The Seimas closed its autumn session: decisions were taken on increasing individual income, strengthening national security, and continuing with the implementation of the civil service reform

 

Press release, 23 December 2023

 

At its autumn session, the Seimas achieved a milestone by adopting a crucial strategic documents, namely, the National Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050. This ground-breaking document reinforces the foundations of the state and establishes ways for ensuring national security, attaining demographic and social stability, rejuvenating the economy, preserving the environment, and promoting equitable development across all regions of the country. Lithuania 2050 will also help to restructure public administration by making it flexible, smart and inclusive and strengthening trust among citizens, government and civic organisations.

 

Budget and increase in individual income

The Seimas has approved the financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for 2024. The main priorities of the next year’s state budget are increasing individual income, strengthening of national security with a special focus on the implementation of the agreement on education and the agreement on national defence, and promoting investment that contributes to the creation of higher added value.

The revenue of the state budget for the next year will amount to approximately EUR 16.979 billion, and the expenditure will make up approximately EUR 20.613 billion. In comparison to the 2023 budget, the revenue will grow by about EUR 1.43 billion (9.2 per cent) and expenditure will increase by about EUR 1.6 billion (8.5 per cent).

The balanced budget of the State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA) for 2024 has been approved by earmarking nearly 78 per cent of expenditure for social security pensions. Nearly EUR 519 million are planned for increasing pensions. The average old-age pension will grow by about EUR 66 and reach EUR 605. For individuals who have acquired the obligatory insurance record, the average old-age pension will increase by EUR 70 and amount to EUR 644.

The Seimas has resolved to increase the tax-exempt income threshold by 20 per cent to correspondingly EUR 122. Starting from next year, individuals earning up to one average wage will benefit from this adjustment, with the new threshold set at EUR 747, up from the previous EUR 625. This is expected to provide stronger incentives to work and reduce income inequality.

The Law on Approving the Indicators of the Budget of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for 2024 was adopted. It provides for additional EUR 400 million in funding for the health care system. As a result, increased emphasis will be placed on supporting general practitioners, nursing and mental health; sufficient funds will be available to pay for new health care services; and employees of health care institutions will receive higher salaries.

Next year’s financial legislation enables allocating approximately EUR 1.7 billion to increase individual income.

The Seimas has agreed to raise teachers’ salaries next year. The basic salary coefficients of teachers, educational assistance specialists, tutors, concertmasters, accompanists and other professionals offering support to learners will increase by 10 per cent as of 1 January 2024, and by yet another 10 per cent as of 1 September. The Law on Science and Studies stipulates that the rates of the basic salary coefficients of research workers will grow by 10 per cent as of 1 January 2024 and by additional 18.7 per cent as of 1 September 2024.

By the end of next year, the salaries of schoolteachers and university teachers should reach 130 per cent and 150 per cent of the average salary, respectively. In alignment with this commitment, the next year’s budget has earmarked an allocation of EUR 219 million for the rise in teachers’ pay.

The Seimas has adopted the revised Law on Remuneration of Employees of State and Municipal Agencies and Members of Commissions. The amended Law introduces a new remuneration procedure for employees of budget institutions starting from the beginning of next year. It encompasses broader minimum and maximum thresholds of coefficients along with additional incentives.

Amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office are aimed at improving social guarantees for prosecutors and regulating the increase in prosecutors’ salaries. As of 1 January 2024, the basic salary of prosecutors will grow to at least 75 per cent of the basic salary of a judge at the corresponding level. Subsequently, by 1 January 2025, the aim is to increase the basic salary of prosecutors to at least 90 per cent of the basic salary of a judge of an appropriate level.

The Statute of the Internal Service establishes measures to strengthen the motivation of officers and to attract as well as retain the personnel within the service, with a specific focus on the improvement of the remuneration system.

 

Social protection: support for the most vulnerable

Amendments to the Law on Sickness and Maternity Social Insurance have been adopted to entitle individuals to maternity and child care benefits in cases when owners of individual enterprises, members of small partnerships and true members of general partnerships, despite having the statutory insurance record, lose insurance coverage due to suspending their activities or attaining the status of a person in liquidation or bankruptcy.

