CEPI - European Association of Real Estate Professions

On 1 July Lithuania will take over the rotating EU presidency for the first time since it became a member of the EU. It will take over the six month presidency from Ireland with a large workload and will be the last full presidency before the elections in May 2014 for the European Parliament. The legislative agenda of the European Council includes implementation aspects for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020, energy issues, data protection regulation and agricultural reform. CEPI welcomes the incoming Lithuanian presidency and hopes that it will be successful and productive.

The Lithuanian presidency will focus on the three goals of a credible, growing and open Europe:

- Credible Europe: The Presidency’s efforts will be directed at further developing the Banking Union Framework, and making progress on other legislative proposals in the field of financial market reforms.

- Growing Europe: The Presidency will focus on further deepening and integrating the Single Market. It will work to complete the initiatives of the Single Market Act I and seek to advance those in Single Market Act II and seek to facilitate Single Market Governance.

- Open Europe: The Presidency will focus on the closer integration of the EU and its Eastern partners in the Eastern Partnership pursue the continuation of the enlargement process and promote free trade with strategic partners such as the USA.

Energy will also be an important issue with the implementation of the third energy package. The incoming presidency will also coincide with the formal accession of Croatia to the EU on 1 July bringing the EU to a total of 28 Member States.

More information about the Lithuanian Presidency is available at http://www.eu2013.lt/en/ .