In preparation for the events of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Secretariat of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) visited the Seimas on 30 April 2013. At the meeting with Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs, and Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs, the COSAC Secretariat discussed the draft agendas of the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC scheduled for 7–8 July 2013 and the Plenary Meeting of COSAC to be held in Vilnius on 27–29 October 2013.

Maroš Ševčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, with his presentation on further steps of the EU towards a political and economic union will be among the key speakers of the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC in July.

The Plenary Meeting of COSAC in October intends to discuss the elections to the European Parliament in 2014, as a platform for a debate with European citizens on the future of the EU, the implementation of the EU growth strategy Europe 2020, the role of national Parliaments in considering EU matters, in particular economic and budgetary policies, as well as regional cooperation and macro-regional strategies in the EU.

At its meetings with Jonas Milerius, Secretary General of the Seimas; Loreta Raulinaitytė, Director of the Communications Department and EU-Presidency Coordinator, Office of the Seimas; Renata Lygienė, Head of the Office of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs; as well as other specialists, the COSAC Secretariat focussed on the technical and organisational matters of the current Presidential Troika of COSAC (Ireland, Lithuania and Greece).

The delegation of the COSAC Secretariat which visited the Seimas consisted of Libby Kurien, Permanent Member of the Secretariat; permanent representatives of the Parliaments of Ireland, Lithuania, Greece and Cyprus in the EU; other members of the COSAC Secretariat and a representative from the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments of the European Parliament.     

Dovilė Paužaitė-Šliachtovič, Advisor, Committee on European Affairs, tel: +370 5 239 6763,

mob: +370 620 75187, e-mail: [email protected]

 Morta Vidūnaitė, Advisor to Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Gediminas Kirkilas, tel: +370 5 239 6278, mob: +370 612 01121, e-mail: [email protected]