50^th jubilee meeting of the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union – COSAC, which is being held within the parliamentary part of the presiding over the European Union, on 28 and 29 October 2013, started today in Vilnius.

The meeting was opened by Ms Loreta Graužinienė, the Speaker of the Parliament of Lithuania and Mr Algirdas Butkevičius, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, who looked back at the activities of the presidency, within which it had been planned to hold more than 200 gatherings. The priorities of the presidency were highlighted, within which a special place was held for the issues regarding citizens’ trust in the institutions, youth employment policy and adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework. The significance of organising the first meeting of the COSAC Women’s Forum was pointed out, which will be held at the margins of the two-day meeting.  

The meeting was continued with the sessions moderated by the former President of the European Parliament Mr Pat Cox, which were focused on discussion regarding the elections for the European Parliament, which would be held in May 2014, as well as joint diplomatic activities relating to the bilateral communication of the European Parliament with Ukraine. It was pointed out that the public opinion polls indicated the trend of decline in citizens’ trust in the belief that the European Union institutions could deal with the crisis (50%), or the increase of determination of the citizens that the countries were the ones that had to face their challenges individually (41%). The MPs held a common view that the possible low turnout of voters in the upcoming elections would affect the legitimacy of the European Parliament as an institution, but also the future decisions of the Union as a whole.

Within the discussion on the implementation of the Strategy Europe 2020, the Chairperson of the Committee on European Integration Mr Slaven Radunović said that, in order to ensure sustainable development and secure future, it was necessary to look for solutions that go beyond the short-term measures. He pointed out that the Strategy represented significant potential both for the candidate countries and potential candidate countries from the point of implementation of reforms in those countries. If we were to deeper analyse the goals formulated by the Strategy, we would realise that it was simultaneously defining the priorities of development of Montenegro and other countries in the Western Balkans, such as macro-economic stability, development of infrastructure, adequate education, investment in conserving the environment, technologic independence, combating corruption and organised crime, and effective judiciary, because these were the same pre-requisites as those that were set for the membership, said Mr Radunović.

During the meeting, the participants pointed out the significance of investment in research and development, significance of strengthening the east partnership of the Union, especially with Russia and Turkey, but also the issue of immigrants from the aspect of social and humanitarian standpoint. It was also pointed out that, due to the case of wiretapping of the European state officials, the negotiation on the Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America had been threatened.

The activities will continue tomorrow, when the conclusions from the 50^th COSAC meeting will also be adopted.