The Seimas has decided to legalise child care compensation benefits and provide partial reimbursement for child care expenses incurred by parents or guardians of preschool-age children under the care of nannies, commencing in 2025.

Approval has been given to projects aimed at increasing accessibility and quality of social services, especially for people with disabilities and their relatives. In view of the growing need for social services, the Law on Social Services stipulates that the services of respite care and social care may also be provided by natural persons. The Law also regulates the status of a permanent carer and the procedure for paying for social services, including the formal recognition of the provision of certain social services free of charge.

The Seimas has tightened the eligibility criteria for receiving partial reimbursement for housing rental or housing leasing. Natural persons who rent dwellings owned by close relatives or close relatives of their family members, or dwelling owned by educational establishments or education and research institutions will not be eligible for support. Additionally, the amount of partial reimbursement for housing rental or housing leasing has been adjusted, with ceiling varying based on the number of family members.

In the recast Law on Volunteering, the Seimas has revised the legal regulation of volunteering, established forms of volunteering and good practices for organising voluntary activities, and defined the entities acting in the field of volunteering, namely, the hosting and coordinating organisations.

 

Economics

With a view to further promoting targeted and productive investment in Lithuania, particularly in the service sectors associated with the film industry, the amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax provide for the extension of fixed-term corporate income tax reliefs in respect of investment projects and film production for an additional period of five years until 31 December 2028.

From the beginning of next year, the amendments to the Law on Food will allow to extend the date of minimum durability of food labelled ‘Best before …’, thus enabling its sale for longer periods of time. The aim is to reduce food waste.

From 1 May 2026, the territory of Kaunas Free Economic Zone (FEZ) will be restored to 1,054 ha, i.e., its former size dating back to 1996. This is expected to improve the investment environment in Kaunas region, attract greater foreign and Lithuanian investment to Kaunas FEZ, and create new jobs.

The Seimas has adopted amendments to the Law on Energy from Renewable Sources to establish a larger share of energy production from renewables in 2030. Compared to gross final energy consumption, the share of energy production will increase from 50 to 70 per cent, and the share of electricity production from renewables will grow from 70 to 100 per cent. The amended Law offers new opportunities for prosumers.

The Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices of Retailers has been amended. From now on, retail chains will be prohibited from demanding suppliers to deliver a quantity of goods ordered by a retailer. This restriction applies where the supplier notifies the retailer within one working day from the date of receipt of the order that the quantity of goods ordered by the retailer is not possible to be delivered or that the quantity of goods ordered by the retailer is not possible to be delivered within the specified time limit.

 

Education

Pupils have received an opportunity to use interactive virtual learning aids free of charge, the list of which will have to be approved by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport. These changes are aimed at consolidating the latest educational technologies to make them an integral part of general education.

The Law on Education has been supplemented by eight general qualitative and quantitative criteria to be met by schools carrying out general education curricula. Centralized admission to all educational establishments, as stipulated in this Law, has been deferred by two years, specifically until 1 January 2026.

 

Health: greater accessibility to services

The amendments to the Law on the Health System are aimed at improving access to primary health care services and reducing the administrative burden on general practitioners. The amendments grant team members of a general practitioner, including nurses, extended care nurses and midwives, the authority to endorse referrals for specialised services covered from the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. They will also be empowered to assess health conditions and work capacity and issue certificates of incapacity for work. Accordingly, midwives will now be able to issue maternity leave certificates.

The Seimas has agreed to ban the placing on the market, as of 1 November 2024, of electronic cigarettes and refill containers with liquid where liquid contains sugar or sweeteners, as well as to ensure stricter restrictions on placing on the market of electronic cigarettes and refill containers with added fragrances and flavours other than tobacco flavour.

With a view to tightening liability for supply of smoking products (and electronic cigarettes and/or refill containers) (purchase, transfer or any other sale, sale in retail and catering establishments) to minors, the Seimas established significantly higher fines for these offences in the Code of Administrative Offences.

