On 68 April 2014, for the first time in the history of the country, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania will host the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments. It is the final and one of the largest parliamentary dimension events of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is conducted by the national Parliament of the Member State holding the Presidency in the second semester of the year and organised by this Member State following the completion of its Presidency in the first semester of the next year.
Fifty foreign delegations are expected to arrive to the conference of the highest political level. A total of 300 members of parliamentary delegations and guests from EU national Parliaments, the European Parliament, candidate and Eastern Partnership countries are expected to take part in the international event.
The Conference is due to start on 7 April 2014 with welcome addresses by Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (video message from Brussels).
In Session I, the Speakers of European Union Parliaments will discuss the role of parliaments in tackling the consequences of the economic and financial crisis. Speeches will be made by Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania and Mogens Lykketoft, Speaker of the Folketing of the Kingdom of Denmark, while the speech by Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, will be delivered by Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez, Vice-President of the European Parliament.
The title of Session II is Five years after coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon: lessons of subsidiarity checks in parliaments. This subject will be addressed by Milan Štěch, Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic; Pietro Grasso, President of the Senate of the Italian Republic; Anouchka van Miltenburg, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and Timothy Boswell, Chairman of the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, will cover interparliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries in Session III. This part of the Conference will also feature speeches by Oleksandr Turchynov, acting President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Igor Corman, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova; David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia; Oqtay Asadov, Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and Stanislav Shushkevich, former Speaker of the Supreme Council of Belarus.
Interparliamentary cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice will be discussed in Session IV on 8 April 2014. Speeches will be made by Ewa Kopacz, Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic; and Per Westerberg, Speaker of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden.
The Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments is expected to conclude with the adoption of the Presidency Conclusions. At the initiative of Barbara Prammer, President of the National Council of the Republic of Austria, commemoration of the International Roma Day and adoption of a declaration will also feature on the agenda of the Conference.
The Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments will be broadcast live on the TV channel LRT Kultūra, TV programme Seimas tiesiogiai (Engl. Seimas live), and websites of the Seimas and the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
At 6.48 a.m. on 7 April 2014, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, will present the event on the LRT programme Labas rytas, Lietuva (Engl. Good Morning, Lithuania).
Press conferences
A brief press conference of Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, and Oleksandr Turchynov, interim president of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, near the office of the Speaker of the Seimas (Building 1 of the Seimas) will be held at 7.35 a.m. on 7 April 2014.
A press conference on the presentation of the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments will be held at 10.30 a.m. on 7 April 2014 (Press Conference Hall, Building 2 of the Seimas). Participants: Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas; Miguel Angel Martínez, Vice-President of the European Parliament; Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Italy; Pietro Grasso, President of the Senate of the Republic of Italy; and Sofoklis Fyttis, Chair of the Standing Committee on Human
Rights and on Equal Opportunities for Men and Women of the Republic of Cyprus.
A press conference on the Eastern Partnership will be held at 11 a.m. on 7 April 2014 (Press Conference Hall, Building 2 of the Seimas). Participants: Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas; Oleksandr Turchynov, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Igor Corman, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova; David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia; and Stanislav Shushkevich, former Speaker of the Supreme Council of Belarus.
A press conference on the results of the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments will be held at 12.30 p.m. on 8 April 2014 (Press Conference Hall, Building 2 of the Seimas). Participants: Benediktas Juodka, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; Seán Barrett, Chairman of Dáil Éireann, Ireland; Josip Leko, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament; Timothy Boswell, Chairman of the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
For a detailed programme of the event, please click here.
Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]
