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Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, chair of the ERC, referring to the conservative faction in writing this week, referring to members of the conservative faction that his committee can already recommend to the Government to strictly follow the current legal regulation and delegate a delegation led by the First Minister representing Lithuania. However, on the eve of Wednesday’s meeting, the ERC chair is reluctant to speculate on whether the committee she chairs could decide that.
Meanwhile, Matas Maldeikis, a member of the conservative faction, one of the most active promoters of changing the current representation of the Lithuanian EVS, affirms that although the certificate prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not say anything new and rule out politicians, and there are some risks that a serious crisis could arise between the presidency and the rulers.
It says that the MFA certificate only confirms the need to change the representation procedure in the SVE
According to M. Maldeikis, the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs distributed to members of R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė’s conservative faction last week created more clarity and provided more arguments that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė should go to the nearest EVS.
“It basically doesn’t say anything new that we didn’t know before. Now we see everything on paper and we understand even more what we are talking about, ”M. Maldeikis told Eltai.
And one of the most important aspects, he said, is the assessment of the importance of the role of the European Affairs Committee of the Seimas in representing Lithuania in the EVS process.
“From this statement, we see the importance of the European Affairs Committee in this matter of the mandate. It has previously been argued that this (representation in EVT – ELTA) is the constitutional power of the President. However, this is not the case, the The decision is made in the Government, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the European Affairs Commission, as a commission that has a mandate from the Government ”, he said.
“In this case, the European Affairs Committee has a key role to play in deciding on the mandate and the trip to the European Council,” said a member of the TS-LKD group.
The explanations provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continued M. Maldeikis, also strengthened the intercession of his initiative to change the current practice of representation of Lithuania in the EVS within the conservative faction.
“I think the issue raised in the TS-LKD group will be better understood and supported, and the group already has a less articulated position,” Maldeikis said.
Expect the Presidency and the rulers to negotiate, but do not rule out the possibility of conflict
The politician hinted that the certificate presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could even allow to dispense with the law that is currently being drafted on the procedure of representation in the EVS. This law, M. Maldeikis has previously said, was intended to be introduced during the spring session of the Seimas. Now, explained a member of the conservative faction, there is a real basis for the Presidency and the ruler to sit down and discuss how Lithuania’s participation in EVS meetings will be further organized.
I hope that following this statement, both the European Affairs Committee will show leadership, both the presidential institution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will show leadership with the Government by sitting down and finding a solution. “This certificate is a good reason to sit down and look for common denominators,” he said.
The politician did not reject the opposite scenario either, should the Seimas committee, however, decide to recommend to the EVS a mandate made up of a delegation made up of members of the Government instead of the President.
“It just came to our attention then. There was no meeting of the European Affairs Committee after the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hear the opinions of other members of the commission, but this is one of the options that would see that this could happen. , since the ERC could react and adopt one way or another depending on the agenda, decision, “said M. Maldeikis.
On the other hand, the politician did not rule out the opposite possibility. If ERC recommended that government representatives come to the EVS to represent certain issues, and the president ignores this fact, Maldeikis said, there could be a serious crisis in the relations between the presidency and the rulers.
“Then we could talk about a certain crisis of power: the constitutional crisis. The ERC is clearly a constitutional committee, it is enshrined in the Constitution when it comes to European affairs, it does not speak like an ordinary committee, it speaks on behalf of the entire Seimas. It would not be not listening to the opinion of the committee, it would be a challenge for the entire parliament as an institution ”, said M. Maldeikis.
“So if that happened and the president did not take into account the will of the parliament, it would look very strange, it would seem like a usurpation of power by the president. On the other hand, it would seem to get into a strange conflict, ”said M. Maldeikis.
R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė: The ERC will consider the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Meanwhile, R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, the eldest of the conservative faction and chairman of the ERC, was unwilling to predict how the issue of EVS representation could continue to develop. According to the vice president of Seimas, the situation will be clarified after the next meeting of the European Affairs Commission chaired by her, where the certificate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be discussed.
According to the ERC president, the committee she chairs will likely consider the issue of EVS and the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was presented to members of the conservative group last week.
“At the next meeting after receipt of the certificate, if necessary, we will discuss this issue,” the curator told Eltai.
What will be the opinion of the committee members? R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė did not dare to consider, but in his opinion, the certificate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs probably allows to affirm that there is already a real legal basis for a delegation of members of the Government.
However, according to the conservative, the issue of the EVT raised in the Seimas Committee after receiving the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not mean that ways will be sought to remove President G. Nausėdas from representation in the EVT. According to her, these are only some of the issues discussed by the EVS, which could already be represented by the Prime Minister.
“The delegation could be based on a list of issues. We know that the responsibility of the president is foreign policy issues, and that is understandable. And when it comes to internal affairs, the Government is responsible. This is provided for both in the Statute of our Seimas as in other documents, ”said R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, emphasizing that discussions and engagement with the Presidency are very important in this matter.
The certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the letter were distributed to the TS-LKD faction
Last week, R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, the senior of the TS-LKD faction in the Seimas, informed his colleagues of the faction by letter about a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explaining what shapes Lithuania’s position in the European Council and who appoints the EVS delegation. This letter was received by the ELTA news agency.
The European Affairs Commission of the Seimas requested that the certificate be prepared “on the preparation, coordination, representation and accountability of Lithuania’s offices in the European Council”.
R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, when reporting on the content of the explanation received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the letter sent to the members of the conservative faction, pointed out that there are arguments to affirm that the head of government could represent the country in the EVS .
Referring to the interpretation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė pointed out to his colleagues that if the current legal regulation were strictly observed, the rulers already have all the powers to simply deny the president the right to represent Lithuania’s position in the European Council.
“From the information provided, it was clear that the composition of the delegation to each EVS is determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that is, an integral part of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Accordingly, the European Affairs Committee, as mandated by Lithuania’s position, for which the Government should be responsible, may recommend that the Government strictly follow the applicable legal regulation and represent Lithuania’s position to delegate a delegation headed by the Prime Minister.
The question of the representation of EVS is tense: the opinions of G. Nausėda and I. Šimonyt differ
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, while the Government has many unresolved issues regarding the crisis caused by COVID-19.
In response to this position of the president, the representatives of the conservatives did not hide their intention to present a law regulating the representation of Lithuania in the EVS in the spring session. The Delfi portal announced it in February. For his part, the president has said that if the Seimas adopts the amendments that regulate representation in the EVS, he would veto them.
One of the promoters of said bill, a member of the conservative faction M. Maldeikis, told Eltai this week that a law that, on the one hand, would put the president on the European agenda and, on the other hand, would allow the President. head of government to represent Lithuania in EVS, is preparing. At the same time, the politician noted that other ways to reach a compromise with the president are being explored.
