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On 18 March in Brussels, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Vytautas Leškevičius took part in the European Affairs Ministers’ meeting and discussed preparations for the European Council on 20-21 March, which will focus on the situation in Ukraine, climate change and energy.

“Due to actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea, the situation in Ukraine remains complex and continues to deteriorate. Therefore, the EU’s response must be robust and proportionate. We iterate our strong support for Ukraine and welcome the decision to sign a political part of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine at the European Council. It is also important to ensure that the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) should remain an integral part of the overall agreement,” V.Leškevičius said.

According to the Vice-Minister, permanent attention of EU leaders to energy issues is necessary in order to achieve essential EU objectives: the completion of the EU internal energy market and the abolition of energy isolation.  

“To that end it is necessary to accelerate the development of the missing energy infrastructure, to connect the EU Member States with European networks and to ensure priority funding required to achieve the objectives. And, last but not least, the EU has to continue to make efforts of diversification in energy sources and supplies. This would reduce its energy dependence, particularly in the gas sector,” V.Leškevičius noted.

In preparation for a political debate on the EU’s climate and energy strategy for the period of 2020-2030, the Lithuanian Foreign Vice-Minister pointed out that the discussion must be backed-up with as precise as possible analysis. Therefore, Lithuania aims to have a case-by-case assessment of an impact on Member States of the implementation of climate and energy objectives carried out by the European Commission.

“We must strive for balanced approach and consider a fair system of burden-sharing between Member States, bearing in mind principles on flexibility and enabling each Member State to use the most effective means for achieve its goals,” V.Leškevičius said.

The agenda of the European Council in March includes also other important issues: measures to promote growth of economy and to improve competitiveness in the EU, job creation, as well as preparations for the EU-Africa Summit on April 2-3 days.

At the General Affairs Council meeting, the European Commission also presented its Communication on safeguarding the rule of law. The Greek Presidency of the EU Council presented a summary report on economic policy coordination in the EU in 2014.