Brussels, 2015
111th PLENARY SESSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
THURSDAY 16 – FRIDAY 17 April 2015
ITEM 2 – APPENDIX 2
MINUTES OF THE 110th PLENARY SESSION
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
STATEMENT BY ZANDA KALNINA-LUKAŠEVICA, PARLIAMENTARY STATE
SECRETARY FOR EU AFFAIRS REPRESENTING THE LATVIAN PRESIDENCY
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-1Statement by Zanda Kalnina-Lukaševica, Parliamentary State Secretary for EU affairs
representing the Latvian presidency
The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Markku Markkula, welcomed
State Secretary Kalnina-Lukaševica and assured her of the CoR's readiness to support the particular
emphasis the Latvian presidency was placing on jobs, growth and investment, as well as on the digital
economy, energy and the European Neighbourhood Policy.
Ms Kalnina-Lukaševica said that the Latvian presidency's two main tasks were to steer the EU's
work on overcoming the current economic and financial crisis and to promote stability, security and
development in its neighbourhood and worldwide. The presidency would adopt a three-pronged
approach to meet those tasks.
Firstly, it would seek to make Europe more competitive by strengthening its business capacity,
promoting investment in new, competitive products and services and creating a favourable
environment for investment through cohesion policy. The second priority would be to develop a real
digital Europe to capitalise fully on its digital potential. This could be achieved by creating an
effective digital single market and developing e-government. The presidency's third priority would be
greater EU involvement at the global level, taking more responsibility and maintaining unity of action
and response, as it had done over the Ukrainian crisis.
Ms Kalnina-Lukaševica concluded by noting that security within the EU had been added to the
Latvian presidency's agenda following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Mick Antoniw (UK/PES) called for work on the Eastern Partnership to be continued and for
engagement with Ukrainian civil society on the ground to be bolstered in order to actively support the
Ukrainian people at this particularly difficult time. He also asked the Latvian presidency for greater
emphasis on the social agenda in order to tackle the EU's big social challenges concerning young
people, employment and job quality, social wealth and poverty. He concluded by expressing serious
concern and caution about the direction being taken by the TTIP negotiations, the partnership itself
and its foundations, and called on the Latvian presidency to ensure the CoR and local and regional
authorities were more closely involved.
Arnoldas Abramavičius (LT/EPP) underlined the importance of the Digital Agenda as a driver for
the development of society and a fundamental tool for ensuring cohesion, especially in extra-urban
areas and even outermost regions, as well as its potential in assisting policymakers boost economic
growth and employment. He also fully endorsed the presidency's commitment to boost the EU energy
market and asked for tangible solutions to meet the need for energy infrastructure projects at local and
regional level. He urged the EU institutions to do more to resolve the crisis in Ukraine and to speak
forcefully and with one voice in the face of an external military threat.
Andris Jaunsleinis (LV/ALDE) highlighted the importance of the Eastern partnership and the need to
be more active, especially in relation to the Ukraine crisis, since the other Eastern partnership
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-2countries would gauge the EU's future reliability on the role it played during that crisis. He further
insisted on the major repercussions the TTIP would have in future and the importance of maintaining
the high quality of life and of products rather than striving for compromise in TTIP negotiations. He
also pointed out that local and regional authorities had to be involved and their interests taken into
account in the implementation of the Juncker plan and stressed that real improvement on the ground
would depend on the success of efforts to cut red tape and to avoid delays in the review of legislation.
Kieran McCarthy (IE/EA) asked that proper attention be paid to small and medium-sized cities in
the implementation of the European Fund for Strategic Investment and that small-scale projects be
eligible for the fund so that real targets can be met and real jobs created at local level. He hoped that
the EU Member States would make progress in completing the energy market, which was still too
fragmented. He also mentioned the importance of not relying on too few sources and providers and of
investing in cleaner, renewable energy sources and promising new technologies that could provide
self-sufficient and decentralised energy production systems. He ended by thanking the Latvian
presidency for making the European Neighbourhood Policy, in particular the Eastern Partnership, the
cornerstone of its agenda to improve stability and prosperity at EU borders.
Jerzy Zająkała (PL/ECR) welcomed the intention to narrow the investment gap in the regions by
improving regulation and removing barriers to growth. He also stressed that the implementation of the
European Fund for Strategic Investment would require a rigorous, business-like approach to project
funding and warmly welcomed the focus on the completion of the single market, emphasising the
particular potential of the Digital Single Market. He went on to highlight the importance of full,
timely and correct transposition and use of public procurement provisions to make e-services and egovernment accessible to all. Mr Zająkała concluded by calling for the Energy Union to be completed
and for a sustainable and clean energy supply, which would reduce the EU's dependency on imports
and diversify the EU energy market and energy sources.
Responding to the comments made by CoR members, Ms Kalnina-Lukaševica highlighted the
importance of working together to achieve common goals and stressed that the social dimension was
one the priorities of the Latvian presidency and inseparable from the goal of ensuring the EU
capacity's to compete. She also agreed that investment was the engine of long-term growth and that
the Investment Plan and cohesion policy were closely linked. As far as the TTIP was concerned, she
pointed out that the goal was not just to make progress but to ensure sufficient protection, saying that
all the necessary public consultations would be carried out.
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