News

On 13 October in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission concluded an agreement regarding the projects of public awareness on the European Union issues. Having signed the Management Partnership Delegation Agreement, Chancellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Jankauskas stressed that this agreement would assist in promoting public discussions about the importance of Lithuania’s EU membership, the possibilities it opened up, and would encourage to benefit from the European experience when looking for the best solutions.

“It is also important that the public awareness projects which will be implemented in accordance with this agreement will allow Lithuanians to get better acquainted with other EU member states and their citizens,” K.Jankauskas said.

According to the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Lithuania Kęstutis Sadauskas, the new agreement allows to better accommodate individual needs of the EU member states in informing the society and respond to the needs of everyday life in the member states. In his opinion, this partnership will not only provide practical knowledge, but will also add self-confidence and understanding that all 27 EU member states are united by collective achievements and challenges.

In accordance with the Management Partnership Delegation Agreement, the projects of informing the society will be implemented in Lithuania. The projects will be discussed and agreed jointly by the Government of Lithuania, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The projects will be implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has the task of coordinating the EU affairs of the Government of Lithuania, including also the communication on the EU issues, as of the autumn this year.

The agreement will be in effect for four years. Every year the European Commission will provide funding in accordance with this agreement. The European Commission plans to allocate 150 thousand euros (almost 520 thousand Litas) for launching the public awareness projects in 2009.

Since 2006, fifteen EU member states have signed the Management Partnership Delegation Agreements:  Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.