News

On 8 December, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Albinas Zananavičius took part in a video conference of European Affairs Ministers, who examined draft conclusions for the upcoming European Council meeting to be held on 10 and 11 December 2020. Ministers discussed the issue of climate change, the overall coordination effort that had been delivered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening security, the Southern Neighbourhood, the EU-U.S. relations, the situation in Belarus, and the EU-UK relationship.

When speaking about the issue of climate change, the Foreign Vice-Minister Zananavičius said: “Lithuania welcomes a new ambition to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The EU should provide guidelines on the conditions to be met to help accomplish this goal. The burden must be shared fairly. The characteristics of each country also need to be taken into account, while ensuring a level playing field between EU producers and third countries' producers."

Lithuania's Foreign Vice-Minister also drew attention to the threat posed by the Ostrovets nuclear power plant (NPP): “EU leaders have already urged Belarus, just like other third countries, to adhere to the highest environmental and safety standards. However, Belarus has ignored these calls. The EU must immediately take new effective measures to prevent import of electricity from unsafe NPPs to the EU,” said Zananavičius.

Ministers took stock of the state of play of the EU-UK relations. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier informed Ministers about the latest developments in the context of the intensified negotiations on the future EU-UK relations.

The European Commission also informed Ministers about the European democracy action plan. In addition, the Presidency reported on the EU's legislative priorities for 2021, as we well as the policy objectives and priorities for 2020-2024.