Barroso: Lithuania will hold EU presidency during special democratic phase

VILNIUS/BRUSSELS - Lithuania will be presiding the Council of the European Union during a complicated economic period and a special democratic phase, says President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, reports LETA/ELTA.

“Lithuania will begin leading the Council in the second half of this year, that is, the last 6 months before 2014, when the election to the European Parliament is planned. It will be a period of a hard work in the Council of the EU and the EP because the end of the current parliamentary cycle is approaching. Therefore, we must conclude the essential law-making process that have already been launched,” Barroso said in a joint news conference with Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius in Brussels today.

According to Barroso, all EU institutions will have to work responsibly to implement the agreement on the economic growth and job promotion, also to complete the internal energy market and the banking union.