On Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius and his Baltic counterparts met with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. The Brussels meeting resulted in signing the Memorandum of Understanding on the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

The parties to the Memorandum recognise the need for the integration of the Baltic electricity and gas markets in the wider EU energy market and underpinning investments while addressing the key energy security interests. Having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Prime Ministers’ Council of the Baltic Council of Ministers signed on 27 April, 2009 in Vilnius, the parties have resolved to devote their best endeavours to work towards the establishment of an open and integrated regional electricity market between the three Baltic states with the following main objectives:

• Equal market conditions (no discrimination among market participants; no obstacles for new entrants);
• Free cross-border trade and market opening;
• Free competition in each country with effective third party access regimes;
• Fair price-formation (reliable and transparent market price for electricity).

The Memorandum also stresses the importance of further efforts to find the most economic solution to connect Finland and the three Baltic States to the integrated European gas network and new supply sources.

The European Commission intends to monitor the implementation of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (Action Plan) and to report on it regularly to the European Council.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by President of European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Polish, Swedish Prime Ministers and German Minister of Economy.

On Wednesday, President of the European Commission also met with Algirdas Šemeta, leading Lithuanian candidate for the post of European Commission member for finance and budgeting and current minister of finance.