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The mobility package was opposed by a total of nine peripheral EU countries, but was approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday. This package was approved with commitments agreed in December.
“It must be said that the interests of the large states have been exceeded and the peripheral states are in unequal competition,” said the head of state at the annual press conference.
Updated rules on driver shipments, their rest periods and market access aim to improve drivers’ working conditions and prevent unfair competition in road freight transport in the EU, according to a Parliament report European.
The most controversial issue is the obligation in the Mobility Package for tugs to return to their country of establishment every eight weeks.
Western Europeans say the mandatory return of tugs will help combat fake carrier registration, where companies settle somewhere and operate elsewhere to cut costs.
Lithuanian carriers and the government say Western Europeans are trying to drive competitors out of the market, and the mandatory return of trucks will increase road pollution and thus hamper the fight against climate change.
G.Nausėda said that the eight-week deadline for the tugs to return, although longer than previously planned, is still unacceptable in two respects.
“It just came to our attention then. Second. This is an act of polluting nature and is in no way incompatible with initiatives to green the economy,” said the president.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has said that Lithuania intends to appeal the new rules to carriers before the Court of Justice of the EU.
G.Nausėda stated that he supported that idea, and other Eastern European countries could also join the lawsuit.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Gitanas Nausėda
“I think Lithuania, like other countries in Eastern Europe, … has the right to defend its interests to the fullest,” said the president.
Astravo negotiations
In the negotiations between Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on the methodology of electricity trade with third countries, G. Nausėda asked for patience.
“Negotiations are a process that does not end with a will or a proposal,” said the president.
In the negotiations, Lithuania is looking for a commercial methodology that allows the implementation of a law that prohibits commercial electricity from the Astrava nuclear power plant from entering the country’s market.
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Energy do not agree on what methodology is needed to achieve this. The headaches in Lithuania are caused by Latvia’s refusal to commit not to buy electricity from Astrava.
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Astravo Nuclear Power Plant
“We have given obligations to the negotiating Minister of Economy, Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, who are directed to the fact that the position of Lithuania must be stronger and that the consensus of the Baltic States must be reached on the aforementioned issue,” said G. Nausėda .
According to the President, it is necessary to reach an agreement with Latvia and Estonia so as not to jeopardize the process of synchronizing the Baltic electricity networks with Western Europe.
Belarus promises that the Astrava nuclear power plant will be commissioned in August. Thereafter, Lithuania should stop trading Belarusian electricity.
Tax promises
After Seimas rejected some of Nausėda’s tax proposals last year, the President promises to present them again.
Those proposals included abolishing tax incentives for farmers or harmonizing personal income tax for self-employed and self-employed workers.
“I think we will go back to them and 15 minutes) We will consider it, ”said the president.
Luke April / 15min photo / Money
He also promised to make proposals for next year’s state budget. According to the head of the country, there will be proposals both in the field of spending planning to achieve the aspirations of the welfare state and in the field of taxes.
“It is impossible to achieve tangible results if you have holes in the tax system and if you do not cultivate more ambitious goals in the field of tax collection,” said G. Nausėda.
According to him, if there are signs of economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic in the second half of this year, budgetary expenditures for 2021 should be planned based on income. This means that, according to G. Nausėda, the state should no longer use Sodra’s reserves, the Mandatory Health Insurance Fund (PSDF), and therefore should not borrow more money.
New veto
G.Nausėda also announced that on Thursday he would veto a law passed by the Seimas that would increase the number of public officials on the boards of state and municipal companies.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Saulius Skvernelis and Rimantas Sinkevičius
According to the president, the expected date of entry into force of the law on November 1 indicates “an overly direct link with the elections,” since the boards would be replaced “until the end of the mandate.”
According to G.Nausėda, this would mean politicizing company boards.
Governors seek greater influence from employees on the boards of state and municipal companies because, they say, companies now sometimes run without regard to the interests of the state.
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