Twenty years of Lithuania in the European Union: the development of the law, the progress of the state and the challenges ahead

There are occasions that we exclusively commemorate only every ten years. This is the 20th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of the European Union: an extraordinary occasion to celebrate how this membership contributes to the development of the law, the progress of the state and society, and the values the organisation stands for. On 24 May, a special event took place at the Small Aula of Vilnius University – the International Scientific Conference “The Republic of Lithuania in the European Union: twenty years of experience, challenges and growth”, organised by the Faculty of Law, which brought together over one hundred participants to listen to outstanding speakers and honoured guests. A film “Lithuania – 20 years of European Union membership” was produced especially for this event.

The conference began with a greeting by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, which was delivered by the Senior Adviser of the President and Head of the Legal Team, Andrius Kabišaitis. “EU membership is about creativity, commitment to freedom and democracy,” the President’s greeting reminded us of the benefits of membership. In her welcoming speech, the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, stressed the need to support Ukraine and Moldova and the importance of fellowship: “We can only overcome the challenges in Europe together. The EU has only emerged from crises stronger. We hope that this will continue to be the case in the future”. Welcoming the participants, Minister of Justice Ewelina Dobrowolska recalled the origins of the EU and the present, when the EU can counterbalance the interests of non-democratic states and defend its‘ members and the rule of law.

The Rector of Vilnius University Prof. Dr. Rimvydas Petrauskas and the Dean of the VU Law Faculty Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haroldas Šinkūnas also addressed the conference. “The rule of law is one of the fundamental principles that have shaped Europe from ancient and medieval times to modern times. European culture and its history have been characterised by legal achievements defining social rights and the rights of individuals,” said R. Petrauskas. According to H. Šinkūnas, in 20 years Lithuania has become stronger, more beautiful, and more open; we can work, travel and breathe freely. “At the same time, we hope that we have helped the EU to become stronger, more beautiful and more open”, he added.

The event featured a guest lecture by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Prof. Dr. Koen Lenaerts, who is also an Honorary Doctor of the Vilnius University. The President presented the constitutional principles to which EU candidate countries are committed. In particular, they agree to align their constitutional provisions with EU values. Secondly, they agree to continue to preserve and defend the values which, if ignored, would lead to the collapse of democracy. “ This means that the values on which the EU is founded are here to stay. They must operate as a model compass that allows both the EU and its member states to navigate through the unchartered waters of an ever-changing world,” said K. Lenaerts.

The first part of the conference focused on EU membership and values. The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the Constitutional Court interpreting it justify Lithuania’s membership in the EU as a constitutional value – said Prof. Dr. Tomas Davulis, Judge of the Constitutional Court and lecturer at the VU Law Faculty. By choosing to be a member of the EU, Lithuania has expressed its geopolitical orientation, which is protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. Prof. Dr. Armin von Bogdandy, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, focused his presentation on the meaning of EU membership – participation in European society. Values such as freedom, democracy, equality, respect for human dignity and human rights, including the protection of minority rights, are intrinsic to EU members, he said. The EU has a significant role to play in guaranteeing democracy, assured Prof. Dr. Luis Miguel Poiares Pessoa Maduro, Dean of Dean of Católica Global School of Law and Professor at the European University Institute, School of Transnational Governance. According to the professor, the EU and the world are now facing challenges to democracy. This is confirmed by public opinion polls which show low satisfaction with democracy in EU countries. However, he believes the EU offers hope for overcoming these challenges. “EU offers a way to make the opinion of European people matter”, L. Maduro concluded his message. The last presentation of the first part was given by Dr Bartosz Wojciechowski, Professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Lodz and Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland, who presented his insights on the topic of constitutional pluralism and the reflexive model of dispute resolution. The first part of the conference was moderated by Associate Professor Dr. Haroldas Šinkūnas and Dr. Indrė Isokaitė-Valužė, Associate Professor at the University of Vilnius, who summarised the conference by saying that “EU membership is not just a choice of values, reflected in the constitutions of the states, and the objectives of the EU are not just the norms of the EU treaties, but that it is important to ensure that these values – the ideas, especially of peace, freedom, and prosperity – are alive in European society, and moreover, that we have a duty to protect them, to strengthen them, and to pass them on to the next generation”.

European integration and the development of the legal system were discussed in the second part of the conference, moderated by Prof. Dr. Jurgita Paužaitė-Kulvinskienė, Vice-Dean for Science of the VU Law Faculty, and Dr. Saulius Lukas Kalėda, Judge of the General Court of the European Union. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irmantas Jarukaitis, Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, said that there is a very close symbiotic relationship between the CJEU and national courts. One of its functions is to protect the fundamental values of the EU, thus stabilising both the EU and national levels of governance. Another speaker, Prof. Dr. Ineta Ziemele, CJEU Judge and Latvian scholar, shared her insights on the enshrinement of human rights in the EU and noted that European courts are characterised by their competence and their constant commitment to upholding fundamental values. Prof. Dr. Stefan Kadelbach, Dean of the Law Faculty of University Frankfur, identified three aspects that affect the EU’s external relations: economic interests, geopolitical objectives and the promotion of the EU’s constitutional principles and values. He believes that these objectives should be balanced in the future. This could be achieved by harmonising procedures at intergovernmental level and by further enlarging the EU. “Success of the East enlargement tells us, that in the long run, enlargement helps not only the acceding states, but also makes the EU stronger, both in terms of visibility of its principles and in pursuance of its external interests,” said S. Kadelbach. At the end of the second part, the topic of the work and practice of the courts was returned to – Dr. Danguolė Bublienė, President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania and associate professor at the VU Law Faculty, talked about the principle of effectiveness and its impact on the enforcement of consumer rights. Among other things, the nature of the principle, its evolution, its links with other general principles of EU law, the fragmented practice of its application and its decisive challenges for the national judge were highlighted. “There is a need for a coherent and comprehensive analysis of the Court’s case law, an assessment of its impact on the rationality and realism of national law and, in particular, an assessment of the need for systemic change,” the President of the Supreme Court said.

The third session of the conference shared insights into the future of the EU. The session was opened by Dr. (HP) Egidijus Kūris, Professor of the VU Law Faculty and Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2013-2024. “The legal anchoring of Lithuania’s EU membership has not been very coherent”, believes the professor. He identifies the problems that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has faced in applying EU law. According to E. Kūris, the jurisprudence of the CJEU is one of the sources for the development of national law. “The CJEU’s jurisprudence is an important source of interpretation of Lithuanian constitutional law – not of constitutional law itself, but of its interpretation,” he argued. The second speaker of this part, Dr. Skirgailė Žalimienė, Professor of the VU Law Faculty and President of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Lithuania, spoke about the protection of fundamental rights in Lithuanian courts. She also stressed that EU and national law complement each other. S. Žalimienė said that European courts emphasise the synthesis between EU law and the Constitution, as both were adopted voluntarily. “In our practice, we do not have clear examples of an intersection between the standard of application of EU law and the standard of the Constitution, and the examples given are more related to questions of good practice,” said the President of the Supreme Administrative Court. The last paper of the conference was presented (remotely) by Dr. Volodymyr Venher, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, who gave a comprehensive analysis of the legislative and legal application problems arising in the war-torn Ukraine on its path towards EU membership. On this path, it is important to meet the standards of the rule of law and to strike a balance between the different areas of law and the requirements of the EU. The last part of the event was moderated by Prof. Dr. T. Davulis and Dr. Deimilė Prapiestytė, Associate Professor of the VU Law Faculty.

The event was filmed, the record is published in the Youtube channel of the VU Law Faculty.