On 9–11 July 2013, Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, and Loreta Graužinienė, Member of the Committee on European Affairs, visited Paris, where they met with Laurence Dumont, Vice-President of the French Senate, Bariza Khiari, Vice-President of the French National Assembly, members of the Committees for European Affairs of the French Senate and National Assembly, members of the Senate Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Baltic States, and the National Assembly Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with Lithuania.

During the meetings, the Seimas delegation presented the priorities and parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and discussed the most important items on the agenda of the Presidency of the Council. The delegation invited representatives of the French Senate and National Assembly to the events to be held at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

The focus was on the role of national Parliaments and matters relating to the fiscal policy, banking union, EU’s internal and external energy policy, Southern and Eastern Partnerships, and common defence and security policy. The discussion also included youth unemployment, euroscepticism of European society, and elections to the European Parliament in 2014.

Petras Auštrevičius, head of the Lithuanian delegation, noted that “the Lithuanian Presidency will see the launch of implementation of the further package on economic and fiscal governance, which can enhance the resilience of all the EU Member States to economic fluctuations.” This topic received special attention from the French counterparts.

The representatives of the French Senate and National Assembly expressed the view that the role of national parliaments was growing and their satisfaction with the fact that French parliamentarians were briefed on the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council by the representatives of the Lithuanian Seimas, acknowledged that complex challenges would face the Lithuanian Presidency and wished success to Lithuania.

Elzė Lagunavičiūtė, Adviser to the Office of the Committee on European Affairs, tel. +370 5 239 6847