COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - LITHUANIA Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Lithuania, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.4.2019  SWD(2019) 125 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019    Country Report - LITHUANIA         Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019:  A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life   {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 119 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 122 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 127 final} - {SWD(2019) 128 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 131 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
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1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ......................................................................................................................... 4 

1. 

TURNING THE EU INTO A CIRCULAR, RESOURCE-EFFICIENT, GREEN AND COMPETITIVE LOW-CARBON 
ECONOMY ........................................................................................................................................ 4 

Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................. 4 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 6 
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................... 8 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL ................................................... 10 

Nature and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................... 10 
Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services .................................................................. 11 
Estimating natural capital ................................................................................................................... 12 
Invasive alien species .......................................................................................................................... 13 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 13 
Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 14 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ....................................................................... 16 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 16 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................. 17 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 18 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 18 
Chemicals ............................................................................................................................................ 19 
Making cities more sustainable ........................................................................................................... 20 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ................................................................. 22 

4. 

GREEN TAXATION, GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING AND INVESTMENTS22 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 22 
Green public procurement .................................................................................................................. 23 
Environmental funding and investments ............................................................................................ 23 

5. 

STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ........................................................................ 27 

Information, public participation and access to justice ...................................................................... 27 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 28 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations................................................................................. 30 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 31 
Sustainable development and the implementation of the UN SDGs .................................................. 32 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Executive summary 

Although  Lithuania 
is  considered  to  be  the  fastest 
eco-innovation 
innovator, 
European 
growing 
performance  still  remains  way  below  the  EU  average.  A 
targeted approach and policy measures, as well as more 
funding,  could  help  Lithuania  further  boost  its  eco-
innovation performance, and resource productivity.  

its 

Lithuania  has  slightly  less  national  land  area  covered  by 
Natura  2000  than  the  EU  average,  but  a  higher  than 
average proportion of it has good status. 

Examples of good practice 

 

 

 

The  introduction  of  a  deposit-refund  system  for 
single-use  plastic  and  glass  bottles  and  metal  cans 
proved  to  be  very  successful,  achieving  its  2020 
objective of 90 % collection already in 2017. 
Lithuanian LIFE programme projects on ensuring the 
viability of grasslands and restoring hydrology in the 
Amalvas and Žuvintas wetlands have been identified 
as success stories to showcase. 
The  Ministry  of  Environment  homepage  includes  a 
hotline specifically for complaints. 

Lithuania  and 
Review (EIR) 

the  Environmental 

Implementation 

In  the  2017  EIR  report,  the  main  challenges  identified 
with  regard  to  implementation  of  EU  environmental 
policy and law in Lithuania were: 

  waste  management,  with 

the  planned  new 
municipal  waste  incineration  capacities    potentially 
putting  at  risk  Lithuania’s  ability  to  reach  EU 
recycling targets; 
the  fact  that  Lithuania  remains  a  resource  and 
energy intensive country. 

 

Lithuania  organised  a  national  EIR  dialogue  with  a 
particular focus on waste management. 

In 2017, the Commission launched the TAIEX-EIR peer-to-
peer  (EIR  P2P)  as  a  new  practical  tool  allowing  peer-to-
authorities. 
peer 
Lithuania participated in two P2P workshops on reducing 
emissions from domestic heating and air pollution. 

among  environmental 

learning 

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 EIR 

Lithuania  is  taking  further  steps  to  shift  to  the  circular 
economy.  However,  waste  management  remains  a 
challenge.  While  Lithuania  is  on  track  towards  achieving 
the 50 % recycling target by 2020, it will need to ensure 
that  post-2020  recycling  targets  are  met  as  well,  with 
particular  focus  on  separate  collection.  It  should  be 
careful  not  to  acquire  too  much  incineration  or  MBT 
(mechanical-biological treatment) capacity.  

Lithuania maintains a clean environment, particularly  air 
and water quality. For water and nitrates Lithuania needs 
to  make  further  efforts  to  reduce  eutrophication  of 
surface freshwater. The European Commission could not 
assess the second generation of river management plans 
under  the  Water  Framework  Directive  as  Lithuania  has 
not yet completed all the required reporting.  

Lithuania  has  bmade  good  progress  on  urban  waste 
water  treatment.  It  has  a  high  level  of  compliance  with 
the requirements of the Urban  Waste Water Treatment 
Directive  in  general.  It  needs  to  address  the  situation  in 
one remaining agglomeration and issues linked to poorly 
controlled individual or other appropriate systems across 
the country, and this would make it fully compliant.  

Lithuania could benefit from a more targeted use of the 
European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF),  to 
better  implement  environmental  rules,  particularly  on 
waste  management  and  wastewater  treatment,  and  to 
ensure  that  necessary  administrative  capacity  and  skills 
are available. 

3 

 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  2015  circular  economy 
package  with  its  accompanying  action  plan  and  the 
setting  up  of  a  related  stakeholder  platform1,  the 
European  Commission  adopted  a  second  package  in 
January 2018. This included additional measures such as: 
(i)  an  EU  strategy  for  plastics;  (ii)  a  Communication  on 
how to address the interplay between chemical, product 
and  waste  legislation;  (iii)  a  report  on  critical  raw 
materials;  and  (iv)  a  framework  to  monitor  progress 
towards a circular economy2. 

The circular (secondary) use of material in Lithuania was 
4.5 %  in  2016  (below  the  EU-28  average  of  11.7 %).  In 
contrast, Lithuania performs above the EU-28 average in 
terms of the number of people employed in the circular 
economy  (2.71 %  of  total  employment  in  2016,  EU-28 
average is 1.73 %). 

In  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on  attitudes  of 
EU citizens towards the environment, 88 % of Lithuanian 
people  said  they  were  concerned  about  the  effects  of 
plastic  products  on  the  environment  (EU-28  average 
87 %).  89 % said they  were  worried about  the impact of 
chemicals  (EU-28 average 90 %) 3. There  is a support  for 
circular 
environmental 
and 
initiatives 
protection action in Lithuanian society. 

economy 

Figure 1 shows that, at 0.75 EUR/kg (EU average is 2.04), 
Lithuania’s  resource  productivity  (how  efficiently  the 
economy uses material resources to produce wealth)4 did 
not increase when compared with 2010. 

