ensuring competitive and stable energy prices. It is important to simplify legal regulation and optimise permit issuing for strategic objects in the energy, transport, infrastructure and other sectors. It is equally important to simplify reporting and standardise compliance processes and digital platforms. More investment is needed into the deployment of innovative technologies in all sectors of the economy for them to be able to afford them. For the Member States to have an equal access to innovation support funds, we must avoid fragmentation of the internal market and to aim to create an EU funding mechanism as one of the opportunities for small member States to participate in large scale projects as equal partners or competitors. Equally, it is important to reform state aid rules and expand green public procurement to preserve the EU's industrial competitiveness. In our opinion, it is paramount to strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy in preserving an open economy to ensure self-sufficiency of critical raw materials, have circular use of materials, build industrial value chains and expand the carbon border adjustment mechanism in energy intensive industries. It is important to use technological sinks to account for emissions in the EU ETS. Finally, I would like to underscore that for Lithuania to be able to support an ambitious EU 2040 climate target, it is important to ensure at least the current financing for the climate targets after 2030 and carry out an impact assessment at member states level. Public support will be a particularly sensitive aspect for ensuring a just transition. It is paramount to have a social climate fund based compensation mechanism for the socio economic repercussions.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner. Yes. We support our Polish colleagues proposal as the implementation of the Green Deal and its requirements. Indeed, as a significant number of additional obligations for farmers. Although we support the goals of the Green Deal and the digitalisation of the process, we believe that the two year transition period for the implementation is too short. It is necessary to properly assess various aspects, such as the implementation of information systems and the compatibility of practical functionality, so that the farmers are fully prepared to provide all the necessary information about the plant protection products used. Sufficient time must be provided for farmers also to become familiar with the new requirements and to train them. Filling out the electronic journal or logbook. Otherwise incomplete or poorly submitted data will not reflect the true situation. We propose to postpone the entry into force of this regulation to January 28th. Thank you.”
Digital and precision farming
- “Thank you, Stephanie, and thanks to the Danish Presidency, as well as all the previous presidencies, for their efforts to progress this important file. Extensive and difficult discussions on different levels have demonstrated the the need for a balance between EU long term environmental ambitions and the practical realities faced by Member States. In our view, the latest compromise text and the relevant transitional arrangements acknowledge the diversity of Member States economic, geographical and social circumstances provided flexibility. Flexibility ensures that all Member States can contribute effectively to the EU's environmental objectives without disproportionate challenges. And we can support this compromise, which we see as a careful, balanced and well crafted outcome of a discussion. Thank you.”
Agriculture (green)
- “Thank you. The situation at the Poland-ukraine border is truly very problematic and it's getting worse every day. Disruption of products delivery lines at border crossing affects many EU countries and results in direct financial losses in Lithuania. Cargo destined to towards uh to Ukraine accumulated Klaipeda seaport [00:13:30] or different type of logistics centers. Road carriers refuse to take containers to Ukraine because they are not sure if they will be allowed to pass through the roadblock. Urgent actions are needed to restore credibility of the supply chain, and we need to show that all the necessary interests are had and take on board. It's crucial to ensure the operation [00:14:00] of green transportation corridor for humanitarian aid, defence post services and transport of food and and solidarity alliances. Functionable efforts must be made to unblock the border and shore and ensure smooth traffic. We want to emphasize that European Union role and Ukraine road transport agreement was concluded in order to assist Ukraine during the war for foster closer [00:14:30] ties between Ukraine and Europe in practice, and to ensure the. Unintended an interruption to supply of aid to the country, it needs to be prevented, preserved and unified. Eu policies instrument for Ukraine. While Lithuania are not supporting the revision of agreement, it is important to note that the agreement is well adapted to the challenges faced today. We [00:15:00] are in agreement to have the mechanism that allows assistance in assessment if it is necessary. Level playing field in maintenance. Therefore, we would like to invite to co-chairs to convene the joint Committee under article seven of the agreement and invite the willing Member States to join the debate there based on facts and evidence. Thank you.”
EU–Ukraine road transport / haulage agreement
- “Thank you, chair. And we thank the secret presidency for the efforts invested in moving forward with the legislative files. As mentioned by some delegations, competitiveness today is inseparable from security.
Investors perceive region regions bordering Russia and Belarus as high risk, making loans and investment more costly. Therefore, eastern border regions must be recognized as horizontal priority in the next MFF, including in directly managed ECF.
We're also convinced that the ECF, should be operational from the very start of 2028 and focus on how to set, spread excellence, innovations, and added value across all EU member states and regions. Thank you.”
