In the first sitting of the 8th (spring) session of the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas Mrs Irena Degutienė and Prime Minister Mr Andrius Kubilius presented the Draft Resolution No XIP-4164 on the Programme for the 8th (Spring) Session of the Seimas.
The Head of the Parliament observed that there had already been over 1000 draft legal acts included in the programme for the spring session of the Seimas, including secondary legal acts. The President of the Republic suggested including 16 primary draft legal acts (without secondary legislation) while the Government 140 primary draft legal acts (without secondary legislation). The remaining 539 primary legal acts, or nearly 700 if we include the secondary legal acts as well, were proposed by the committees, political groups, and Members of the Seimas.
Mrs Degutienė reminded that 55 sittings had been held in the Seimas and a total of 348 legal acts had been adopted last autumn. A similar number of sittings is planned for the spring session; therefore, it is likely that the number of legal acts to be adopted will be similar too, said the Speaker of the Seimas as she encouraged the Members of the Seimas to try and define their priorities because it would not be realistic to deliberate all the issues that had been put forward.
The strengthening of Lithuanian energy independence, implementation of the rulings of the Constitutional Court, social insurance and pension system reform, improvement of business conditions, and reduction of unemployment were among the priorities of this session identified by the Speaker of the Seimas. I could call this spring session a drive towards energy independence where a new energy independence strategy will be one of the most important issues on the agenda.
Considering the draft laws submitted by the Government for deliberation in the Seimas, Prime Minister Mr Andrius Kubilius focused on the ratification of the EU Fiscal Compact, energy projects, Lithuanian Progress Strategy, pension reform, and compensation for reduced pensions. He added that these were the areas the decisions in which would define future perspectives for the next 20, 40, or 60 years. Within the next four months, we have to make decisions in the area of energy which will define the future of the energy sector in Lithuania for the next 40 or 60 years. By saying this I mean the law on the LNG terminal and also the concession agreement necessary for the construction of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant. The agreement is currently being negotiated with the regional partners and it will be presented in the Seimas at a set time, so that by the end of this June, the Seimas will have had an opportunity to reach a decision on this strategically crucial, high-volume, and complicated project, but definitely a very important one, the Head of the Government said.
After the presentation of the draft programme for the spring session, the Seimas decided to approve the draft programme and start its deliberation procedure. 66 Members of the Seimas voted in favour, with 4 votes against and 28 abstentions. All the committees of the Seimas were assigned to deliberate the draft programme. The 15th March is the preliminary date for the deliberation on the draft programme in the sitting of the Seimas*.
According to the schedule of the sittings, confirmed by the Board of the Seimas, 54 plenary sittings are planned to be held during the spring session. The regular spring session starts on 10 March and ends on 30 June.
*The programme was adopted on 20 March.
