Lithuania is the country that will take the helm of the Council of the European Union on 1st July, replacing the current Irish presidency. A member of the EU since 2004, Lithuania is the first Baltic country to take the presidency of the EU Council and “one of the countries with the highest growth rates in Europe right now”, as pointed out by Lithuania’s president, Dalia Grybauskaitë. Efforts will still be made “to create the Banking Union, which will give credibility back to the EU’s banking sector”, the president stated, “and we will keep working at the Economic and Monetary Union”. Other priorities include policies for the single energy market to complete the policies that have been approved in this area. Believing that “the single market is the main propeller of economic growth and the source of the best job opportunities, but its potential is not fully exploited”, as Grybauskaitë stated as she presented the programme for Lithuania’s six months’ presidency, efforts will be made to strengthen “partnerships with the non-EU countries of Eastern Europe and with strategic trading partners, such as USA, Japan and Canada”. At a press conference tomorrow, the Lithuanian president will present the official website of Lithuania’s six months’ presidency, www.eu2013.lt. After Lithuania, it will be the turn of Greece, on 1st January 2014.