Lithuania supports the EU circular economy package and 
the shift  to the circular  economy in general, however, it 
needs to take further steps in this area. As of 2018, there 
is  no  national  strategy  or  roadmap  on  the  circular 
economy. New circular economy targets on waste will be 
integrated 
into  the  National  Waste  Prevention  and 
Management Plan for the period 2021–2027. 
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20175 

(circular 

involved 

economy) 

ekonomika’ 

is  getting  more 

circularity,  with  examples  of 

in 
Lithuanian  civil  society 
promoting 
fruitful 
cooperation  with  local  authorities.  For  example,  the 
‘Žiedinė 
public 
organization  provides  seminars  on  the  circular  economy 
for high school students in Vilnius. The project is financed 
by  the  Environmental  Protection  Department  of  the 
Vilnius City Municipality Administration. 
The number of EU Ecolabel products and EMAS6-licensed 
organisations in a country can give a rough measurement 
of  the  circular  economy  transition.  These  two  indicators 
show  to  what  extent  this  transition  is  engaging  the 
private  sector  and  other  national  stakeholders.  These 
two  indicators  also  show  the  commitment  of  public 
authorities to policies that support the circular economy. 
As  of  September  2018,  Lithuania  had  195  products  and 
10 licences registered in the EU Ecolabel scheme, out of a 
total  of  71  707  products  and  2167  licences  in  the  EU, 

1 European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. 
2 COM (2018) 029. 
3 European Commission, Special 486 Eurobarometer, ‘Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment’, 2017. 
4 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 

5 Eurostat, Resource productivity. 
6 EMAS is the European Commission’s Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme – a programme to encourage organisations to behave in a more 
environmentally sustainable way. 

4 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

showing  a  low  take-up  of  these  licences7.  Moreover,  4 
organisations  from  Lithuania  are  currently  registered  in 
EMAS8. 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Lithuanian SMEs continue to score above the EU average 
on environmental issues, as shown in Figure 2. Although 
the  proportion  of  Lithuanian  SMEs  that  put  in  place 
resource efficiency measures is far below the EU average, 
the  percentage  of  SMEs  that  offer  green  products  and 
services is above. 

is  higher 

The extent to which companies taking resource efficiency 
measures  benefit  from  public  support 
in 
Lithuania  than  in  the  EU  on  average.  The  proportion  of 
SMEs  where  more  than  50 %  of  turnover  comes  from 
green products and services is significantly higher than in 
most EU countries. The significant progress made in this 
area can be attributed to a number of financial and non-
financial support schemes that have been put in place to 
support  eco-innovation  since  2008,  and  most  notably 
since 2016/2017. 
Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs9  

The  latest  Eurobarometer  on  ‘SMEs,  resource  efficiency 
and green markets’10 asked companies about both recent 

resource-efficiency actions they had taken and additional 
resource-efficiency  actions  they  planned  to  take  in  the 
next  2  years.  The  Eurobarometer  then  compared  these 
responses with responses given to the same questions in 
2015.  Lithuanian  companies  show  a  slight  decline  in 
intentions  to  invest  in  all  eight  dimensions  of  resource 
efficiency  compared  to  2015,  despite  ambition  levels 
already  being 
low;  saving  energy  and  water  are 
exceptions here. 

Only  7 %  of  Lithuanian  companies  (compared  to  22 %  in 
the EU on average, with the range being 3 %-38 %) relied 
on external support  in their efforts to be more resource 
efficient. For them, private sector consultancy and advice 
from  business  associations  gained 
importance, 
whereas public sector funding and advice lost importance 
compared to 2015. 

in 

There  is  still  significant  potential  to  raise  Lithuanian 
SMEs’  ambition  to  become  more  resource  efficient  and 
develop  products  and  services  for  green  markets,  and 
their general awareness of opportunities in these areas. 

Lithuanian  companies  engage  very 
in  external 
cooperation, which makes it difficult to create pro-active 
environmental  policies  based  on  cooperation  and 
incentives.  The  increasing  importance  that  companies 
give to business associations may help address this. 

little 

Eco-innovation 

In  2018,  Lithuania  ranked  20th  on  the  2018  European 
Innovation  Scoreboard,  and  was  the  fastest  growing 
innovator (20.1 % increase since 2010)11. Figure 3 shows 
that  in  2017  Lithuania  still  performed  below  the  EU 
average with an Eco-Innovation Index score of 82, placing 
it  in  17th  place  in  the  overall  EU  ranking.  However,  the 
country  has  made  a  significant  progress  in  the  area  of 
eco-innovation since it was in the last place according to 
this index in 2010. 

The  strongest  drivers of  eco-innovation in Lithuania  are: 
an  evolving 
innovation  and  entrepreneurial  culture; 
increasing media coverage of the green economy, which 
continues  to  expand  awareness  of  eco-innovation  and 
the circular economy. 

The  Lithuanian  innovation  development  programme  for 
2014-2020  and  the  smart  specialisation  strategy  are  the 
two  major  documents  that  continue  to  support  national 
actions  for  eco-innovation.  EU  funds  —  European 
Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF),  European  Social 

7 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
8 As of May 2018. European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme. 
9 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet - Lithuania, p. 15. 

10 Flash Eurobarometer 456 ‘SME, resource efficiency and green 
markets’ January 2018. The 8 dimension were Save energy; Minimise 
waste; Save materials; Save Water; Recycle by reusing material 
internally; Design products easier to maintain, repair or reuse; Use 
renewable energy; Sell scrap materials to another company. 
11 European Commission, European innovation Scoreboard 2018. 

5 

 
                                                                 
                                                                                                        
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Fund  (ESF)  and  Cohesion  Fund  —  continue  to  support 
innovation.  Eco-
business  development  that  boosts 
innovation  potential 
in  the 
construction, solar energy, waste management and green 
transport sectors. 

is  expected  to  grow 

Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation index (EU=100)12 

Figure 4: Lithuania’s eco-innovation performance 

One of the expected future developments encouraged by 
the  smart  specialisation  strategy  is  connected  to  the 
in  Lithuania.  Due  to 
building  of  bio-refinery  plants 
government  actions  and  business  initiatives,  the  waste 
recycling sector continues to expand. 

is  the 
Perhaps  the  biggest  new  trend 
emergence  of  either  business-led  or  NGO-led  initiatives, 
which  were  designed  to  support  recycling  and  waste 
management  and  have  also  been  drivers  of  eco-
innovation13. 

in  Lithuania 

12 Eco-innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2017. 
13 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory: Eco-innovation 
Country Profiles 2016-2017. 

6 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
(i)  fully 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
landfill  diversion 
targets, etc.; 
(ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste14  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets15. 

In  2017,  municipal  waste  generation 
in  Lithuania 
remained  below  the  EU  average  (455 kg/y/inhabitant 
compared to around 487 kg)16. Figure 5 shows Lithuania’s 
municipal waste by treatment in terms of kg per capita. 

Lithuania  has  achieved  significant  progress  regarding 
waste  management, as it halved its  landfilling rate  since 
2014,  to  33 %  (still  above  the  EU  average  of  25 %). 
Recycling and composting (48 %) have become the main 
treatment  option,  slightly  above  the  EU  average  of 
around 46 %. This development is in large part due to the 
increase 
in  composting,  to  24 %,  an  almost  150 % 
increase since 2014, which ranks Lithuania as one of the 
top performers in the EU (average composting rate in the 
EU is around 17 %). 

