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The European Union’s cohesion policy has to be applied as a main tool for reducing economic disparity within the EU and for overcoming the economic crisis, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Egidijus Meilūnas said at the EU’s General Affairs Council meeting on 21 February in Brussels.However, according to Vice-Minister E.Meilūnas, this policy must be accompanied by making the most of the EU funds.

“The main criteria for the EU cohesion policy should be the level of regions’ development and Gross Domestic Product per capita,” the Vice-Minister said.

The implementation and the future of the EU cohesion policy were brought up by the EU’s General Affairs Council at the initiative of the Hungarian EU Presidency. Foreign ministers of the EU member states discussed ways to ensure that this policy would be in line with Europe 2020 strategy goals for increasing competitiveness and emphasized the importance of the simplification of procedures.

The EU cohesion policy aims at joining efforts to enhance the competitive environment within the EU and, especially, in its less developed regions. Lithuania has been allotted 6.8 billion EUR from the EU Cohesion Fund for 2007-2013. This allocation is used for the improvement in the transport infrastructure and accessibility, scientific research development, business support, development and enhancement of information and communication technology infrastructure and services, cleaning up the environment, promotion of sustainable growth and tackling climate change.

The EU General Affairs Council also discussed preparation for the meeting of the European Council on 24-25 March, which will focus on economic policy issues.

The European Council meeting is intended to agree on priority means for overcoming the effects of the economic crisis, and, first of all, on balancing national budgets and broader economic co-ordination between the EU member states.

Lithuania is interested in ensuring macroeconomic stability both in the euro zone and in the entire EU. It is important that the new initiatives to solve persistent problems of competitiveness in European countries would be appropriately discussed by all the EU member states.