Debate contributions by Vytenis Povilas ANDRIUKAITIS

Dear colleague, I would like to ask you briefly. Would you agree with the practice that out of 578 procurements, 516 were implemented through unannounced surveys? And would you support the practice of exceptionally recruiting 38% of your staff without a competition, without criteria? Would you support this practice personally, as a former minister and parliamentarian defending transparency? Yes or no?

Colleagues, you asked about the corrections made by the ruling majority in July 2024. At the end of the full term, it was the voting procedures in the Radio and Television Council of Lithuania that were amended and it was there that the open vote was introduced. As was previously the case in the Regulation, it is up to the Council to decide whether to vote freely or by secret ballot or by open ballot. In this House, in the European Parliament, we approve personnel by secret ballot. I have never seen anyone doubt that a secret ballot in the European Parliament is against democracy. Or do you want to propose amendments to the Statute in the European Parliament in order to be able to vote openly when approving staff? You'll probably agree. As a result, even one of the leaders of the LRT Council was threatened when he asked for conclusions from the administration that they would be approved.

Dear Chairman of the meeting. This debate is very timely. I think, of course, it is intended for the internal situation of Lithuania, because it is nice that everyone who has spoken the Lithuanian language so far. I will say very clearly that the discussion here is not about the violation of freedom of speech at all, nor about the constitutional violation, respected Dainiau, and other things. We will certainly be able to say that there are many legal analyses, not just those carried out by one expert group. There are many of them. Now the facts are such that would force everyone to listen to the fact that Lithuania consistently occupies high positions in the world rankings of press freedom. 2025 Reporters without Borders Lithuania ranks 14th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, and the overall score has increased. Next: Freedom House Lithuania is also classified as a free country with a vibrant media protected from government pressure. These are facts. You can read them just now. I recently visited... The Venice Commission visited Lithuania this week. Its findings will also be available to you. So I answer that the fact that the National Audit Office carried out an audit and revealed huge cases of corruption, bribery, violation of the law makes it necessary to talk about administrative problems that the government has to solve. Freedom of the press is a cornerstone that we have defended and will defend throughout our lives.

Mr President, colleagues, the current clinical trial rules in our 27 Member States make it extremely difficult to implement multi-country clinical trials. They are costly in both time and resources and impede the growth of medical innovation. Today we had discussions on the Critical Medicines Act and the 28th Regime for innovative companies, and I would like to advocate for each to be created, as well as for multi-country clinical trials. This framework would unify a currently diverse regulatory landscape that exists among our Member States by streamlining the approval process for new therapies and technologies for all patients. We could reduce bureaucratic hurdles that stifle innovation. A cohesive ecosystem would not only enhance the efficiency of multi-country clinical trials, but also improve patient access to groundbreaking treatment, and also restore EU leadership in global health innovation without encroaching on the Member States' rights to set up their own requirements. At the heart of this regime is the need for a robust digital infrastructure that facilitates real-time data sharing and communication among all stakeholders by leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which can enhance critical design and patient monitoring, and significantly reduce such loss of time and effectiveness.

Madam President, colleagues, we need to ensure that all patients in Europe – it doesn't matter where they live – can rely on access to a medicine they need when necessary. It is our obligation. This act aims to strengthen our security of supply by reducing dependencies on third countries and supporting resilient, diversified supply chains. We must step up investment in European manufacturing capacity, while ensuring that public funding is used in a responsible, transparent manner, keeping the interests of patients at the core. We must keep not only availability but also affordability as part of joint procurement. Addressing fragmentation in the market is a very challenging issue. I want to stress that attacks from the extremist side of this room on the European environmental and chemical legislation in the area of pharmaceuticals production are unacceptable. Ideological attacks do not strengthen health security. Europe needs medicine that is available, accessible, affordable and sustained to all of us.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. In fact, it's a very good debate. And the fact that we are discussing the implementation of the rule of law conditionality and regime today, and also when we are applying the infringement procedure, in other words: Rule of Law Conditionality and Infringement procedures, There will be voices and voices like this all the time. Those people who raise questions about the need to enforce the rule of law do not understand the simple fact that the principle of the rule of law is their own principle. The Treaty of Lisbon is part of the legal system of each state. Everybody. And every state and every citizen must understand and master this. Therefore, the procedure needs to be deepened and we need to see even more so that we actually strengthen the mechanisms that are needed.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. Indeed, my Lithuanian colleagues have already mentioned the numbers, the frequency of attacks, and the difficult situation on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. However, I would like to draw your attention, Commissioner, to the fact that international aviation has suffered losses, not only in Lithuania, but also in international aviation. In other words, all aviation in the European Union has suffered losses, both flights to Munich, flights to Frankfurt, flights to Brussels and flights to Riga. In other words, we have not only the problem of Lithuania, but we have the problem of the economic losses suffered by the whole region. On the other hand, it is clear that we in that country are fully aware that we need effective and rapid additional financial support to deal with the current crisis, which is in fact the case.

Mr President, it is indeed very difficult to speak in such minutes and in the face of such a drama. Terrorism has no nationality or religion. Whether Breivik in Norway, who shot innocent children, or now the two ISIS terrorists who shot 15 people, in both cases we have an example of the horror of terrorism and a terrorist culture, as you might say, to which there can be no tolerance. On the other hand, hate speech, which suddenly breaks out here in condemnation of Islamists, fundamentalists, but is also hatred of Muslims, while Ahmed Al Ahmed is a real example of a tolerant believer, a deep Muslim. So we really need to fight antisemitism, but we also need to fight the spread of any radical hate speech.

Mr President, Commissioner. So many good ideas have been said here, so inspiring that we will definitely ask Romana Jerković to get her involved and make the report very strong – a powerful report! But my suggestion is also as follows: Some have mentioned that this year we lost 280 million euros as a result of deaths. Message to Ministers of Economy, Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Finance of the Eurogroup! Tell them clearly that they have to discuss what huge losses they have suffered this year and deduct those millions from their budgets. Because if we want to talk about prevention, we need to turn it off from spending, make an investment in it, and calibrate it into financial instruments as one of the biggest investments in innovation. So, congratulations, you will receive our great support.