A significant decrease in landfilling has been achieved by 
increasing  incineration  with  energy  recovery  capacity 
(the second least favourable option for waste treatment), 
the rate of which doubled since 2014 to 18 % (still below 
the EU average of 24 %); it may still increase in the future 
as new facilities are under construction. 

Lithuania is well on its way to compliance with the 50 % 
recycling 2020 target, as shown in Figure 617. 

14 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
15 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. These targets will be 
taken into consideration to assess progress in future Environmental 
Implementation Reports. 
16 European Commission, Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste 
operations. 
17 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50 % recycling of 
municipal waste. 

 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

An  important  factor  that  contributed  to  the  increase  in 
the  recycling  of  the  dry  recyclable  fraction  was  the 
introduction  of  a  deposit-refund  system  for  single-use 
plastic  and  glass  bottles  and  metal  cans.  The  system  is 
very  successful,  achieving  its  2020  objective  of  90 % 
collection  already  in  2017.  There  are  specific  plans  to 
further  improve  and  optimise  the  separate  collection 
system: by the end of 2021, it is planned to optimise the 
collection  points  network  and  continue  providing 
individual 
collection 
containers. Since 2015 Ministry of Environment conducts 
a public survey which indicates that the public opinion on 
waste  management  system  (separate  collection,  access 
to 
rising)  becomes  more 
favourable every year. 

containers,  awareness 

households  with 

separate 

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  by  treatment  in  Lithuania 
2010-201718 

Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2010-201719 

The  increase  in  composting  is  due  to  the  opening  of 
green  waste  composting  sites,  where  citizens  can  bring 
garden  and  similar  waste  free  of  charge.  Separate 
collection of food  waste in cities with more than 50 000 
is  planned  for  2019.  The  Ministry  of 
inhabitants 
Environment  is  also  considering  the  most  appropriate 
ways of treating food waste. 

However,  more  efforts  will  be  needed  for  Lithuania  to 
comply with post-2020 recycling targets20, in particular as 
regards  capturing  more  waste 
separate 
collection  and  decreasing  reliance  on  MBT  and  waste 
the 
for 
incineration  plants 
biodegradable fraction and other recyclable fraction. 

treatment  of 

through 

the 

Lithuania  has  one  of  the  lowest  landfill  fees  in  the  EU. 
The  plans  to  progressively  increase  the  landfill  tax  for 
non-hazardous  waste  to  27.5  EUR/t  by  2020  were 
postponed  for  the  second  time  at  the  end  of  2018.  The 
tax  rate  thus  remains  at  5  EUR/t  in  2019,  and  is  to 
increase  to  27.5  EUR/t  by  2020.  The  low  tax  rate 
is  an  obstacle  to 
combined  with 
improving  the  economic  viability  of  recycling,  as 
landfilling remains the cheapest waste treatment option. 
Once  the  tax  reaches  the  level  of  at  least  20  EUR/t,  but 
preferably  more,  the  measure  should  become  more 
effective.  

landfill  gate  fees 

Lithuania has made the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) scheme 
mandatory in all municipalities. Under PAYT, payment for 
the  waste  management  service  should  consist  of  two 
components:  fixed  and  variable.  The  rules  determining 
and  explaining  the  scheme’s  implementation  are  quite 
vague,  however,  and  each  municipality  has  a  lot  of 
flexibility  in  how  to  implement  it.  In  practice,  the  fixed 
component  of  the  fee  is  often  predominant,  and  the 
variable part is not always linked to the amount of waste. 

It  is  important  that  Lithuania  gains  clarity  on  the  real 
needs and plans for waste incineration in the next period. 
This will improve information needed for energy recovery 
and for waste management stakeholders. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

instruments, 

Introduce  new  policy 
including 
economic instruments, to promote prevention, make 
reuse and recycling more economically attractive.  
Set  mandatory  targets  for  recycling  and/or  on 
generation of residual waste at municipal level, with 
penalties  for  non-compliance.  Develop  and  run 
implementation 
for 
municipalities  to  help  support  their  efforts  to 

programmes 

support 

18 European Commission, Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste 
operations. 
19 European Commission, Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste. 

20 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 

7 

 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

 

 

 

organise  separate  collection  and  further  improve 
recycling performance. 
Introduce  an  incineration  and  MBT  tax  to  shift 
reusable and recyclable waste towards recycling.  
Extend  and  enforce  pay-as-you-throw  scheme, 
provide  incentives  and  support  to  households  to 
participate in separate collection. 
Improve  the  functioning  of  extended  producer 
line  with  the  general 
in 
responsibility  systems, 
minimum  requirements  on  extended  producer 
responsibility21. 

  Avoid  building  excessive  infrastructure  capacity  for 
the treatment of residual waste, such as mechanical 
treatment plants, incinerators and landfills.  

Climate change 

The EU has committed to undertaking ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) covers all large 
greenhouse  gas  emitters  in  the  industry,  power  and 
aviation  sectors  in  the  EU.  The  EU  ETS  applies  in  all 
Member States and has a very high compliance rate. Each 
year,  installations  cover  around  99  %  of  their  emissions 
with the required number of allowances. 

For emissions not covered by the EU ETS, Member States 
have  binding  national  targets  under  the  Effort  Sharing 
legislation. Lithuania had lower emissions than its annual 
emission  allocations  (AEAs)  in  each  of  the  years  2013-
2016.  According  to  preliminary  data,  emissions  in  2017 
were  slightly  higher  than  the  AEA.  For  2020,  Lithuania's 
national target under the EU Effort Sharing Decision is to 
avoid increasing  emissions by more than 15% compared 
to  2005.  For  2030,  Lithuania's  national  target  under  the 
Effort  Sharing  Regulation  will  be  to  reduce  emissions  by 
9% compared to 2005.  

intends 

to  build  on  existing 

In  the  work  with  the  national  energy  and  climate  plan, 
Lithuania 
regional 
cooperation in the Baltic Energy Market  Interconnection 
Plan  (BEMIP),  the  Baltic  Environmental  and  Energy 
Councils.  On  the  basis  of  the  analysis  prepared  in  2015 
the  National  Energy  Independence  Strategy  (2012)  was 

21 Directive (EU) 2018/851. 

8 

updated by the Parliament in July 2018. Lithuania expects 
the  Baltic  Energy  Technology  Scenario  study,  of  which  a 
first  draft  was  ready 
in 
December  2017,  to  support  the  development  of  the 
NECP.  

in  October  and  finalized 

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
1990-2017 (1990=100%)22. 

for 

The  Strategy 
the  National  Climate  Change 
Management Policy lays down the targets and objectives 
for  climate  change  mitigation  and  adaptation  by  2050. 
The Strategy lays down indicative medium-term and long 
term climate change mitigation targets that Lithuania will 
contribute  towards,  i.e.  the  implementation  of  the  EU 
greenhouse  gas  emission  reduction  targets:  reducing 
these  emissions  by  at  least  40%  by  2030,  60%  by  2040 
and  80%  by  2050,  compared  to  1990  levels.  Upon  the 
adoption  of  EU  legal  acts  on  the  implementation  of  the 
EU 2030 climate and energy framework, the Strategy has 
been started to revise. 

