News

At an informal discussion on 14-15 October in Rome, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Rolandas Kriščiūnas and his counterparts from other member states of the European Union discussed the external trade policy of the EU, focusing on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the European Union and the United States.

On the eve of the Foreign Affairs Council, the Trade Ministers had an opportunity to discuss the negotiation process with the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.

“At the outset of the TTIP negotiations, the EU and the United States undertook a commitment to strive for an ambitious and comprehensive agreement to address issues of mutual interest. One of Lithuania’s key interests in the negotiations is a strong chapter on energy in TTIP, lifting the U.S. restrictions on gas and crude oil exports to EU countries. This would significantly contribute towards strengthening of the EU’s energy security,” stressed R.Kriščiūnas. During the discussions, Lithuania also emphasized the importance of a strategic transatlantic partnership and the need to continue to strive to achieve progress in the negotiations.

Ministers discussed trade relations with Ukraine and Russia. Vice-Minister Kriščiūnas noted that postponing until 1 January 2016 the EU-Ukraine Association agreement, which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), could slow down the economic reform in Ukraine. “Now it is essential to ensure that provisions of the EU-Ukraine bilateral agreement would not be changed and to adequately prepare for the implementation of this agreement,” said the Vice-Minister.

When discussing further relations with Russia, the Vice-Minister stressed that the Russian trade-restrictive measures were inconsistent with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

“Relations with Russia must be based on the implementation of existing international commitments, because every attempt to deepen the relationship, for example, to negotiate a new agreement, has failed so far,” said R.Kriščiūnas. “Russia has taken a number of protectionist measures that are inconsistent with WTO rules, so respective WTO instruments helping to minimize the risks of protectionism must be applied, including the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.”

The Trade Ministers also discussed the reform of trade defence instruments and the WTO Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.