"The situation is not as dramatic and hot as it seemed in December, but we will not be able to think it is time to relax and ignore the main rules of fiscal discipline, which we had to learn during the past four years, before the election, therefore, one of the important tasks for the session is to at least star the discussions without delay on how we will ratify the new European treaty of fiscal and financial discipline," Kubilius said at the opening of the parliament's new spring session on Saturday.
In his words, "the legacy of this Seimas for future parliaments should be very clear in the long perspective – the new fiscal discipline treaty, which should not cause any problems in our thinking of decisions, we have been living by the principles for a few years now."
Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė and leaders of another 24 countries signed the new Fiscal Compact for Europe in early March. According to the treaty, annual structural budget deficit should remain under 0.5 percent of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP), with the provision to be transferred to the national law. The document is aimed at curbing debts of member-states, which has led to the current crisis of the euro zone.
The document is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2013, after ratification in 12 countries of the euro zone. Countries outside the euro zone who signed the treaty will have to decide on whether they want to apply some of the provisions prior to adoption of the euro. Their decision is expected at the time of ratification. Great Britain and the Czech Republic have not joined the document for now.
Lithuania is currently discussing whether the treaty would require changing the Constitution, and the country will probably assume only some of the commitments prescribed in the new treaty until its accession to the euro zone.