Cohesion and rural funding
- “Thank you, chairman. And thank you, Commissioner. Dear colleagues, this has been a very useful discussion and thank you for putting it on the agenda, chairman. Very timely. Rural areas have problems that aren't just dependent on the cap, but also on other policy areas. That's why the rule test is so important across all policy areas. And for that principle to operate properly, it needs to be strongly anchored across the board in all areas of legislation and should involve the social partners and other institutional stakeholders nationally. The rural test principle should apply not just to strategic decisions, but also when it comes to the financing decisions. At the same time, we must avoid extra red tape and administrative burdens. Furthermore, it's been said that this principle is already working and working well, and we heard what the commission said, but I'm not sure we all have the same idea of what this means, what working means, and what the implications of what is being done is to integrate rural development better in other areas. We also have our own homework to do. Rural development policy has to be robust, standalone and with sufficient funding. We were. Waiting with concern and interest what the vision would be for agriculture.”
Cohesion and rural funding
- “(17:32:08 – 17:34:24): As I said before, really, we see not only German, you know, initiative for to invest their money or to invest, for example, some countries are investing cohesion funds into development of space infrastructure. It's good that, you know, more money is coming into space. Never, you know, it will you know, we can I would say that space really is quite demanding for investment? And our plans, what we need to develop as strategic enablers for our defense and security really are big ones.
Question is know how then to guarantee that those systems which are developed both on European level as Iris Square or as observation governmental service, which we are building also, that they should be compatible, interoperable with national systems which countries are developing. That is an issue for all of us. ESA really is is good interlocutor to help member states and to help, you know, us as European Commission to find the best ways how, you know, those systems can be interoperable. And and that is, you know, what we shall continue to do.
And, definitely, you know, space significance and space services, governmental services significance for defense and security are becoming, you know, more and more important. So that is why it's natural that when member states are developing their defense capabilities, are look also are looking out to develop their specific space capabilities.
Now on I cannot comment, you know, on ideas which are proposed by by some countries, you know, how should we do with managing our fiscal, you know, regulations? Can we use national escape clause for some other issues? That is not for me to decide. It's, you know, there are commissioners who are responsible for that. So I would like to not to comment too much here.”
EU competences on space policy
- “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We agree with our colleagues proposal to call on the European Commission to draw up an integrated strategy for climate change and crisis management, with an emphasis on prevention and adaptation in the agricultural and forestry sectors, particularly in emergency situations and in the case of extreme events. Thank you. Thank you.”
Climate efforts
- “(17:24:29 – 17:26:27): Auguste Lauer, Mainich, Ausperda. I will proceed in English. Ireland recognizes foundational skills are key to delivering on our national policy priorities and focusing on the national missions we have set out. This requires flexible and future ready education and training systems to equip our citizens for today's labor markets, but actually for tomorrow's.
Our strategies across adult education support the diversification of pathways, including through tertiary education to have more flexible, more choices available to learners how to progress within those and navigate. We have an adult adult literacy for life strategy, positioning literacy, numeracy, and digital skills, including AI skills as part of the foundations.
We have significantly expanded work based learning and increased apprenticeship participation by over 60% in the last 5 years. An action plan on our apprenticeship will consolidate this further and integrate pathways through work. Furthermore, initiatives such as SpringBoard Plus, which is cofounded by our National Training Fund and the European Social Fund, allow Ireland to provide free and subsidized courses across multiple levels.
We lean on robust skills intelligence and forecasting to anticipate demand. These are led out by our National Skills Council and regional skills fora, complemented by sector level skills roundtable conversations, and these help to guide future orientated provision, including for emerging occupations and sectors.
At EU level, Ireland strongly supports cooperation through peer learning, and we welcome the outputs of the working groups of the European education area. Ireland also welcomes the work on the European skills intelligence observatory and the 2026 recommendation on human capital. We are developing a national skills observatory to complement the European skills, observatory also.
We want to finally thank the Cyprus presidency for your leadership and commitment. We look forward to close cooperation with all member states on these and many other topics as we look forward to assuming the presidency in a short few weeks. Thank you.”
Focus of EU policy on education (shaping workers vs citizens)
- “Thank you very much, chairman. And I would like to thank the Commission for presenting the two communications to us. We would like to thank, [00:00:30] uh, Belgium for the inclusive intersectoral discussions on the impact assessment. We're currently looking at the list of risks and measures. This is all very relevant risk management and strengthening resilience when it comes to food security, soil quality, protection of ecosystems, critical infrastructures and urban environment. These are all matters of [00:01:00] particular importance for us in Lithuania. Resilience needs to be strengthened not just at a local and national level, but internationally as well. We want to work towards a. Carbon neutrality by 2050. We're talking about 85% reduction by 2040. In order to achieve climate neutrality, we have to ensure that we have consistency [00:01:30] between all of our policies on emissions reductions. We have to have compensation, provide compensation for early reductions, plan our investment in the long terme. We have to reduce our imports of fossil fuels from third countries. And in particular Russia wants protecting our population from price fluctuations now. Regarding the 90% objective. This won't [00:02:00] be easy. Now. You're assuming that extending these objectives is going to lead to a 90% reduction. But. If you look at the national plans, the global effort overall is not enough. So what we need to have is a detailed analysis regarding the availability of technology.