Transport  represents  almost  a  quarter  of  the  EU’s  GHG 
emissions  and  is  the  main  cause  of  air  pollution  in 
cities.Transport emissions in Lithuania increased by 25 % 
from 2013 to 2016.” 

The  F-gas  Regulation  requires  Member  States  to  run 
training and certification programmes, introduce rules for 
penalties  and  notify  these  measures  to  the  Commission 
by 2017. Lithuania has notified both measures. 

22 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Figure 8: Targets and emissions for Lithuania under the 
Effort Sharing Decision and Effort Sharing Regulation23 

2012. 

2013-2050' 

identified:  energy, 

'Strategy  for  National  Climate 
Lithuania  adopted  a 
management 
An 
in 
Policy 
Interinstitutional  Action  Plan  on  the  implementation  of 
the goals and objectives of this Strategy was adopted for 
the  period  of  2013-2020.  The  following  priority  sectors 
have  been 
industry, 
agriculture,  landscape,  spatial  planning,  ecosystems  and 
biodiversity,  fisheries  and  aquaculture  sector,  forestry, 
waste 
tourism, 
management.  Every  two  years,  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  of  Lithuania  prepares  a  report  on 
the 
implementation  of  the  Strategy.  The  outcomes  of  the 
monitoring,  reporting  and  evaluation  scheme  will  feed 
into  further  development  of  the  Action  Plan  and  the 
update of the Strategy. 

groundwater 

resources, 

transport, 

and 

The  accounting  of  GHG  emissions  and  removals  from 
forests and agriculture is governed by the Kyoto Protocol. 
A  preliminary  accounting  exercise  for  2013-2016  shows 
net  credits  of,  on  average,  -1.9  Mt  CO2-eq,  which 
corresponds  to  1.7%  of  the  EU-28  accounted  sink  of  -
115.7  Mt  CO2-eq  per  year.  Lithuania  is  one  of  eight  EU 
Member  States  which  exceed  the  cap  of  3.5%  from 
emissions of the base year (1990). 

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203024 

The  total  revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances  under  the  EU  ETS  over  the  years  2013-2017 
were  EUR  118  million.  86  %  of  the  auctioning  revenues 
have been spent on climate and energy purposes. 

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

23 Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 
24 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

9 

 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and biodiversity 

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
biodiversity 
full 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
and  forest  sectors  help  to  maintain  and 
improve 
biodiversity. 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

In  2015,  Lithuania  adopted  an  action  plan  on  the 
conservation  of  landscape  and  biological  diversity  for 
2015-202025. 

Nature  in  Lithuania  is  in  a  relatively  good  state.  The 
condition of its air, water and soil is assessed as good — 
there are no significant ecological problems. Considering 
this,  Lithuania  can  develop  it  ecological  compensation 
system  based  on  the  ‘where  it  is  necessary’  principle 
rather than the ‘where it is left’ principle. 

There are two Lithuanian projects that have been chosen 
as  success  stories  to  showcase.  One  of  them  is  an 
integrated  planning  tool  that  can  be  used  to  ensure  the 
viability  of  grasslands.  The  project  has:  (i)  identified 
common  policy  shortcomings  and  eliminated  them  to 
make  sure  grassland  biodiversity  is  maintained  in  the 
long-term;  (ii)  restored  around  140  ha  of  grasslands  to 
create  the  preconditions 
for  sustainable  grassland 
management;  (iii)  set  up  a  capacity-building  programme 
on applying the integrated planning tool, which led to the 
training  of  400  people.  The  second  project  is  on  the 
restoration  of  hydrology  in  the  Amalvas  and  Žuvintas 
wetlands; 
reversing  degradation 
processes in 1 158 ha of targeted wetland in the Žuvintas 

succeeded 

in 

it 

25 Order on the Approval of the Action Plan on the Conservation of 
Landscape and Biological Diversity for 2015-2020. 

10 

biosphere  reserve.  This  example  of  successful  wetland 
restoration can be easily replicated26. 

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

The Birds and Habitats Directives require Member States 
to establish a coherent national network of Natura 2000 
sites.  The  Commission  assesses  compliance  with  this 
requirement  individually  for  each  species  and  habitat 
type  occurring  on  the  national  territory  of  the  Member 
States.  The latest  update of this assessment  was carried 
out  by  the  Commission  with  the  assistance  of  the 
European  Environment  Agency  (EEA).  This  latest  update 
identified  several  insufficiencies  in  Lithuania’s  terrestrial 
Natura 2000 network. 

In early 2017, 13 % of Lithuania’s land area was covered 
by  Natura  2000  (EU  average  18.1 %).  The  list  of  Special 
Protection  Areas  (SPAs)  in  Lithuania  comprises  84  sites 
covering a total area of over 658 561 ha, while the list of 
Sites  of  Community  Importance  (SCIs)  consists  of  475 
sites covering 724 708 ha. With the establishment of the 
last  marine  SPA  in  July  2015,  the  Lithuanian  network  of 
SPAs  is  considered as having  been completed. However, 
the latest assessment27 of the SCI part of the Natura 2000 
network  shows  that  there  are  insufficiencies  when  it 
comes to designation. 

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

A  national  habitat  inventory  was  carried  out  between 
2011-2015 in order to determine the exact localisation of 
natural habitats and to collect the necessary data needed 
for establishing favourable reference values and relevant 
conservation objectives for each habitat type. The results 
of  the  exercise  strongly  suggest  that  the  information  on 
the present SCIs will have to be substantially reviewed to 
reflect  the  current  reality.  It  also  indicates  that  the 
current  SCI  network  might  be  incomplete  for  some 
habitat types and species. 

