General Affairs Council, 23/07/2014, 23 July 2014

Lithuania to adopt the euro on 1 January 2015

The General Affairs Council meeting of 23 July celebrated Lithuania's entry into the euro area. Ministers also discussed the Italian presidency work programme and the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy.

On 1 January 2015, Lithuania will become the 19th member state to adopt the euro.

"Lithuania's consistent efforts have paid off: today the eurozone has opened the door for us," said Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister of Lithuania, at the meeting of EU ministers.

The entry of Lithuania into the euro family is of great importance for the whole euro area.

"It's a demonstration of the continuing attractiveness of the single currency project and its relevance for the future of our community," said Sandro Gozi, State Secretary for European Affairs of Italy and President of the Council of the EU.

The conversion rate has been set at 3.45280 Lithuanian litas to the euro.

Presidency programme

The Italian presidency presented, in public session, its work programme for the duration of its term of office - July to December 2014. It intends to contribute to the current debate on the future of EU priorities and make sure that the possibilities offered by the existing Treaties are all fully exploited to pursue those priorities.

Europe 2020 mid-term review

The Council discussed a roadmap for the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 growth strategy The roadmap sets out how work will be taken forward under the Italian presidency to prepare for the review of the strategy in 2015.

Implementation of European Council conclusions

Ministers discussed how to follow up on the implementation of the priorities of the strategic agenda agreed at the June European Council.

Without discussion, the Council adopted the following legislative acts and decisions:

• a regulation for managing financial responsibility linked to investor-to-state dispute settlement proceedings
• a directive aimed at guaranteeing access to basic payment services and improving information on fees related to payment accounts
• a directive on undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), introducing specific provisions on the depository's safekeeping and oversight duties
• a regulation aimed at improving safety in the securities settlement system and opening the market for central securities depositories (CSD) services
• the Council's position on a draft directive granting member states more flexibility to decide whether or not they wish to cultivate genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
• a regulation on the mutual recognition of electronic identification
• a regulation on the financing of actions by the European Maritime Safety Agency to fight pollution at sea
• a directive containing updated rules on marine equipment on board EU ships