We have to be able [00:02:30] to assess technological progress in different sectors. We have to be able to look at the cost of this technology and its geographical distribution. We are already facing challenges in the decarbonization of the transport sector. We'd have to reduce the cost of zero emissions vehicles. We have to reduce the cost of charging infrastructure. There are also challenges in industry and [00:03:00] agriculture. We need to find solutions with a better cost effectiveness ratio. With a view to the 2040 targets. The contribution of CCS technology is just too expensive. This kind of technology is not available in all regions and. The funding and availability [00:03:30] are differ very greatly, and this could have a negative impact on Member States competitiveness. We have to look at the financing which is available. We need an analysis of that as well. So it's very difficult for us to assess the feasibility without, um, having proper information. Our public has to be able to support a political choice and contribute towards such a choice. And this will [00:04:00] lead to, to, uh, social transition, which is just we have to attach a greater importance to the socio economic impact of these measures on member states. So we have to look at the situation in member states and allow for a compensation mechanism for any negative consequences.”
Climate efforts
- “04:36 – 10:06:57): Thank you, mister chairman. Commissioner, colleagues, let me, 1st of all, thank the commissioner for the proposal and the president, for listening to the member state arguments and taking them into account. This is a very important proposal. And together with the rest of EU automotive package, it can significantly contribute to reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and thus on Russia.
Lithuania supports the EU climate change reduction targets and the initiatives needed to achieve them. We have an ambitious objective of reducing oil fuels consumption by 39% by 2030 compared to 2021 with the corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions. We are heavily investing in renewable energy sources and in the development of alternative fuels infrastructure. Encouraging the demand for clean vehicles is therefore important and very relevant.
I believe the regulation must act as a catalyst for market change and not as a collection of bans. We need tools not to force, but to encourage companies to opt for 0 emission cars, simply making polluting models less economically attractive. Member states can and must take the lead in promoting the development of 0 emission cars. Member states are free to set their own objectives and choose the means to achieve them. For example, promoting secondhand electric vehicles, thus increasing the use of clean transport for the socially sensitive. Using tax incentives or financial instruments that best correspond to their national budgetary capacities, dovetailing the promotion of supply with the development of alternative fuels infrastructure nationally.
I have no doubt that these problems can be solved, especially if we focus on a uniform methodology for reporting on targets. We have reportedly stated that the information required from the member states is neither comparable nor easily accessible. This hampers cross country comparison of progress and creates additional administrative burden for both administrations and businesses. Etruria will continue to engage constructively in the discussions and contribute to achieving a win win agreement for everyone. Thank you.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “First of all, let me to congratulate new Commissioner. Once again, I feel that the first Council is the most memorable. Speaking from my personal experience, I try to be very brief since so many good words on this compromise was already said. The proposal presents a significant advancement in road safety, ensuring accountability for serious infringements. We appreciate the text's flexibility, allowing diverse national systems to adapt effectively during implementation. On this basis, we are ready to support this general approach. Thank you very much.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “Dear colleagues, [00:03:00] I would also like to thank presidency for its attention to social investments, well planned social investments and strategically focused reforms in fostering positive impacts on inclusive economic growth, productivity and competitiveness is crucial. Lithuania's budget 2024 serves as a confirmation to this commitment. It not only aims to increase income, [00:03:30] but also places emphasis on investing in the education active labour market policies, improving the quality of accessibility of social and health care and long term care services, and ensuring the efficiency of social support. A recent strategic planning reform in Lithuania set an obligation to assess the long term impact of governmental interventions and investments, including those in the social sphere. Our [00:04:00] new law of strategic management underscores the clear connection between strategic planning objectives and budget spending in the distinctions between strategic investment and operational activities and costs, and the importance of data and impact assessment. A unified system for data and indicators is being created created to support this initiative. The long term impact of strategic social investments has been [00:04:30] assessed. Applying cost benefit principles and equal opportunities as a horizontal principle is integrated into each measure. I firmly believe that the effective implementation of evidence based social policies requires reliable and timely data, including administrative level macro data.