Lithuania  continues  to  develop  species  conservation 
plans  and  management  plans  for  protected  areas  as 
required  by  EU  legislation.  At  present,  there  are  104 
adopted  management  plans  for  Natura  2000  sites,  and 
stages  of 
in  preparation,  at  different 
142  are 

26 LIFE programme - Country Factsheet for Lithuania. 
27 For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the 
species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive, 
are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to date. This is 
expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for which further 
areas need to be designated in order to complete the network in that 
country. The current data, which were assessed in 2014-2015, reflect 
the situation up until December 2013. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

development.  The  lack  of  financial  resources  for  the 
surveillance  of  species  and  habitats  and  for  activities 
related to habitat restoration and maintenance remains a 
key  difficulty 
in  carrying  out  the required  nature 
management activities in the Natura 2000 network28. 

restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
Progress 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

Considering that Member States report every 6 years on 
the  progress  made  under  both  directives,  no  new 
information  is  available  on  the  state  of  natural  habitats 
and  species,  or  on  progress  made  in  improving  the 
conservation  status  of  species  and  habitats  in  Lithuania, 
as compared to the 2017 EIR Lithuanian Country Report. 

Overall,  it  is  acknowledged  that  improvements  in  the 
status  of  species  and  habitats  have  recently  been 
reported in Lithuania. 

2019 priority actions 

 

for 

resources 

Complete  the  Natura  2000  designation  process  and 
put  in  place  clearly  defined  conservation  objectives 
and  the  necessary  conservation  measures  for  the 
sites;  provide  adequate 
their 
implementation in order to maintain/restore species 
and  habitats  of  community  interest  to  a  favourable 
conservation status across their natural range. 
  Develop  and  promote  smart  and  streamlined 
implementation approaches, in particular as regards 
appropritate assessment  procedures, to ensure that 
necessary  knowledge  and  data  are  available; 
improve communication with stakeholders. 
Improve  the  incentives  for  foresters  and  farmers  to 
better  protect  forest  and  grassland  habitat.  Ensure 
sustainable 
forest  management  and  promote 
efficient use of biomass. 

 

Maintaining  and  restoring  ecosystems  and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
including  green 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of  green  and  blue  infrastructure  in  Lithuania29  and  a 
country page on the Biodiversity Information System for 
Europe  (BISE)30.  This  information  will  also  contribute  to 
the  final  evaluation  of  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to 
2020. 

The Lithuanian green infrastructure (GI) strategy is in line 
with the  spatial system developed in the country, called 
the  ‘nature  frame’.  It  is  put  into  law  by  the  Law  on 
Environmental  Protection,  the  Law  on  Protected  Areas, 
and  the  Master  Plan  of  the  Territory  of  the  Republic  of 
Lithuania, through the concepts of nature frame and the 
ecological  network.  The  nature  frame  areas  cover 
approximately 60 % of Lithuania’s total area. 

GI  is  also  incorporated  into  the  national  environment 
protection  strategy  (2015),  which  sets  goals  up  to  2030, 
and the action plan on the conservation of landscape and 
biodiversity (2015-2020). The plan states that the nature 
frame  and  the  ecological  network  should  be  defined  in 
documents on integrated territorial planning at all levels. 
However, there are still challenges for implementing the 
nature  frame,  due  to  a  lack  of  experience  and  financial 
support.  The  national  environment  protection  strategy 
also promotes GI in urban areas. The Law on Green Plots 
requires  the  creation  of  a  system  of  green  areas  when 
master plans for cities are being prepared. 

GI  projects  are  implemented  at  cross-border,  national, 
regional and local level. Many Lithuanian cities engage in 
green  urban  regeneration  and  are  implementing  GI.  As 
regards  agricultural  policies,  the  nature  frame  is  taken 
into  account  in  the  preparation  of  land  management 
plans, accompanied by environmental measures. 

Forest  policies  also 
include  GI  elements  as  forest 
management  plans  must  take  into  account  biodiversity 
features in the area when forest management measures 
are  being  planned.  Conflict  between  commercial 
agricultural or forestry activities and the management of 
land  for  nature  protection  has  been  identified  as  a 
challenge.  This  is  especially  the  case  where  specific 

28 The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is the assessment of conservation 
status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive. 

29 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy review 
report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 
30 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 

11 

 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

agricultural  practices  such  as  pastures  are  no  longer 
economically profitable. 

On 8 August  2018, the Lithuanian government  approved 
a  new yearly quota for cutting state forest  for the years 
2019-2023.  It  amounts  to  11 850  ha  of  forest  per  year 
and is 6 % higher than the yearly quota approved for the 
years  2014-2018  (11 168  ha).  This  quota  applies  to  all 
including  protected  areas.  This 
state-owned  forests, 
growing intensity of forest exploitation, especially within 
Natura  2000  areas,  raises  further  nature  protection 
concerns.  

The EU structural and investment funds are an important 
source  of  funding  for  GI  in  Lithuania.  Over  2014-2020, 
around EUR 66 million is earmarked for the management 
of  protected  areas  and  integration  of  GI  solutions  into 
landscape  management  at 
level.  A  particular 
challenge  is  the  lack  of  a  methodology  that  could  guide 
the creation of the nature frame and ecological networks 
at regional and local level. 

local 

Lithuania is encouraged to continue its efforts to deploy 
green and blue infrastructure and mainstream it in other 
policies consistently with the mapping and assessment of 
framework; 
ecosystems  and  their  services 
consider the recommendations of the GI strategy review 
report;  make  full  use  of  the  EU  guidance  on  a  strategic 
framework for further supporting the deployment of EU-
level green and blue infrastructure31.  

(MAES) 

Lithuania’s  report  on  resource  mobilisation  to  the 
Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  (CBD)  is  still  pending. 
Reporting  to  the  CBD  on  financial  flows  is  important  for 
the  position  of  the  EU  and  Member  States  in  the  CBD, 
and helps support good practices in other countries.  

Estimating natural capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services32 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

included 

In Lithuania, the topic of ecosystem services is still rather 
new,  with  limited  knowledge  and  experience  across 
different sectors (government, academia, NGOs, private). 
No systemic mapping of  ecosystems has yet been done. 
However,  MAES  has  been 
in  the  current 
Lithuanian  government’s  work  programme  for  2016-
2020. It requires the mapping and assessing of at least 24 
main  ecosystem  services,  and  urges  the  adoption  of 
legislation to foster integration of the ecosystem services 
approach  into  sectoral  policies.  However,  there  is  no 
coherent strategy or outlined set of actions yet. 
Lithuania has started to prepare33 for a national study on 
the  distribution  and  state  of  the  main  ecosystems  and 
their  services  on  its  territory.  The  two-year  study  is 
expected  to  begin  in  early  2019.  For  the  process  to  be 
successful,  however,  awareness  and  knowledge  of 
ecosystem services in Lithuania must increase. 

A  concurrent  scientific  project  on  ecosystem  services 
mapping and assessment funded by the Research Council 
of  Lithuania  in  2017  is  ongoing.  Discussions  on  how  to 
best combine the two initiatives have started. 
Figure 10: Implementation of MAES (September 2018) 34 

Outside  national-level  developments,  a  number  of 
smaller-scale  initiatives  with  a  narrower  focus  can  be 
highlighted, e.g. the VivaGrass project, carried out jointly 
with  Latvian  and  Estonian  partners  specifically  on 
grassland  ecosystem  services,  and  EcoServe,  on  the 
future of the ecosystem services of the Lithuanian coastal 
zone in the context of global changes. 

