Kristiina Ojuland (ALDE). - Mr President, Madam President-in-Office, I am very proud of the Lithuanian Presidency, because Lithuania is our neighbour in the Baltic countries, and I hope that Estonia, my country, will take a lesson from your Presidency’s experience. However, I believe that the success of each Presidency is comprehensively connected with the political will and determination of the Council Members. Outcomes must be put in the context of the objective possibilities that are open to each country during its Presidency.

In the field of foreign policy, hopes were high for the Vilnius Summit. The failure to sign the Association Agreement with Ukraine was not the fault of the Presidency but rather was due to the shortcomings of long-term enlargement policy and to Ukraine’s selfish leadership. Nevertheless, the success achieved with Moldova and Georgia should not be underestimated, and hopefully the Council will continue at full speed with the signing of both these agreements before the end of the current parliamentary term. Signing a cooperation agreement with Azerbaijan is also a very important step forward.

I would also like to welcome the progress made with the Single Supervisory and Single Resolution Mechanisms. A fully integrated Banking Union will ensure that, in future, banks will bear the cost of their own mistakes rather than have taxpayers foot the bill. The banks will be better regulated and supervised. With many different opinions on how to achieve that, the success of the Lithuanian Presidency in proceeding with this proposal has to be acknowledged.

Finally, I would like to highlight the progress made with the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement with the USA. We all know that completion of this agreement will bring significant financial benefits to both sides. I hope the Greek Presidency will continue with the same relentless effort to ensure that the negotiations are concluded successfully.