2013The Lithuanian EU Presidency - First Day Cover

The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making body of the European Union. Every half year a different Member State of the European Union takes presidency over this institution. Lithuania is included into the Presidency Trio for the year 2012-2013. On 1 July 2013 Lithuania is going to take over the presidency over the European Union from Ireland and hand over it to Greece on 1 January 2014. The priorities of the Lithuanian presidency over the European Union include coordination and strengthening of the EU’s financial stability, energy security, East partnership, strengthening of the EU’s external borders and effective EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy realization. The presidency over the EU Council is not only the work which requires responsibility and accurate preparation but also an opportunity to make faster progress in the spheres which are important to Lithuania, to present our country and to strengthen its influence in the international arena. After the evaluation of the works performed and the results achieved during Lithuania’s presidency over the Council of the European Union, other member states and partners will see the reliability and maturity of our country.