Brussels, 02/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 1 October in Vilnius, the Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, met the Lithuanian Prime Minister, Algirdas Butkevicius, to discuss the subject of a Digital Europe, which will be at the centre of discussions between heads of state and government on 24-25 October. They agreed that close cooperation between the European Commission and European Council was crucial if they were to successfully proceed to essential reforms for implementing the European telecommunications market. Kroes pointed out how the single digital market was essential to Europe's competitiveness, but also to the public sector, consumers and the whole economy. The Lithuanian prime minister announced that a conference on innovation would take place in Vilnius in November, which would discuss the Horizon 2020 programme. The prime minister stated that in this connection “we seek to give more attention to public-private partnership, as far as large-scale, long-term innovation activities under Horizon 2020 are concerned… We need to ensure that innovative ideas reach the market as successful products or services”. (IL/transl.fl)