News

Thursday, November 22, Vilnius - President Dalia Grybauskaitė travelled to Brussels to attend a special meeting of the European Council which is to decide how to allocate the EU's seven-year budget for the period 2014 - 2020.

Prior to the European Council meeting, Dalia Grybauskaitė will meet with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. She will present to the EU top officials information on the situation in Lithuania and key areas that inevitably need EU support.

According to the President, it is particularly important for each country to present its reasoned negotiating position ahead of negotiations. This will help assess faster the country -specific situation and efforts, to coordinate the interests of all 27 member states, and to approve on time the EU's multiannual financial framework under which the countries will live in the next seven years.

The EU financial support comprises around one-quarter of our national budget and is very important to Lithuania's economy. In these negotiations three positions in terms of financing are core to Lithuania - structural funds, agriculture and decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant. The most important task, the President noted, is to strive that the overall level of support is in the best interest of our country.

According to the President, the EU Cohesion Policy aims at reducing the gap between rich and less developed EU regions. Therefore, in allocating the EU budget account should be taken of the impact of economic crisis, a country's efforts in managing finances and its capacity to assimilate the EU support.

The Baltic Countries were mostly affected by the economic crisis, yet they became a model for the entire European Union of strict financial discipline and responsible dealing with finances.

Before the European Council, the President will also discuss negotiating positions and common regional interests with the heads of state or government of the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB6).

Press Service of the President