The Baltic Course with reference to the news agency ELTA and the daily 'Lietuvos žinios' writes that Russia informed that from September of this year the temporary restrictions for import of chilled beef from Lithuania were cancelled.

On 4th October the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER I) authorized the Lithuanian Presidency to start discussions with the European Parliament and the Commission with a view to reaching an agreement in first reading regarding the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts and the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities. COREPER I confirmed the negotiating mandate for the position to be taken by the Presidency at the forthcoming informal trilogue scheduled to take later this month.

On 3–4 October, the informal meeting of the EU Trade Policy Committee's members took place in Vilnius. The meeting's goal was to discuss the main points of the EU's Trade Policy Agenda and prepare for the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, dedicated to trade, which will commence on 18 October in Luxembourg.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition, Joaquín Almunia.

Budgets Committee MEPs voted on Wednesday in favour of cutting the Parliament's administrative budget by almost €10 million compared to the Commission's June draft budget. The outcome is a real-terms reduction in the EP budget.

On 21 September new Lithuanian airline Air Lituanica launched the new route from Vilnius to Munich. Munich and Vilnius by the air transport was connected three years ago, so the flight resume is very important for both countries cooperation.

Statistics Lithuania informs that, based on provisional data, in August 2013, the turnover (VAT excluded) of enterprises engaged in retail trade* amounted to LTL 2608.8 million; against July, it increased by 0.7% at constant prices (seasonally adjusted, it increased by 0.5%).

Attracting new participants, strengthening support for small firms and better controlling EU spending are the key aims achieved by Industry and Research Committee MEPs on Thursday when they approved the research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 and the SMEs programme COSME.

In September the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased by 1.6 points in the euro area (to 96.9) and 2.4 points in the EU (to 100.6). The sharp increase in the EU brought the indicator above its long-term average for the first time since July 2011.

Statistics Lithuania informs that construction input prices in August 2013, against July, increased by 0.6%. Over the year, construction input prices increased by 4.5%.