Energy, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania

The Ministers discussed the preparation of the European Council meeting to be held on 26 and 27 June. Among other main topics, the meeting will focus on energy issues in a bid to reduce European dependency and the discussion on Europe's energy security.

"In the context of aggression against Ukraine, finding a solution to energy security issues is becoming a major challenge facing the EU today. We look forward to Commission's ambitious proposals on reducing EU energy dependence, better solutions to the energy security challenges and hope that we will be able to take decisions in June," Leskevicius said.

On 20-21 March, the European Council called on the Commission to conduct an in-depth study of EU energy security and to present by June 2014 a comprehensive plan for the reduction of EU energy dependence. On the basis of the study and the plan, Europe's leaders will continue their discussions on energy security issues on 26 and 27 June.

The European Council meeting in June will also discuss new strategic guidelines for the area of freedom, security and justice, the implementation of the 2014 European Semester and next steps to improve quality of regulation at national and EU level. The meeting will also review progress towards a consensus on a policy framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030.