Drivers have been granted an extension until 1 January 2025 to undergo a medical check-up. The Seimas has postponed the entry into force of the provision that driving licences held by drivers who fail to undergo a medical check-up at prescribed intervals will be declared invalid.

The Law on the Establishment of Death of a Human Being, and on Critical Conditions stipulates that the fact of a person’s death may be established by paramedics or ambulance paramedics.

 

National defence

The Seimas has adopted amendments to the Law on the Organisation of the National Defence System and Military Service in order to improve the system of servicemen’s remuneration, the conditions of logistics support for training or qualification improvement, and application of social guarantees.

Regarding the participation of Lithuanian troops in international operations in 2024–2025, the Seimas has resolved to provide for the deployment of up to 358 Lithuanian soldiers and civilian servants of the national defence system.

 

Law

At its autumn session, the Seimas decided to apply to the Constitutional Court with an inquiry concerning the compatibility of some provisions of the Istanbul Convention with the Constitution.

For gross violation of the Constitution and breach of oath, the Seimas revoked the mandate of Petras Gražulis, former Member of the Seimas. Petras Gražulis will not be able to participate in the parliamentary elections for 10 years.

The Seimas has approved the appointment of Danutė Jočienė as a judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania and of Jurga Vasiliauskienė as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania.

The Law on the Bar has defined practical implementation measures of the right of third country lawyers to provide legal services in Lithuania under their legal professional title. For implementing the recommendations of the National Audit Office, the Law on Judicial Officers has been amended to improve the activities of judicial officers, regulate the charges and lay down the criteria for determining the number of judicial officers.

The Seimas has approved the proposal to provide a group of diaspora children with an opportunity to retain the Lithuanian citizenship. The adopted amendments to the Law on Citizenship allow more individuals born between 11 March 1990 and 22 July 2008 to apply for the retention of the Lithuanian citizenship even upon reaching adulthood, provided that they held citizenship before coming of age.

Taking into consideration the ruling of the Constitutional Court of 7 June 2023, the Seimas has revised the procedure for receiving asylum applicants.

The Law on Electronic Communications now stipulates that persons purchasing prepaid SIM cards will have to provide their personal data. Providers of public electronic communications networks and/or publicly available electronic communications services will be required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to detect, mark and stop deceptive text messages.

 

Self-government and elections

The Seimas has set the date for presidential elections on 12 May 2024 and for elections to the European Parliament to be held in Lithuania on 9 June 2024.

With a view to ensuring smoother organisation of elections, the Seimas has adopted amendments to the Electoral Code and specified restrictions on passive voting right, the procedure for submitting application documents to the Central Electoral Commission, as well as the cases of vote recounting.

Dr Jolita Miliuvienė has been appointed as the Seimas Ombudsperson for the investigation of activities of officials of municipal institutions and agencies.

The Seimas has fixed the boundaries of the seven municipalities, including Trakai District, Vilnius City and Vilnius District, thus creating legal preconditions for the implementation of the provisions of the Law on Land scheduled to come into force next year. Specifically, these provisions pertain to the transfer of state-owned land located in the territories of cities and towns to municipalities by the right of trust.

 

Transport

The new version of the Law on Compulsory Insurance Against Civil Liability in Respect of the Use of Motor Vehicles has enabled transposing the provisions of the European Directive into national law by introducing amendments on greater protection of interests of victims and on promoting technological change. Insurance is now mandatory for an expanded range of vehicles, including heavier and faster vehicles and larger electric scooters.

With a view to addressing parking shortage in resorts, the Seimas has approved that resort municipalities could use the funds of the Road Maintenance and Development Programme to set up parking lots and storage facilities for vehicles in resorts and resort territories.

 

Environmental protection

The Seimas has approved the amendments to the Law on Pollution Tax to achieve full recycling of all plastic packaging waste in Lithuania as of 1 January 2025. This will make the producer exempt from the pollution tax. If some packaging remains unprocessed, the tax will be payable by those who produce or use a lot of packaging for their own production yet fail to recycle.

The amendments to the Law on Welfare and Protection of Animals have prohibited the keeping, breeding, sale or any other transfer and killing of farmed fur animals for their fur. The ban will enter into force in 2027. A transitional period starting from 2024 will be introduced for fur farmers to receive compensation for the cessation of such activities.