At  the  MAES  working  group  meeting  held  in  Brussels  in 
September  2018,  it  was  shown  that  Lithuania  has  made 

31 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy review 
report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 

32 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 
33 Ecosystem services in Lithuania. 
34 ESMERALDA project. 

12 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

some progress in implementing MAES since January 2016 
(Figure  10).  This  assessment  was  made  by 
the 
ESMERALDA  project35  and  based  on  27  implementation 
questions. The assessment is updated every 6 months. 

Business  and  biodiversity  platforms,  networks  and 
communities  of  practice  are  key  for  promoting  and 
facilitating  natural  capital  assessments  among  business 
and  financial  service  providers,  for  instance  via  the 
Natural  Capital  Coalition’s  protocol36.  The  assessments 
contribute  to  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy  by  helping 
private  businesses  better  understand  and  value  both 
impact  dependence  on  nature.  Biodiversity 
their 
platforms  have  been  established  at  EU  level37  and  in  a 
number of Member States. 

Lithuania has not yet established such a platform. 

The  report  on  the  baseline  distribution  of  invasive  alien 
species (Figure 11), for which Lithuania did not review its 
country or grid-level data, shows that from the 37 species 
on  the  first  EU  list,  seven  have  been  observed  in  the 
these,  Sosnowsky’s 
environment 
hogweed (Heracleum sosnowskyi)  seems to be the  most 
widespread. 

in  Lithuania.  Of 

Between  the  entry  into  force  of  the  EU  list  and  18 May 
2018,  Lithuania  has  not  notified  the  Commission  of  any 
new appearances of listed species. 

Lithuania  has  fulfilled  all  of  its  notification  obligations 
under  the  Regulation  and  has  also  carried  out  a 
comprehensive  analysis  of  pathways  of  unintentional 
introduction  and  spread  of  invasive  alien  species  of  EU 
concern. It has shared the results with the Commission. 

Invasive alien species 

Soil protection 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

Figure  11:  Number  of  IAS  of  EU  concern,  based  on 
available georeferenced information for Lithuania38 

35 ESMERALDA project. 
36 Natural Capital Coalition, Natural Capital Protocol. 
37 Business and Biodiversity, The European Business and Biodiversity 
Campaign aims to promote the business case for biodiversity in the EU 
Member States through workshops, seminars and a cross media 
communication strategy. 
38 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union, 2017. 

13 

The  EU  soil  thematic  strategy  underlines  the  need  to 
ensure a  sustainable use of soils.  This  entails preventing 
further  soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as 
well as restoring degraded soils. The 2011 Roadmap to a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly  degrading  in  the  EU.  The  percentage  of 
artificial  land39  in  Lithuania  (Figure  12)  is  amongst  the 
lowest in the EU (surpassing only Sweden, Finland, Latvia, 
Bulgaria,  Estonia  and  Romania).  This  is  partly  linked  to 
the  population  density  of  45.8/km2,  significantly  below 
the EU average of 11840.  

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 
report  of  the  European  Commission41  estimated  that 
potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are  still 
taking place on approximately 2.8 million sites in the EU. 
At EU level,  650 000 of these sites have been registered 
in national or regional inventories.  65 500  contaminated 
sites  already  have  been  remediated.  Lithuania  has 
registered  12 341  sites  where  potentially  polluting 

39 Artificial land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 
40 European Commission, Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 
region. 
41 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio (2018), Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

activities have taken or are taking place, and already has 
remediated or applied aftercare measures on 96 sites. 

Lithuania  has  carried  out  a  thorough  mapping  of 
potentially  contaminated  sites.  This  serves  as  the  basis 
for  remediating  these  contaminated  sites  under  the 
national  environment  protection  strategy  (2015)42  and 
management  plan  of  contaminated  sites  for  2013-2023, 
approved by the Minister of Environment43 
Figure 12: Proportion of artificial land cover, 2015 44 

Lithuania  has  an  average  soil  loss  rate  by  water  of  2.46 
tonnes  per  hectare  per  year,  compared  to  the  EU  mean 
of  2.46  t ha−a yr−y.  This  indicates  that  soil  erosion  in 
Lithuania  is  similar  to  the  EU  average.  Note  that  these 
figures  are  the  output  of  an  EU  level  model  and  can 
therefore  not  be  considered  as  locally  measured  values. 
The  actual  rate  of  soil  loss  can  vary  strongly  within  a 
Member State depending on local conditions. 

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second largest 
carbon  sink  in  the  world  after  the  oceans.  Due  to  the 
intensive 
natural  climate  conditions  and 
historical tillage, Lithuanian arable land is heavily affected 
by  leaching  of  organic  carbon  –  median  value  of  total 
organic carbon (TOC) in arable soil is 1.2 %, while median 
at EU level is 1.8 %. Only Polish, Spanish and Portuguese 
arable  soil  is  poorer  with  TOC  than  Lithuanian.  Grazing 
land in Lithuania has 2.25 % of TOC, but is still very poor 
and only fourth from the end in EU46. 

long-term 

Marine protection 

EU coastal and marine policy and legislation require that 
by  2020  the  impact  of  pressures  on  marine  waters  be 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status (GES) and ensure that coastal zones are managed 
sustainably. 

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)47 aims 
to achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine 
waters  by  2020.  To  that  end,  Member  States  must 
develop  a  marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and 
cooperate  with  the  EU  countries  that  share  the  same 
marine (sub)region. 

Soil erosion by water is a natural process, but this natural 
process can be aggravated by climate change and human 
activities  such  as  inappropriate  agricultural  practices, 
deforestation,  forest  fires  or  construction  works.  High 
levels  of  soil  erosion  can  reduce  productivity 
in 
agriculture  and  can  have  negative  and  transboundary 
impacts  on  biodiversity  and  ecosystem  service.  High 
levels  of  soil  erosion  can  also  have  negative  and 
lakes  (due  to 
transboundary  effects  on  rivers  and 
increased 
transport  of 
and 
volumes 
contaminants).  According  to  the  RUSLE2015  model45, 

sediment 

42 National Environment Protection Strategy. 
43 Management Plan of Contaminated sites for 2013-2023. 
44 European Commission, Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by 
NUTS 2 regions. 
45 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., 
Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L., Alewell, C., The new assessment of 
soil loss by water erosion in Europe, (2015) Environmental Science and 
Policy, 54, pp. 438-447. 

steps 

For  Lithuania,  the  Baltic  Marine  Environment  Protection 
Commission  (Helsinki  Commission)  plays  an  important 
role  in  achieving  the  goals  required  by  the  Marine 
Strategy 
strategies 
Framework  Directive.  Marine 
to  be  developed  and 
comprise  different 
implemented  over  six-year  cycles.  The 
latest  step 
required  Member  States  to  set  up  a  programme  of 
measures  and  report  on  it  to  the  Commission.  This  was 
due  by  31 March  2016.  Although  it  has  reported  its 
measures  in  the  meantime,  this  was  too  late  for  the 
this  assessment 
Commission 
exercise48.  

include 

them 

to 

in 

46 Birke, M., Demetriades, A., Filzmoser, P., O’Connor, P. (eds.) 2014. 
Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soils. Geologisches Jahrbuch (Reihe A, 
102, Schweizerbart, 2014, pp.187-191. 
47 Directive 2008/56/EC. 
48 COM(2018) 562, p. 2. 

