Brussels, 21/11/2014 (Agence Europe) -As the member state which will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January, Latvia's three priorities are a “more competitive, digital and committed” Europe, announced Latvia's ambassador to the EU, Ilze Juhansone, on Friday 21 November.
“Our main objective is to facilitate jobs, growth and investment in the EU and the member states”, she said at a press conference organised by EPC.
Juhansone set out her country's three priorities. In her view, competitive Europe's “main task” will be to facilitate investment. The European Commission is expected to adopt a €300 billion package soon. “All the forces we have must be mobilised. It's only together that we will be able to obtain good results”, she said. During the Latvian Presidency, the European semester will be assessed. The implementation of European economic and monetary union and economic governance are also on the agenda, as is the continued development of the single market and industrial policy. Development of the energy union is another of Latvia's priorities, with Latvia being considered an energy island. The Presidency highlights infrastructure and interconnection, energy security and regional cooperation. It also wants better implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility.
Digital Europe. As the country with the fastest internet in the world, Latvia wants to develop digital Europe and the single digital market. “Since 2010 the European Council has been repeating that digital Europe is important. There is momentum, for example, with a vice-president of the European Commission for the single digital market. We think that it's the right rime to make progress on the European digital market”, Juhansone said. She stressed the security of the digital market, data protection and cyber security “which will become increasingly important”. Underlining that without infrastructure the single digital market is not possible, Juhansone believed that the telecoms package was “a very important element”. E-government is also a Latvian priority.
Latvia wants to highlight a committed Europe in the world, through helping High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in her work. While recalling the importance of the EU's southern neighbourhood, Juhansone stressed the Eastern partnership countries and particularly civil society. Riga would also like to make progress on visa liberalisation. “It's time to put more emphasis on a forgotten region - Central Asia”, she added. She would like a review of the EU-Central Asia strategy. Lastly, one of the crucial issues will be the negotiation with the USA, which “is not only a trade agreement but also a geopolitical one”, she said. Juhansone recalled that 2015 was the year of development. (CG)