Vilnius is taking part in a contest to become European Youth Capital. It is an annual contest organized by the European Youth Forum at the end of which one city is awarded the title of European Youth Capital for the duration of one year.

During the Fisheries Council on October 17 in Luxembourg Ministers will seek to reach political agreement on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2014. This is an annual exercise to fix for the subsequent year the limits of fish resources to be caught by EU fishermen from the main commercial fish stocks in the Baltic Sea (total allowable catches (TACs)) and set the fishing effort limits (numbers of days at sea for EU vessels fishing for cod).

Travel and Tourism is today one of the worlds' biggest generators of employment and export earnings, and a key driver for economic growth and development. Travel and Tourism generates one in twelve jobs worldwide and accounts for 30% of the global exports of services. Through its direct, indirect and induced impacts, Travel and Tourism contributes 9% of global GDP. This makes Travel and Tourism a vital contributor to the global development agenda, affording it a unique role in building strong, sustainable and balanced global growth.

Bicycle Cyclocity self-service system season will close on October 15, 2013. The system was operational since mid July. These bicycles will return to Vilnius' streets next April.

EU member states will be better equipped to prevent, detect and combat irregular migration, but also to save migrants' lives, thanks to the "Eurosur" border surveillance system, whose operating rules were approved by Parliament on Thursday. Eurosur will enable member states to share real-time images and data on developments at the EU's external borders.

Polet Airlines is planning to launch direct flights from Vilnius International Airport (VIA) to Saint Petersburg on 4 November this year. The flights to the second largest city of Russia by aircraft SAAB 2000 with 50 passenger seats will be operated twice a week – on Mondays and Fridays.

The first Environment Council meeting under the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU will take place in Luxemburg on Monday, 14th October. The meeting will be chaired by the Lithuanian Minister for the Environment, Mr Valentinas Mazuronis. The Commission will be represented by Commissioners Janez Potočnik and Connie Hedegaard.

In Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the visiting Danish Crown Prince Frederic and Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas went for a guided tour on bicycles, the means of transport already hugely popular in Denmark and now multiplying in Lithuania. While Copenhagen, the residence of the Crown Prince, holds 400 kilometres of bicycle paths, and the joke says that the Danish capital has more bicycles than inhabitants, Vilnius at the moment has over 5.000 unique cyclers (Prince Frederic as one of them), and the number of journeys reaching almost 105 thousand.

EU strategies on how to increase safety and efficiency of air traffic management, improve air traffic control and safety, and better protect air passenger interests were discussed today, October 10, in Luxembourg at the Meeting of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council.

In a session marked by the tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa, Parliament held a minute of silence for the victims and then debated with the Commission how to improve how refugees are received in the EU. Political extremism was strongly condemned and new rules were approved for shale gas extraction, flight crew working time and the recognition of professional qualifications. This year's Sakharov Prize is awarded to Malala Yousafzai for her fight for girls' education in the face of the Taliban.