Project “Enhancing Efficiency of Lithuania’s EU Affairs System” (LESSED)

On 29 January 2010, Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the European Law Department launched a project “Enhancing Efficiency of Lithuania’s EU Affairs System” (LESSED). The aim of the project is to enhance efficiency of Lithuania’s EU affairs system at the institutional and inter-institutional level. It is expected that the project will contribute to smoother functioning of the EU affairs system as well as ensuring of quality and consistency of Lithuania’s EU policy. The project has been funded by the European Social Fund. Duration of the project is 38 months.

Objectives

♦ To ensure smoother functioning of the EU affairs system;
♦ to ensure more efficient representation of Lithuania’s interests in the EU and higher quality of transposition and implementation of the EU acquis;
♦ to enhance administrative capacities of civil servants and to provide conditions for enhancing performance efficiency of public administration institutions.

Activities

♦ Studies on strategic matters of the EU policy and the EU agenda;
♦ organising and participating in events on various EU subjects;
♦ skills development in the field of EU affairs;
♦ enhancing EU affairs communication system;
♦ developing information system of Lithuania’s membership in the EU (LINESIS);
♦ active promotion of best practices: Lithuania’s participation in the EU Twinning programme;
♦ promotion of case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and strengthening of state institutional capacities in the field of the Court case-law implementation;
♦ enhancing efficiency of the EU law development and implementation system in the Republic of Lithuania;
♦ ensuring efficient representation of Lithuania in the EU institutions in the run-up to Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Outcomes

♦ To contribute in shaping Lithuania’s priority objectives related to the EU, to achieve greater substance of Lithuania’s EU policy and interests (33 studies are planned to be carried out on strategic matters of the EU policy and various topics of the EU agenda);
♦ to strengthen inter-institutional cooperation (5 international conferences, 10 round-table discussions, and 5 external events on various EU topics are planned to be organised);
♦ to enhance capacities of civil servants employed at the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Law Department;
♦ to streamline and to develop the information system of Lithuania’s membership in the EU (LINESIS);
♦ to strengthen the EU affairs communication system: to provide better opportunities for the provision of information to the public and public participation in the EU policy;
♦ to strengthen the system for sharing Lithuania’s best practices (through Lithuania’s participation in the EU Twinning programme);
♦ to implement the system for the promotion of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union;
♦ to improve the EU law development and implementation system in Lithuania;
♦ to draft the programme for Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2013 and to take over experience from previous presidencies (to ensure continuity of the programme).