[00:04:51] To observe trends, the state data agency synchronizes governmental data in daily schedules. Additionally, our ministry is [00:05:00] developing a universal platform for social assistance that will enable the development of targeted schemes as well. It is very important to empower social investments and impact assessment implementation. We need to strengthen our public sector competences and learn from the best EU practices. Dear colleagues, the coordination and monitoring of social economic policies are vital for stability and reforms. The Epsco Council, in active collaboration [00:05:30] with Ecofin, has the potential to facilitate the coordination in the areas of the labour market, skills and social policy as outlined in relevant treaty provisions. Last but not least, I think we must not forget in this debate that geopolitical context and the vital need to support EU enlargement process, we must engage candidate states, Ukraine, Moldova and others in meaningful discussions on social convergence and [00:06:00] EU semester. It will assist in preparation for the integration into Social Europe. Let's continue to work together towards a future of Europe, where social investments and strategic reforms pave the way for sustained economic growth, more resilient and prosperous societies.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- “Madam chair. Commissioner, um, we thank Romania for this question and we support it. We are also concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Pigmeat sector. Pork purchase prices are also falling in Lithuania. The situation is exacerbated by the tariffs imposed by China on pork imports from the EU. We ask the Commissioner and its services to closely monitor the situation in this sector if necessary. Immediate action must be taken at EU level, including the activation of the EU Agricultural Reserve. Thank you.”
Export of EU agri-food products
- “Dear chairman, Commissioner and colleagues, Lithuania appreciates the efforts of the Danish presidency and welcomes the latest compromise proposal aligned with the European Council guidelines in the text of the European Climate Law Amendment. We support the improvements in the text related to finance impact assessment across Member States and the balance of effort sharing between Member States based on solidarity and cost efficiency. We are happy to see that national circumstances the supply of affordable clean energy, reflection of realistic contribution of carbon removals, food safety and farmer specificities are now reflected in the text. At the same time, we regret that our suggestions to strengthen the provisions of the European Climate Law Amendment were not reflected in the final compromise. In particular, we would have liked to see a clear reference to the EU measures to address socio economic challenges and ensure social acceptance after 2032, when the Social Climate Fund expires. And of course, stronger guarantees for the availability and affordability of innovative technologies and financial resources in all member States. Ensuring the principle of geographical balance. We also want to emphasize the multiple objectives of the agriculture and land use sectors, given their limited mitigation potential and exposure to natural disturbances, and the importance to ensure coherence between the EU's food security and climate objectives. Lithuania is ready to support the general approach of the European climate law. However, we will submit a national statement to the minutes to the Council outlining the enabling conditions most relevant for Lithuania. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Madam chairman, colleagues, Lithuania shares the concerns expressed by France regarding the impact of disinformation on the health sector, which poses a threat to public health, especially in the areas of infectious diseases and mental health. We are confronted with widespread disinformation on a daily basis, especially regarding the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. It should be noted that the use of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly widespread, making it increasingly difficult for the public to identify reliable and evidence based information in the media. Against this background, a coordinated EU approach and initiatives are needed to tackle this health threat, which is as dangerous as the pandemic.”
Vaccination
- “Thank you chair. Dear Commissioner, dear colleagues. Lithuania thanks the Cyprus Presidency for the progress made in advancing the Horizon Europe package and we fully support the presidency's ambition to reach a partial general approach already in June. In response to the question, we consider that strategic priority setting, European partnership and widening. Are the elements critical for reaching a strong compromise text concerning the priority settings. Lithuania fully supports the currently proposed process, including including the advisory role of Iraq. A similar provision should also be reflected in the regulation establishing the European Competitiveness Fund in order to ensure seamless innovation journey and of course, a strong political ownership by the member States concerning European partnerships. The European partnerships should be closely aligned with the long term strategic priorities, and we believe that to maximise impact, Europe needs fewer but broader partnerships, supported by robust impact assessments and designed and implemented together with the member States from the outset. Concerning widening, we believe that the measures remain necessary to foster a more united Europe in the field of research and innovation. However, we should not lose sight of the main objective, which is to which is reducing disparities in scientific and innovation capacities, as well as participation levels among European Union member states. We believe that these measures should effectively respond to this objective and to the country's needs, while their effectiveness should continue to be regularly reviewed. We should avoid creating additional divisions among member states or a multi-speed Europe. And all these efforts should continue with the long term aim of ensuring that widening measures will not longer be necessary in the future. And in this regard, Lithuania supports the continuation of successful instruments such as RF fellowships and the EIC pre-accelerator, and sees a strong need for similar instruments to support the participation of widening countries in IRC calls. And finally, we would like to express a full solidarity with our Romanian colleagues. And in the light of this, we would like to emphasize that we fully support the EIC. Darpa proposal, and we believe that strengthening competitiveness in the current political geopolitical environment requires an integrated approach for innovative companies, including those operating in the defense sector. Thank you.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas · Research priorities within the EU
- “Thank you. Chair. And good morning to everybody. Dear colleagues. Commissioner. I would like to wish Poland all the very best and every success for your presidency. We understand the concerns of our colleagues on regarding the appearance of foot and mouth disease in Germany, and appreciate the efforts being deployed to avoid the spread of this disease. This has been a response, a rapid response and effective preventive measures. We hope that we will rapidly be able to clear up the source of the virus, which is currently still unknown. It's important to stop and eliminate this disease, which presents a risk for animals and has a negative impact on agriculture and the economy. The consequences on exports of animal products are extremely serious, which is why preparation for the eradication and the implementation and financing of biosecurity measures are all essential. Thank you very much.”
Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
- “(17:27:54 – 17:31:05): So definitely, we see and we have a lot of concern about how things are developing because of drones which now came into Romania. Before that, we saw drones in Poland. We saw drones in Baltic states. Commission president immediately decided to go to the Baltic States to show solidarity and to discuss how we can join our efforts in order really to build defense drone defense in our systems in in the countries what we call Eastern Flank Watch countries or Eastern Flank countries or frontier countries.
And we as commission, we are really ready to support member states in development of the defense capabilities through some regional projects. For example, Eastern Flank Watch, which is our flagship project and which now, I hope, very soon will be approved as a European defense project of common interest. So it will have, you know, some kind of very important political, legal, and financial status.
The same is with so called flagship project drone defense initiative, which as you know, is is also the project which which is targeted towards development of European drone defense capabilities. Very important is that in those projects, Ukraine can participate as equal partner. And definitely, is very important for us is to take Ukrainian experience as some kind of basic basic principles, how we can strengthen our own defense capability starting from detection of drones and also developing some cost effective means to destroy drones.
So that is in our agenda. But most important, really, would be to achieve, that the war should end with a just peace, you know, for Ukraine. And in in in in from that point of view, I see really that our support Ukraine in order for Ukraine to become a strong even in its defense. We're now providing 60,000,000,000 loan for Ukraine to develop its defense capabilities.
We need to look, for for next steps in order for Ukraine to start to prevail on the different front lines. On the ground with deep strikes, with defense of their cities, air defense of their cities in order really to finally to achieve that, you know, Russian authorities also will understand to continue that to continue the war and to create all the problems, not only on tragic, you know, developments, not only in Ukraine, but also around is really not what what was there should continue. Okay. Thank you. 1 more question.”
Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term)
- “Dear chairman. Commissioner, colleagues. Lithuania appreciates the Danish presidency efforts to reach a general approach on European climate law amendment and regrets that the agreement is not feasible in the council today. Lithuania consistently supports the main objective of the proposal to set out the EU 2030 climate target on the path to climate neutrality by 2050, and welcomes the progress made at the same time. We see added value in clear European Council guidance on enabling conditions and flexibility measures, including a legislative roadmap, adequate and predictable financing and socially fair transition framework. On flexibility measures. Lithuania stresses the need to stronger underlying the multiple objectives of the agriculture and land use sectors to ensure coherence between the EU's food security and climate objectives. The limited mitigation potential of agriculture sector and variability of lulucf sinks must be acknowledged by determining the possible contribution of these sectors towards climate targets. Regarding international credits credits flexibility, greater clarity is needed on equal access to this flexibility for all Member states, given that not all participate in implementation of those market measures on enabling conditions, we welcome progress made in accommodating our priorities and sensitivities in the compromise text of the European Climate Regulation, but we hope to further strengthen the provisions with the following elements. First, the architecture of sectoral targets and effort sharing between the Member States, reflecting national circumstances and historical greenhouse gas emissions reductions. We seek stronger balance on solidarity, and we are very skeptic to the calls to strengthen target convergence geographically. Second, geographically balanced EU funding and accessibility of innovative technology technologies across member states. And the third, a clear reference to measures and instruments to address socio economic challenges. We invite the Commission to provide impact assessment for individual Member States in due course, and we are waiting for solutions for the ETS two price stabilisation at the same time. We hope that the European Council guidelines on enabling conditions and flexibility measures, along with all our collective efforts, will allow us to approve equally ambitious EU 2040 target and socially just and economically viable structure for its implementation. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the presidency. Thank you for your efforts to discuss the future of [00:08:00] food, of agriculture and all other topics. Our discussions have shown that we need urgent solutions on further simplification of Cap, improving the food supply chain, and more flexibility on the implementation of the strategic plans, as well as on better crisis management, new technologies and more sustainable targets. Still, one issue remains we need to take into consideration all the measures and efforts made by the farmers [00:08:30] when looking for the alternative solutions for maintenance of permanent pastures. Thanks.”
