On 21 December 2012, an informal meeting of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs with the Members of the European Parliament elected in Lithuania was held at the Seimas. The meeting unanimously underlined that the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2013 must be ambitious, focus primarily on common European rather than local matters and have a long-term added value.

The meeting was attended by Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas; Zigmantas Balčytis, MEP; Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, MEP; Vytautas Landsbergis, MEP; Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, MEP; Algirdas Saudargas, MEP; Valdemar Tomaševski, MEP; Benediktas Juodka, Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs; Members of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs; Jonas Milerius, Secretary General of the Seimas; and Loreta Raulinaitytė, Coordinator of the preparation of the Seimas for the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The participants of the meeting agreed that during its Presidency Lithuania should take special note of Ukraine and its aspirations to become an associated member of the EU. Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Chairman of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs, stressed that Lithuania should avoid a passive role during its Presidency and seek a breakthrough in the areas it has prioritised for its Presidency. Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, MEP, pointed to the tendency that old Member States were good at presiding over the Council, while new Members States, probably with the exception of Poland, were less successful. Therefore, Lithuanian must make every effort to stand out by the high quality of the Presidency.

Mr Landsbergis, Ms Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė and Mr Auštrevičius said that Lithuania’s Presidency must be oriented towards addressing common European rather than purely national challenges, and that Lithuania must refrain from exposing the problems of its domestic policy. Mr Saudargas noted that “the Presidency is the worst period for tackling national problems and the best time for supervising the addressing of those problems on the European level.” Gediminas Kirkilas, Chairman of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs, proposed that the Committee be made a Lithuanian platform for discussing the future of Europe with the active engagement of MEPs from Lithuania.

Mr Tomaševski stressed that the outcomes of the Lithuanian Presidency should have a long-term value and Mr Auštrevičius referred to this objective as a national ambition. Mr Landsbergis said the Presidency should be seen as a noble task for Lithuania to promote the idea of European solidarity and help the European Union to address the key problems related to sensitive cross-border relations in the regions such as Caucasus, covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Both MEPs and Members of the Seimas agreed that special attention should be given to Ukraine, which is to sign an association agreement with the EU in Vilnius during the Lithuanian Presidency. Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė, MP, suggested making smooth relations between the EU and Ukraine a symbol of success of the Lithuanian Presidency and benefiting from a year-long Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2013. Mr Balčytis stressed the importance of energy security and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

The Members of the European Parliament also presented their proposals on organisational matters and the agendas of the Presidency meetings. Ms Blinkevičiūtė suggested reviving the tradition of Friday meetings of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs with MEPs. In addition, she informed the meeting that Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, had given an informal promise to visit Lithuania during its Presidency of the Council of the EU.        

Morta Vidūnaitė, Advisor to the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Gediminas Kirkilas,

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