Čmilytė-Nielsen also said an extraordinary session could be convened if initiated by the opposition, according to Ignas Hofmanas, chair of the Lithuanian Agriculture Council.
“The Speaker of the Seimas has promised that those issues that are within her competence will be discussed in the Seimas session as a matter of urgency,” he said after their meeting on Thursday.
“If the opposition takes the initiative, an extraordinary session of the Seimas could be called,” Hofmanas added.
The Seimas speaker earlier said MPs “must start” the spring session with issues of interest to farmers that the Seimas can address.
She was referring to draft legislation put forward by the agriculture minister to allow farmers to use marked diesel not only for agricultural machinery again and to reduce the excise duty on liquefied petroleum gas to EUR 41 per tonne.
“The minister has registered corrections on two issues. In my view, this could be the start of the spring session and I think it would be the most rational solution,” Čmilytė-Nielsen told reporters after the meeting.
“We must start the spring session with these issues. I do not rule out the possibility of an initiative even earlier,” she said when asked about the likelihood of an extraordinary session.
The Seimas speaker also suggested a discussion on a mechanism to compensate farmers for losses incurred in the first months of 2024.
The Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs will hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday amid continuing farmers’ protests in Vilnius. The committee members are going to discuss the farmers’ six demands and present their own position on them, as well as to hear from Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Navickas about the results of his recent meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
