2012 06 25

Lithuanian Parliament expected to ratify European Fiscal Compact this week

Lithuanian parliamentarians should ratify the European Union's (EU) Fiscal Compound before the end of this session, European Affairs Committee Chairman Česlovas Stankevičius has said.
Česlovas Stankevičius
Česlovas Stankevičius / Šarūno Mažeikos/BFL nuotr.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has described the ratification as one of the key tasks of this parliamentary session, which is due to close on Saturday.

"Yes, I hope that the ratification will be completed. We have already had the discussion at the committee and I am summoning the panel for the ballot tomorrow morning, because there was no quorum on Friday and we could not pass the decision," Stankevicius told BNS on Monday.

After the committee voting, the document should be discussed at Seimas plenary on Thursday.

"I hope that the parliament will pass the ratification law together with the committee-proposed draft resolution, which stipulates that the government should submit a draft constitutional act by Sept. 10. This gives enough time after the ratification to consider the legal acts, which will be necessary before the accession to the euro zone. If it is necessary, we will be able to appeal to the Constitutional Court over the drafts," he added.

Kubilius said he did not hear any major doubts in connection to ratification of the document.

"I know it is part of the agenda for Thursday. I hope that the committees will discuss it by then. It is one of the most important tasks of this session and I do not hear any major doubts among the main political parties when it comes to ratification of this important document," the prime minister told journalists on Monday.

The parliament plans to close the spring session on Saturday.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė proposed the EU treaty on fiscal discipline for parliamentary ratification in early June.

The European Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (TSCG) was signed by leaders of 25 EU nations in March. It has already been ratified in Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Romania, Latvia and Denmark. Ireland backed the document in a referendum.

Drafted in response to the debt crisis in the euro zone, the agreement stipulates a requirement to envisage provisions on budget  discipline  in national legal systems, preferably in the Constitution.

Lithuania's Foreign Ministry has proposed that the balanced budget rule should be stipulated in the Constitution or a Constitutional act.

The Czech Republic and Great Britain did not join the agreement.

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