14 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

2019 priority action 

 

Ensure  timely  reporting  of  the  different  elements 
under  the  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  so 
that  Lithuania  can  be  part  of  future  Commission's 
assessments. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life 

Air quality 

EU clean air  policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach  full  compliance  with  EU  air  quality  legislation  and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation49,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 
According to the European Court of Auditors (ECA)50, EU 
action to protect human health from air pollution has not 
delivered its expected impact. 

Figure  13:  PM2.5  and  NOx  emissions  by  sector 
Lithuania51  

in 

particular matter PM2.5 by 9.35 %. Meanwhile, emissions 
of  nitrogen  oxides  (NOx)  increased  by  1.14 %  between 
2014 and 2016 (see also Figure 13 on the total PM2.5 and 
NOx emissions per sector). 

Despite  the  reduction  in  emissions,  Lithuania  needs  to 
make  additional  efforts  to  meet  its  emission  reduction 
commitments  (compared  with  2005  levels)  set  by  the 
new  National  Emissions  Ceilings  Directive 53  for  2020-
2029 and for any year from 2030. 

in  Lithuania 

For 2017, Lithuania does not report any air quality values 
limits54.  Air  quality 
that  exceed  EU 
is 
reported  to  be  generally  good,  with  exceptions.    For 
2015,  the  European  Environment  Agency55  estimated 
that about  2 600 premature  deaths were attributable to 
fine  particulate  matter  concentrations56,  90  to  ozone 
concentrations57 
dioxide 
70 
concentrations.  

nitrogen 

and 

to 

Figure  14:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201758  

The  emission  of  several  air  pollutants  has  decreased 
significantly in Lithuania52. The emission reductions made 
between  1990-2014  and  mentioned  in  the  previous  EIR 
continued  between  2014-2016,  with:  emissions  of 
sulphur  oxides  (SOx)  falling  by  4.51 %;  emissions  of 
ammonia  (NH3)  by  1.65 %;  emissions  of  volatile  organic 
compounds  (NMVOCs)  by  0.96 %,  and;  emissions  of  fine 

49 European Commission, 2016. Air Quality Standards. 
50 European Court of Auditors, Special report no 23/2018, Air pollution: 
Our health still insufficiently protected, p.41. 
51 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 
52 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 
viewer (NEC Directive). 

2019 priority action 

 

Take,  in  the  context  of  the  National  Air  Pollution 
Control  Programme 
towards 
further reducing the main emission sources. 

(NAPCP),  actions 

53 Directive 2016/2284/EU 
54 See The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal and the related Central Data 
Repository. 
55 EEA, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 Report, p. 64. Please see details in 
this report as regards the underpinning methodology. 
56 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. PM10 
(PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5) micrometres or 
less. PM is emitted from many human sources, including combustion. 
57 Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution. 
58 European Commission, Data reflects the reporting situation as of 26 
November 2018. 

16 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

and  NH3.  The  breakdown  is  shown  in  the  following 
graph. 

Figure 16: Emissions to air from IED sectors and all other 
national total air emissions (2015) 

Industrial emissions 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive59 (IED). 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  activities  regulated  by 
the  IED  is  based  on  the  ‘industrial  emissions  policy 
country profiles’ project60. 

the  most 

industrial  sectors  with 

Lithuania’s 
IED 
installations  in  2015  were,  as  reflected  in  Figure  15: 
intensive  rearing of poultry and pigs (41 %),  followed by 
the  management  of  hazardous  waste  industry  (13 %), 
management of non-hazardous waste (12 %) and energy-
power (12 %). 

Figure  15:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector, Lithuania (2015)61 

The  industrial  sectors  that  were  the  largest  burden  on 
the  environment  in  terms  of  emissions  to  air  were  the 
energy-power  sector  for  all  pollutants  except  NMVOCs 
and  ammonia  (NH3)  and 
‘other  activities’  (mostly 
intensive  rearing  of  poultry  or  pigs,  surface  treatment 
and  pulp,  paper  and  wood  products),  also  for  NMVOCs 

59 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing of pig and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
60 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Lithuania. 
61 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Lithuania. 

17 

environmental 

Regarding  water  emissions,  the  ‘other  activities’  and 
chemicals  sectors  were  identified  as  having  the  most 
significant 
The  waste 
management  sector  mainly  contributes  to  hazardous 
waste generation and chemicals to non-hazardous waste 
generation.  Waste  generation  by  IED  installations  is 
shown in the following graph. 

impact. 

The  EU  approach  taken  to  enforcement  under  the  IED 
creates  strong  rights  for  citizens  to  have  access  to 
relevant information and to participate in the permitting 
process.  This  empowers  citizens,  and  NGOs,  to  ensure 
that  permits  are  appropriately  granted  and  their 
conditions respected.  

The  development  of  Best  Available  Techniques  (BAT) 
Reference  Documents  (BREFs)  and  BAT  Conclusions 
through  the  exchange  of  information  involving  Member 
States, Industrial associations, NGOs and the Commission 
ensures  a  good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and 
enables a better implementation of IED.  

The  Commission  relies  on  and  welcomes  the  efforts  of 
national  competent  authorities  to  implement  the  legally 
binding  BAT  conclusions  and  associated  BAT  emission 
levels in environmental permits, resulting in considerable 
and continuous reduction of pollution.  

By  way  of  example,  the  implementation  of  the  recently 
adopted  BAT  associated  emission 
levels  for  Large 
Combustion Plants will -on average and depending on the 
situation of individual plants- reduce emissions of sulphur 
dioxide with 25% to 81%, nitrogen oxide with 8%to 56%, 
dust  with  31%  to  78%  and  mercury  with  19%  to  71%  at 
EU level.  

The  challenge  identified  during  stakeholder  consultation 
in  Lithuania  related  to  the  odour  arising  from  the 
intensive rearing of pigs. 

 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

2019 priority action 

  Review  permits  and  strengthen  control  and  /or 
enforcement  to  compy  with  newly  adopted  BAT 
conclusions.  

