According to the conclusions adopted by the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, the disbursement of funds for youth unemployment programs will not be done at the expense of energy policy goals.
"This will be done without negative effect on the goals set by European Council in May 2013 as regards energy policy," the document reads.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said that the decision is important for Lithuania, which is seeking EU funding for electricity and gas interconnections with other EU countries.
"The redistribution of money will not affect energy projects. Energy projects will remain priority projects and will be financed," she told reports after the meeting.
The president noted that final approval for EU funding for energy project should be given this autumn, during the Lithuanian presidency over the EU council.
EU leaders on Thursday agreed to make 6 billion euros earmarked for combating youth unemployment available in the first two years of the 2014-2020 financial framework, instead of being spread over the entire seven-year period.
The provision in the final statement of the summit should ensure that sufficient EU funding is available for energy link projects in 2014 to 2015, Arūnas Vinčiūnas, Lithuania's deputy permanent representative to the EU, told BNS.
It is planned that part of the money for the Youth Guarantee scheme will be taken from funds earmarked for energy projects, to be reimbursed in later years of the EU budget period.
Projects for building electricity links between Lithuania and Poland and between Lithuania and Sweden are currently being implemented. Lithuania and Poland are also seeking EU funding for a gas interconnection project.