Since the beginning of next year, officers of state control of environmental protection are granted the right to stop vehicles and check the compliance of emissions with technical requirements of motor vehicles and their trailers. These officials will also be able to carry out measurements of pollutants released into the environment and measurements of the affected environment.

The liability for environmental discharges has been tightened by more than doubling the respective fines. Legal persons will be subject to administrative liability in the event of environmental discharges of non-hazardous waste under 15 cubic metres and of hazardous waste under 7 cubic metres. Discharges exceeding these thresholds will give rise to criminal liability. Higher liability of natural persons will result from reducing the thresholds for waste discharges.

Protected areas in private plots have been provided by law. Contracts on protection will be signed for at least 30 years and plot owners will be paid compensations for activity restrictions.

The Seimas has approved amendments to the Law on Special Land Use Conditions, thus facilitating the co-ordination of interests of residents and economic entities in establishing sanitary protection zones (hereinafter: 'SPZ'). This move aims to ensure public health safety, eliminate restrictions on land use and economic activities when establishing SPZ, and reduce the number of economic activities that require the establishment of SPZ.

Approval has been given to legal amendments on creating a model for reservation of state-owned land parcels. The model is designed to ensure the supply of developed large state-owned land parcels (territories) for attracting new investment in production and facilitating further supply of state-owned land parcels.

The Law on Recreational Fishing sets higher charges for authorisations for recreational fishing and specifies the requirements for carrying out research on fish stocks.

 

Culture

The year 2029 will mark the anniversary of the Declaration of the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania of 16 February 1949. In this connection, the Seimas decided to approve the Programme for Research on, Communication of Research Findings on, and Commemoration of the Struggle for Freedom in the 20th Century Lithuania. The Programme is aimed at making the Declaration as well as Jonas Žemaitis codenamed Vytautas and other prominent defenders of Lithuania become part of our society’s modern identity and memory and fundamentally strengthen our civic awareness and patriotism.

The Seimas awarded the Freedom Prize 2023 to the European Parliament and Petras Plumpa, political prisoner and participant in the resistance movement.

Seeking to mark the 225th birth anniversary of the Samogitian Bishop Motiejus Kazimieras Valančius, the 100th anniversary of the Lithuanian Radio, and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group, the Seimas decided to declare 2026 the year of the Samogitian Bishop Motiejus Kazimieras Valančius, the Lithuanian Radio, and the Lithuanian Helsinki Group.

 

Continued support to Ukraine

At its autumn session, the Seimas took the initiative to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO. The Seimas has declared that it already welcomes the invitation of Ukraine to join the Alliance as a country meeting the criteria of NATO membership and does not impose any conditions of the day. Concurrently, the parliaments of the NATO member countries are urged to support Ukraine’s official application to join NATO and to encourage the governments of the NATO member countries to support the decision to invite Ukraine to join NATO at the NATO Summit in Washington on 9 July 2024 to be followed by the immediate opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s membership of the Alliance.

The Law on Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid stipulates that the funds received after the payment of fines for violations of international sanctions and other established administrative offences as well as funds resulting from the implementation of the sanction, specifically confiscation of property, imposed for the established violations will be allocated for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

 

Resolutions

The Seimas has strongly condemned the bloody unprovoked attacks carried out in the State of Israel by Hamas, an international terrorist group which is backed by Iran and which took over the Gaza Strip in 2005, and has expressed its sincere condolences to the Israeli people over the loss of life. The Resolution emphasises that the rise and activities of such terrorist organisations as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestine Islamic Jihad are driven and amplified by the cooperation with, and support provided by, such authoritarian regimes as Iran and Russia.

 

Commemorations and anniversaries

At its sitting, the Seimas commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto and called on the national institutions and bodies to intensify efforts in preserving the memory of Holocaust victims. This includes paying tribute to the participants of the anti-Nazi resistance within ghettos.

 

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 209 6132, e-mail: [email protected]

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 209 6203, e-mail: [email protected]