EESC president Henri Malosse met the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė

European presidency and energy issues on the agenda for the meeting

23-4-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — EESC president Henri Malosse today met the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, to address the challenge of the lack of support by European citizens for the European leadership. With particular reference to energy issues, he warned about the impact of policies that did not involve the people and the difficulty of winning back popular support in these days of economic crisis.

Mr Malosse has chosen Lithuania for his first visit as the new president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

“The meeting of the future EU-presidency and the EESC president sends a very strong signal to the European people. The safety of energy supply is not an issue for Lithuania alone but for the European Union as a whole. Any project should be developed in concert with a well-informed civil society”, said Mr Malosse. “My exchange with Ms Grybauskaitė is a positive first step in our productive partnership on this issue”.

The EESC has been asked to give its views on several topics which are key to the future of the European Union, such as potential avenues for developing EU competitiveness, employment of women and strengthening civil society partnerships, especially on the Baltic Sea Region Strategy.

Tomorrow, Mr Malosse will meet with young Lithuanian entrepreneurs to discuss the economy, employment and international competition before meeting with the Lithuanian trade unions on Wednesday.

For more information, please contact:

EESC Press Unit
Email: press@eesc.europa.eu
Tel.: +32 2 546 8722

The European Economic and Social Committee represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society. It is an institutional consultative body established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Its consultative role enables its members, and hence the organisations they represent, to participate in the EU decision-making process. The Committee has 344 members from across Europe, who are appointed by the Council of the European Union.

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