Press release, 27 June 2013

The Seimas has adopted the amendments to the Statute of the Seimas modifying the provisions on the consideration of EU matters in the Lithuanian Parliament. The amendments were adopted by 85 votes in favour, with 16 against and 6 abstentions.

The authors of the draft argued that the existing legal regulation did not meet the current needs. “Due to the lack of explicitness and clarity in the legal regulation, the Seimas, as the national Parliament of an EU Member State, faces difficulties in proper exercise of its powers, including the scrutiny of the application of the principle of subsidiarity,” reads the explanatory note of the document.

The amendments to the Statute of the Seimas aim to simplify the legal provisions on the consideration of EU documents by the committees of the Seimas: they specify the competences of the Committee on European Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the rules for the committee meetings where EU matters are considered; elaborate the provisions on the scrutiny of the application of the principle of subsidiarity, on the provision of information to the Seimas on EU matters, and on submission of a position of the Republic of Lithuania; and change the procedure for the deliberation on proposals for EU legal acts and other EU documents. In addition, the amendments specify the working procedure and the powers of the committees of the Seimas.  

Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas responsible for the organisation of the events of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, says that the adopted amendments are needed before the Presidency starts because they aim to improve the consideration of EU matters in the Seimas. 

Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]