Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, will be visiting in Brussels on 17–18 March, where he will participate in the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) meeting...
Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, will be visiting in Brussels on 17–18 March, where he will participate in the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) meeting; he will also meet with the Deputy Chairman of the European Commission and the head of the national bank of Belgium.
“This meeting at the European Parliament is particularly important in that it can be considered the beginning of official consultations on the euro adoption procedures in Lithuania. In July the Council of the European Union, after consulting with the European Parliament, should make a final decision on whether Lithuania meets the euro adoption criteria”, says V. Vasiliauskas.
The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania will introduce to the ECON members the newest information on Lithuania’s economy and will discuss the preparedness for the euro adoption in Lithuania.
The European Commission and the European Central Bank, in June of this year should present the Council of the European Union with assessments of Lithuania’s progress in fulfilling the obligation to adopt the euro, as set forth in the EU Treaty. Lithuania, as with other countries without the euro, had been given derogation on joining the EU to temporarily continue using its national currency. This derogation is abrogated when the country complies with the mandatory conditions for the adoption of the euro.
During the Bank of Lithuania head’s visit in Brussels, there are plans to also meet with Olli Rehn, Deputy Chairman of the European Commission, responsible for the economic and monetary policy of the European Union, and Luc Coene, head of the national bank of Belgium.
The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania this half-year is meeting with heads of other euro area country central banks, to whom he will present Lithuania’s economic development and the prospects of euro adoption in Lithuania. Meetings with the heads of the central banks of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Austria have already taken place.