Press release, 18 March 2014
The Seimas has approved the legislative programme of the fourth (spring) session by adopting a relevant resolution by 67 votes in favour with 19 votes against and 22 abstentions.
During the parliamentary session, the Seimas will focus on social and labour relations, imposition of discipline in public finance management, fight against shadow economy, energy efficiency and energy security, prevention of corruption, improvement of the quality and availability of education, science, culture and health services through implementation of the relevant policies, and other pertinent matters.
One of the most important tasks in the upcoming Seimas session is adoption of regulation on the terms and procedures of compensating for the reduced state pensions, social insurance retirement and disability pensions. Equally important is the adoption of procedures in preparation for the euro changeover, currency conversion, conversion of values expressed in litas into values expressed in euro, and withdrawal of the litas from circulation. The Seimas will aspire to reduce the size of shadow economy, smuggling, and illegal ownership of excise goods.
The draft legislation to be adopted during the spring session also proposes introduction of further restrictions (safeguards) for the purchase of agricultural land, enhancing of the employment support scheme in order to increase employment and creation of new jobs, and improvement of regulation on labour relations by promoting social partnerships and increasing flexibility in labour relations.
The legislative programme consists of over 600 draft laws, excluding secondary legislation. During the session, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will deliver her state of the nation address and the Government will present its annual performance report.
In line with the schedule for the spring session approved by the Board of the Seimas, nearly 50 sittings are scheduled to take place by 30 June 2014.
The Seimas annually meets for two regular sessions: the spring and the autumn session. The spring session begins on 10 March and ends on 30 June. The autumn session begins on 10 September and ends on 23 December. The Seimas may extend the session. Members of the Seimas convene for regular sessions without any formal invitation.
Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]
