Activites

• 2014/07/31 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Decision 2014/509
  • OJ L 228 31.07.2014, p. 0029
• 2014/07/23 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 2014/07/17 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2014/07/16 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T8-0004/2014 summary

    The European Parliament adopted by 545 votes to 116, with 34 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the adoption by Lithuania of the euro on 1 January 2015. Parliament approved the Commission proposal and endorses the adoption of the euro by Lithuania on 1 January 2015. The legal prerequisites for adoption of the euro are set out in Article 140(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Protocol No 13 on the convergence criteria. The following four Convergence criteria should be respected: achievement of a high level of price stability; sustainability of the government financial position; compliance with the normal fluctuation margins of the European Monetary System's Exchange Rate Mechanism for at least the past two years; durability of convergence, as reflected in long-term interest rate levels. According to the Convergence Report published on 4 June 2014, Lithuania meets all the convergence criteria. Parliament welcomed the fact that: in the year ending in April 2014 Lithuania had a mean inflation rate of 0.6%, and therefore fulfils this convergence criterion; in the reference year 2013 Lithuania had a budget deficit of 2.1% and a government debt of 39.4% of Gross Domestic Product, and therefore fulfils this convergence criterion; there have been no tensions surrounding the litas-euro exchange rate during the two-year assessment period; during the reference period from May 2013 until April 2014 long-term interest rates in Lithuania averaged 3.6%; legislation in Lithuania is fully compatible with the compliance duty under Article 131 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Parliament also welcomed the compatibility of the law on Lietuvos bankas with the principle of central bank independence set out in Article 130 TFEU and mirrored in Article 7 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. It is recalled that following Lithuania’s first attempt to introduce the euro in 2006, the Lithuanian Government decided on 25 February 2013 to set 1 January 2015 as the target date for introducing the euro. On 17 April 2014 the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) adopted the law on the introduction of the euro in Lithuania.

• 2014/07/15 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2014/07/14 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A8-0001/2014 summary

    The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Werner WANGEN (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a Council decision on the adoption by Lithuania of the euro on 1 January 2015. It approved the Commission proposal and endorses the adoption of the euro by Lithuania on 1 January 2015. Members recalled that according to the European Central Bank Convergence Report published on 4 June 2014, Lithuania meets all the convergence criteria. They welcomed the fact that: in the year ending in April 2014 Lithuania had a mean inflation rate of 0.6%, and therefore fulfils this convergence criterion; in the reference year 2013 Lithuania had a budget deficit of 2.1% and a government debt of 39.4% of Gross Domestic Product, and therefore fulfils this convergence criterion; there have been no tensions surrounding the litas-euro exchange rate during the two-year assessment period; during the reference period from May 2013 until April 2014 long-term interest rates in Lithuania averaged 3.6%; legislation in Lithuania is fully compatible with the compliance duty under Article 131 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular with the principle of central bank independence.

• 2014/07/03 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #3324
• 2014/06/20 Council Meeting
  • 3324 summary

    The Council adopted a recommendation approving Lithuania's membership of the euro area on 1 January 2015. It agreed with the Commission's assessment that Lithuania has achieved a high degree of sustainable convergence and therefore fulfils the necessary conditions for adoption of the euro as its currency is thus set to become the 19th member of the euro area. The Council is to adopt the decision on Lithuania’s membership in July 2014, after consulting the European Parliament and after a debate during the European Council on 26-27 June. The recommendation draws on reports from the Commission and the European Central Bank which confirm: ·         the compatibility of Lithuania's legislation with EU treaty provisions and with the statute of the European system of central banks; ·         the progress made by Lithuania in fulfilling the convergence criteria – namely price stability, the government's budgetary position, exchange rate stability and long-term interest rates – and several other factors.

• 2014/06/04 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2014)0324 summary

    PURPOSE: proposal that Lithuania joins the euro area in 2015. PROMPOSED ACT: Council Decision. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to take account of Parliaments opinion. BACKGROUND: Lithuania is one of the countries with a derogation in regard to the adoption of the euro. Article 140(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that at least once every two years or at the request of a Member State with a derogation, the Commission and the European Central Bank have to report to the Council on the progress made in the fulfilment by Member States with a derogation of their obligations regarding the achievement of economic and monetary union. Both the Commission and the ECB Convergence Reports were released on 4 June 2014. In its Convergence Report, the Commission concludes that Lithuania fulfils the conditions for the adoption of the euro. CONTENT: the proposed Council decision seeks to abrogate the derogation of Lithuania with effect from 1 January 2015. On the basis of the Commission and ECB reports on the progress made in the fulfilment by Lithuania in meeting its obligations regarding the achievement of economic and monetary union (EMU), the Commission reached the following conclusions: 1. Lithuania's national legislation, including the statutes of its national central bank, is compatible with Articles 130 and 131 of the Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB and of the ECB; 2. regarding the fulfillment by Lithuania of the convergence criteria mentioned in the four indents of Article 140(1) of the Treaty: ·         the average inflation rate in Lithuania in the year ending in April 2014 stood at 0.6 percent, which is well below the reference value, and it is likely to remain below the reference value in the months ahead; ·         Lithuania is not the subject of a Council decision on the existence of an excessive deficit, with a budget deficit of 2.1 percent of GDP in 2013; ·         Lithuania has been a member of the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) since 28 June 2004. Upon ERM II entry, the authorities unilaterally committed to maintain the prevailing Currency Board within the mechanism. During the two years preceding this assessment, the litas exchange rate did not deviate from its central rate and it did not experience tensions; ·         in the year ending April 2014, the long-term interest rate in Lithuania was, on average, 3.6 percent which is well below the reference value. As a result, the Commission considers that Lithuania fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro effective as of 1 January 2015.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/index_en.htm', 'title': 'Economic and Financial Affairs'}, REHN Olli

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2014)0324
• Debate in Council: 3324
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A8-0001/2014
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0004/2014
• : Decision 2014/509
• : OJ L 228 31.07.2014, p. 0029

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)