The President and the Commissioner discussed the European Commission’s strategic agenda focused on combating climate change and the European Union’s new Green Deal strategy.
The President emphasized that the target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 adopted by the European Council required a clear, effective and socially responsible implementation plan based on a fair and honest sharing of burden. According to the President, it is necessary for the European institutions and the Member States to take a responsible look not only at the EU’s environmental ambitions, but also at the financial and social challenges as well as possible structural changes involved in implementation.
At the meeting, the President stressed the importance of ensuring the competitiveness of EU industry in respect of the third countries in the transition to the climate-neutral economy. “It is essential that the third countries also comply with the highest international environmental and safety standards. In this context, we need to talk about the introduction of an adequate tax policy and a mechanism to restrict imports from the third countries that go beyond electricity. We expect specific proposals from the European Commission”, the President said.
The President invited Commissioner Sinkevičius to actively engage in the Green Lithuania Initiative, launched by the President, aimed at drafting the National Climate Change Agreement next year.
The course of the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework was also discussed. The President noted that in the proposal made by the EU Presidency, funding for cohesion policy to Lithuania is down by 27 percent. “This threatens both regional development and the achievement of climate change objectives. There is also no justification for such a significant gap among direct payments to EU farmers”, the President said.
As to the effectiveness of innovation policy, the President said that Lithuania’s performance in this area was unsatisfactory. According to the President, to see structural changes in our economy, we need to pay more attention to design and implementation of innovation policy.