Agriculture (green)
- “We thank the chair and we thank Ireland for raising this important issue. In addition to being a significant coastal territory, the European Union is a key player in the management of mackerel stocks in the North East Atlantic. Industrial actions by third countries, the deliberate exclusion of the EU from the decision making process, and the disregard for key scientific advice raise serious concerns. The existence of unacceptable practices not only threatens the sustainability of the stock, but also contributes to further weakening of the EU's position in fisheries, especially in international formats. Despite the EU's economic weight in the market we contribute to. To calling on the Commission to take the decisive and timely action to prevent an unsustainable unilateral actions by third countries, to protect pelagic stocks in the North East Atlantic and to defend the interests of the EU fleet.”
Environmental regulation of fisheries
- “President. Commissioner. Colleagues. I'm grateful to the Commission for these initiatives, seeking to fight unfair trading practices and to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain. This is a priority for us, so you can count on our active involvement in the discussions at political level and at expert level. I should note that a number of provisions concerning written contracts that feature in the CMO regulation already exist in Lithuanian national legislation, so we support the commission proposal seeking to improve the situation of farmers. But we would like to have even more stringent provisions to achieve our objectives. This concerns the prices of foodstuffs. The imbalance of power is very common in the food chain. Very often the seller is the weaker party in the contract. They lack bargaining power, and this is particularly the case when it comes to the sale of perishable products. Usually the farmer is obliged to accept the prices proposed by the buyer who which in some cases doesn't even cover the cost of production. When there are prolonged periods where the prices don't cover the costs, farmers are forced to abandon their activity, which of course reduces production and threatens food security. Therefore, in order to ensure that there is a fairer distribution of the profits throughout the supply chain, we should consider including in the proposal a provision stating that the buying price must not be below the cost of production. And as regards the mediation mechanism, the obligatory mediation, we think it's unnecessary. We actually think this would create more of an administrative burden than any real benefit. However, we could accept that this be left to the discretion of Member States to implement. To conclude, the fight against unfair trading practices requires closer cooperation between the control and enforcement authorities, and we need closer and more effective coordination between Member States. The provisions of the regulation must be comprehensive and clear in order to ensure effective implementation. Thank you, Prime Minister.”
EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
- “As Minister of Agriculture, I'm concerned about the unresolved legal and financial uncertainty, primarily with regard to the mandatory measures of the CEP. We do not have a safe budget. It is still unclear who will be responsible for the processing of agricultural products, for the Leader program, for training, consulting and the continuity of innovation. If these areas are not clearly established from a legal and financial point of view, we risk that the objectives of strengthening rural areas might remain merely declarative. We therefore hope that the Commission caps cap recommendations will clearly address these areas as well, ensuring the continuity of rural development measures. As regards the French proposal to transfer provisions from the regulation to the sectoral regulations. We consider this is a very positive step towards greater autonomy of the CPA and CFP. The transfer of key provisions to the relevant sectors regulations will reduce legal uncertainty and increase the consistency of the entire system. We also call for further progress on the visibility of the mentioned policies. We are open for further discussions on the transposition of additional articles of the NRP regulation relating to the Cap, CFP and into the sectoral regulations. Thank you.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you David. Thank you for the efforts to implement your forest strategy. We believe that the adopted guidelines are a step forward and promoting good practices and contributing to the implementation of an effective forest policy, taking into account local conditions. However, we've recently been seeing new forest related EU level initiatives [00:21:30] that are not part of the forest strategy. This creates a risk for the consistency of the forest policy and the application of the principles of sustainable forest management. We believe that the Commission Standing Committee on Forests must continue to be the main and strengthened instrument for effective cooperation and a supporting instrument in reducing fragmentation of forest related issues. We also believe that forest related EU level legislation should be dealt with in the [00:22:00] Council Working Party on Forestry. As to the programme for Strategic Cooperation with Third countries, we appreciate the efforts and activities of Germany and other member States in this area. We are considering ways to contribute to strengthening this cooperation through the Team Europe Initiative on Deforestation or other similar initiatives. Lithuania in general supports the idea set out in the Austrian joint statement. We believe that the principles of sustainable forest [00:22:30] management should remain the basis of the current and future forest policy. Forestry is based on local conditions and practical experience in each member state and under the EU treaties, forest policy is a member state competence.”
Management of EU forests
- “Madam president, commissioner, colleagues, in shaping our future work plan, we must once again think about the role of culture in today's world. In the long run, we are focused on building safe and sustainable world. So we cannot remain indifferent to today's threats and challenges, especially given the current geopolitical situation.
I will share our strategic directions that we are shaping from the Lithuanian perspective. We consider the cultural compass an important strategic guide for the discussion. And at the same time, we seek to develop it in a broader context. We see the need to consistently strengthen society's democratic resilience as well as the culture of values for and dialogue where culture can play a significant role, one that remains underdeveloped to this day.
