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1 photoIngrida Šimonytė. Photo of Elta
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who trained as an economist at the time, says that the change in the current practice of representation is due to the fact that it is the Government that could represent the country more effectively on some issues. In addition, he notes, the Seimas European Affairs Committee (ECC) could assess who would best represent its position at European Council (EC) meetings.
“There are certain agendas where one or the other issue dominates, and otherwise the European Affairs Committee can assess who can represent the position approved by the committee at a particular meeting,” I. Šimonytė told reporters.
Conservatives cited the fact that the current legal system already allows the prime minister to travel to EVS meetings after the Seimas European Affairs Committee received a certificate drawn up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She believes that conservatives suggest that the ERC may recommend sending a delegation of government members, rather than a presidential one, to the EVS.
At the same time, the Prime Minister emphasizes that the inclusion of the Head of Government in the practice of representation is also compelled by the nature of the issues discussed during the EVS.
“There are issues that are completely related to the work of the Government,” emphasized I. Šimonytė.
According to the conservative G. Landsbergis at the time, the current tradition of representing Lithuanian EVS was based on common law rather than laws. Therefore, regardless of the personal interests of the president or prime minister, current practice, Landsbergis emphasized, must be changed.
“As a state, we should not have a representation based on customary law, but a legal system,” he told reporters at Seimas.
“There is a legislature and it has to explain how those laws should work,” Landsberg added.
“A loophole was left after President Dalia Grybauskaitė. No president, even if he had the right, took the law to amend it. It is not defined how to lead (to EVT – ELTA) and so on. We have the only government resolution of 12 years old, the only legislation that says how things work, how the Prime Minister works. However, as the president says, it is not written what a mandate is, what commands or does not command, what a mandate means, if the Seimas it can force the president to say something or not ”, considered G. Landsbergis.
“Everything is fine as long as everything works fine,” he added.
The presidency reiterated on Thursday its opposition to initiatives to change the way EVS is represented. According to Asta Skaisgirytė, the country’s senior adviser, it is only to regret that the ruling conservative faction is raising this issue with such intensity during the never-ending pandemic.
The theme of the representation of the EVS is a source of tension
In recent months, the issue raised by most conservatives that the current practice should be abandoned, when Lithuania is represented in the EVS only by the head of the country, has caused considerable friction with G. Nausėda. Representatives of the governing authorities have repeatedly expressed the view that it would be much more effective if Lithuania’s positions in the EVS were represented by the Head of Government. According to them, the change in practice during Dalia Grybauskaitė is due to the fact that a large part of the EVS agenda consists of COVID-19 governance issues and internal policy powers, which are naturally the prerogatives of the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister I. Šimonytė has said that depending on the content of the meetings, the Head of Government and the President of Lithuania could represent EVS alternately. However, G. Nausėda has repeatedly stated that he does not see the need to change current practice. According to the President, it is intolerable and unacceptable to ask whether it should continue to represent Lithuania in EVS, when at that time the Government has many outstanding issues regarding the crisis caused by COVID-19.
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