Today, culture does not operate in isolation, but in a broad informational and digital space, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable in the face of disinformation, manipulation and distortion of historical memory. Therefore, cultural policy shall be closely linked to measures of protecting democracy, strengthening cultural institutions and spaces for freedom, creative expression and critical reflection.
We see potential to develop cooperation with the recently established European Center for Democratic Resilience with aim to integrate culture into the systems of democratic resilience. I will now turn to very important issue of crisis preparedness. In the context of crisis preparedness, we must strengthen cooperation among member states, pool our capabilities, address issues related to the protection of cultural heritage, also any other challenges. In this work, it is important to draw on Ukraine's example. Ukraine must remain at the center of our attention. We must remain, in solidarity and committed to the EU level response by increasing support to Ukraine in the areas of culture and cultural heritage protection.
Another important aspect in building a resilient Europe is that the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors is paramount to the competitiveness by fostering innovation, creativity based solutions in trying to strengthen sectors contribution to social cohesion and the ability to adapt to technological and global challenges.
In summary, I believe that it's important to maintain this productive balance between culture's contribution to Europe and Europe's contribution to culture, where culture while remaining an autonomous space and, for free creation simultaneously strengthens European societies and the European project itself.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Madam, thank you very much, chair. We can see the outbreaks of FMD. Aren't just affecting the first countries where they appeared, but they affect all of us and require our constant attention. We need to step up security measures and take additional measures where necessary. Information sharing is key. We need to raise awareness amongst breeders and the industry as well as the public, and we also need an in-depth investigation into outbreaks. We hope that there will be strict measures adopted in this case. We thank everybody for their efforts to this end. Thank you so much.”
Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
- “Madam chair, colleagues. Commissioner. Thank you. First of all, for the presidency, for the timely focus on the energy transition in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. This discussion in the council comes at a particularly difficult time when the geopolitical situation, especially in the Middle East, highlights the sector's vulnerability to fossil fuel dependency and energy price fluctuations. Rising costs, declining profitability and growing uncertainty have become the daily reality for the sector. Therefore, energy transition is not just a long term climate goal or vision. It is also an urgent matter of economic resilience. Today, we need to clearly identify the main obstacles. First, regulation. The current legal framework has been designed to provide more stable conditions and is not flexible enough to respond to fluctuations in fuel prices, the impact of climate change and geopolitical risks. Targeted amplification is needed, ensuring that the rules are fit for purpose and work in practice. Second, funding. We need to be frank, the current Fisheries Fund and in particular the proposed future financial framework, which is three times smaller, will not ensure the effective implementation of the energy transition in the sector. With the significant decrease in funding and complex regulations, we will only be able to achieve very limited results.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- “Thank you very much, Chair. Commissioners. Dear colleagues, let me congratulate the Presidency for an impressive result in such a short period of time. In our view, the main benefits the compromise text holds are enhanced transparency and a sufficient data collection and sharing. Also, the flexibility for Member States to opt in when they are ready. We believe that this is this will positively affect the decisions of public authorities and will serve for better EU and national policy making. It is very important to us that the proposal is consistent with the DSA. Lithuania D4 supports call for compatibility with the DSA to be priority in the further negotiations with the EPP. Platforms should not be subjected to more obligations than they are already by the DSA, in particular the ones regarding random checks. And all in all, we support the proposed general approach.”
Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
- “Thank you. Chair. The European Clean Industrial Deal is a bold and necessary ambition, but its success depends on bringing all sectors along, especially traditional industries like steel, cement and chemicals. These sectors face unique challenges in the green transition. Therefore, decarbonization targets must reflect what's technologically and financially feasible. We need realistic timelines and tailored transition pathways. We must protect European industry from unfair global competition. The carbon border adjustment mechanism is an important tool here, but it must be swiftly implemented and adapted to reflect real trade laws. Infrastructure will also be critical expanding the electricity grid, integrating renewables and encouraging clustering industrial activities through industrial symbiosis can reduce emissions and boost efficiency. Moreover, building a strong circular economy is equally important. We need a robust market for secondary raw materials supported by smart initiatives. Certification Systems and Advanced Biotechnologies to improve recycling and develop bio based alternatives globally. The race for clean industries on technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture are vital. Europe must invest now through initiatives like Repower, EU and hydrogen ready infrastructure. Repurposed LNG terminals and CO2 storage speed coordination and regulatory support are key. Finally, we cannot achieve any of this without public support in regions like Eastern Europe. Trust and understanding of new technologies that will shape the future of industry must be built. Because this transition isn't just about industry, it's about people and the future. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you. And thank you for the colleagues from France and Germany. Raising these questions and sharing this idea and culture. Pass is a great tool to ensure access to culture for children and youth, as well as to develop their interests in culture at a young age. It is important that program cultural pass program would be designed specially for students more than all access [00:29:30] to already existing cultural offers on the market. For these reasons, we also have the Culture Pass program in Lithuania launched in 2018. The program is designed for students from primary and secondary school. They can choose from more than 4000 cultural and artistic events and educational activities developed specifically for the program by cultural institutions, organizations, and individual artists. Such activities need to promote active [00:30:00] and informed inclusion of children and youth into cultural activities, promote peaceful relationship sustainability, active citizenship and social equality. These are priorities for 2023 and 2026, and the key element of the cultural Pass program is synergies between culture and education systems, together with development of the qualifications of the teachers and educators in the cultural area. [00:30:30] Thank you.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Thank you. Well, obviously we agree with what's just been said. We do need to bolster our cultural policy whilst at the same time respecting the principle of subsidiarity. Funding culture is very important for us. When Poland [00:25:30] joined the EU, and ever since, we've always tried to best use structural funds to benefit culture. We have over the last few years spent €3.5 billion from the European Fund for Regional Development. For maintaining and protecting monuments and protecting cultural heritage and promoting it as well. So given all of that, we think it's key that we provide stronger financial support under the MFF to [00:26:00] the culture sector, to. So that's within the context of structural funds. We think the Creative Europe programme must be continued. And there should be more funds available, and financial support needs to correspond to the challenges faced by the cultural sector. And we also want. To contribute. So [00:26:30] they didn't know Mechelen and Prize and the European Capital of Culture. I'm afraid the speaker's microphone has been cut just before the end. Microphone is back on. So we think it's important. To increase the value of the prize, which I mentioned at the moment is about €1.5 million. This has not changed for a long time. [00:27:00] So the figure needs to be updated, and we also need to ensure we have all the instruments at our disposal. To enable us to support. And strengthen any works. Which are key for European heritage. So we need more funds at our disposal, and we also need to act to ensure that there's systemic support within the framework of the Creative Europe programme to [00:27:30] support the aims which have been established.
Dear colleagues, Lithuania strongly supports the issue raised by Germany. Culture and European Union policy should receive strategic emphasis to foster cross-cultural understanding and promote unity among member States while respecting cultural diversity. It plays a crucial role in shaping the shared identity and values of the European Union. Culture [00:28:00] needs to be ensured, a proper and visible place, along with other EU policies as well as better financing. This is in line with EU aspirations to take a lead in its commitment to work towards the recognition of culture as a global public good, and establishing culture as a standalone sustainable.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “08:46 – 16:11:11): Thank you thier thank you professor for your presentation dear colleagues in Lithuania we are working to balance competitiveness with social guarantees in digital labor markets by setting clear rules for human centered approach workers should know when ea are used and how this affects them privacy and occupational health and safety must be respected in every type of work.
We also invest in skills this is the best form of prevention from the exclusion of labor market at the same time ea itself can help us better and anticipate future skills needs and reduce mismatches.
The Lithuanian employment employment service has been using ai in its active labor market programs for a while and continues to develop it ai can make workplace safer especially for the high risk tasks but ai can raise stress too change is fast we need preventive health protection measures at work including meant mental health support and right to disconnect.
The Europe European semester can do even more with clear targeted country specific recommendations supported by eu funding we can drive real change this means ensure ensuring high quality public employment services that sport training needs yearly for the jobs most affected by ea strong social dialogue should go hand in hand with all reforms and adaptation which will ensure that productivity gains are shared fairly.
Our goal goal is simple make technological change work for people protect rights grow skills build trust and create quality jobs across Europe thank you”
European Semester (social dimension)
- “Thank you. Chairman. Commissioner. Colleagues. We can fully support the Romanian request for eligibility for Expenditure for breeding animals. We think that this sort of support would encourage operators to improve the quality of their stocks and herds, and increase the competitiveness across the sector. It would also help to achieve other important objectives. Improvement of quality of food. Value. Nutritional value of foods and allow balanced development across the territories and rural zones. Farmers would be encouraged to carry out breeding in arid areas which are less favourable, but where livestock breeding is perhaps one of the most appropriate activities. So we would like to see discussions along these lines.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you for the work you have done on this relevant issue. We believe that the amendments to the directives have taken into account the growing expectations of consumers to have complete information when choosing products to ensure their traceability and to ensure fair, fair competition principles for EU producers. Provisions [00:14:30] concerning honey are very important to us, namely the labelling of its blends and reducing its counterfeiting. We hope that the that the next presidency will cooperate with the European Parliament in order to achieve a, a an agreement as quickly as possible. Thank you.”
Food labelling harmonisation at EU level