Noise 
The  Environmental  Noise  Directive62  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoiding,  preventing  and  reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related  issues 
in the EU63. 
Based  on  a  limited  set  of  data64,  environmental  noise 
causes  at  least  300  premature  deaths  per  year  in 
Lithuania  and  is  responsible  for  around  1 200  hospital 
admissions.  Noise  also  disturbs  the  sleep  of  roughly 
130 000  people  in  Lithuania.  The  noise  mapping  for  the 
is 
previous  reporting  round  (reference  year  2011) 
complete, as are the action plans (reference year 2013). 
These  instruments,  adopted  after  a  public  consultation 
had  been  carried  out,  should  include  the  measures  to 
keep noise low or reduce it.  

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation65  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water  bodies  in  the  EU  and  addresses  specific  pollution 
sources  (for  example,  from  agriculture,  urban  areas  and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
into  the 
impacts  of  climate  change  are 
risk 
corresponding  planning 

instruments  e.g. flood 

integrated 

62 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
63 Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), 
Burden of disease from environmental noise, WHO/JRC, World Health 
Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011. 
64 European Environment Agency, Noise Fact Sheets 2017. 
65 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the Nitrates 
Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 

18 

management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

Water Framework Directive 

Lithuania  has  adopted  the  second  generation  of  river 
basin  management  plans  under  the  Water  Framework 
Directive  albeit  not  finished  the  electronic  reporting  to 
WISE  as  agreed  by  the  water  directors  under  the 
common  implementation  strategy  related  to  the  Water 
Framework  Directive, 
in  June  2014.  The  European 
Commission  has  therefore  not  yet  conducted  an 
assessment  and  not  been  able  to  assess  the  status  and 
development since the first EIR report. 

Nitrates Directive 

its  whole 

In the context of the Nitrates Directive, Lithuania applies 
mandatory  measures  on 
territory.  The 
measures implementing the Nitrates Directive are set out 
in  the  water  field  development  program  for  the  year 
2017-2023  and  implementation  plan  of  the  water  field 
development  program  for  the  year  2017-2023.  Overall, 
according to the last report on the implementation of the 
Nitrates  Directive  (referring  to  the  period  2012-2015), 
nitrate  levels  in  surface  water  and  groundwater  remain 
low  in  Lithuania.  However,  eutrophication  of  surface 
freshwater remains problematic, with a slight increase of 
stations  reported  in  eutrophic  and  hypertrophic  status, 
from 47 % to 49 %. Protection of the Baltic Sea is also an 
issue  as  all  saline  water  stations  were  reported  to  be  in 
eutrophic  or  hypertrophic  status.  Under  the  Nitrates 
Directive  report  for  2012-2015,  Lithuania  also  reported 
that nitrate concentrations in surface water are not likely 
to decrease if no additional measures are taken to reduce 
pollution. 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure  17  shows  that,  in  2017,  out  of  Lithuania’s  114 
bathing waters, 85.1 % were of excellent quality, 10.5 % 
of  good  quality  and  0.9 %  of  sufficient  quality  (85.1 %, 
8.8 %  and  2.6 %  respectively  in  2016).  However,  one  of 
Lithuania’s bathing waters was of poor quality66. Detailed 
information on Lithuania’s bathing waters is available on 
a  national  portal 67  and  via  an  interactive  map  viewer 
designed  and  hosted  by  the  European  Environment 
Agency68. 
Figure 17: Bathing water quality 2014 – 201769 

66 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2016, 2017, p. 17. 
67 Centre for Health Education and Disease Prevention 
68 EEA, State of bathing waters. 
69 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2017, 2018, p. 21. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

 

Consider  improved  or  new  measures  under  the 
Nitrates Directive to decrease nitrate pollution. 
  Reach  compliance  with  the  Urban  Waste  Water 
Treatment  Directive  in  Kėdainiai  and  resolve  issues 
related to IAS as soon as possible. 
Take steps to clarify the legal status of the Flood Risk 
Management Plan. 

 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse  effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

legislation71  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
for  businesses 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
operating within the internal market. 

In  2016,  the  European  Chemicals  Agency 
(ECHA) 
published  a  report  on  REACH  and  the  CLP  Regulation72 
that showed that enforcement activities are still evolving. 
Member  States  cooperate  closely  within  the  Forum  for 
Information  on  Enforcement73.  This 
Exchange  of 
cooperation  has  shown  that  there  is  scope  to  increase 
the  effectiveness  of  enforcement  activities,  particularly 
for registration obligations and safety data sheets where 
the level of non-compliance is still relatively high. 

While progress has been made, there is room to further 
improve and harmonise enforcement activities across the 
EU,  including  controls  on  imported  goods.  Enforcement 
remains  weak  in  some  Member  States,  particularly  for 
controls  on  imports  and  supply  chain  obligations.  The 
in  most  EU 
enforcement  architecture 
countries and enforcement projects reveal differences in 
compliance between Member States. 

is  complex 

A  2015  Commission  study  already  emphasised  the 
importance  of  harmonised  market  surveillance  and 
enforcement  when  implementing  REACH  at  Member 
State  level,  deeming  it  to  be  a  critical  success  factor  in 
the operation of a harmonised single market

74

. 

71 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 
72 ECHA, Report on the Operation of REACH and CLP 2016. 
73 ECHA, On the basis of the projects REF-1, REF-2 and REF-3. 
74 European Commission, Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs, Final Report, 2015. 

19 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

Lithuania  has  a  high 
level  of  compliance  with  the 
requirements  of  the  Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment 
Directive. All except one of its 65 agglomerations comply 
with  the  requirements  of  the  Directive  in  terms  of 
collection and treatment. An infringement procedure has 
been  launched  to  address  the  remaining  agglomeration 
(Kėdainiai)  and  issues  related  to  the  use  of  individual  or 
other  appropriate  systems  (IAS)  across  the  country, 
lack  regulation  and  control.  The 
which  frequently 
estimated 
investment  needed  to  ensure  adequate 
collection and treatment of the remaining agglomeration 
is EUR 38 million70. 

Floods Directive 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the 
reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated  with 
significant floods. 

Lithuania  has  reported  its  first  Flood  Risk  Management 
Plans  under  the  Directive,  which  has  been  assessed  by 
the European Commission. Objectives are well defined as 
are    measures  focusing  on  prevention,  protection  and 
preparedness. The assessment  also showed that, as was 
the case for other Member States, Lithuania’s Flood Risk 
Management  Plans  do  not  yet  include  a  baseline  to 
assess the progress achieved in implementing measures. 
Also  the  coordination  with  the  National  Climate  Change 
Adaptation  Strategy  could  be  reinforced.  In  addition, 
there is  scope for  clarifying the legal status of the Flood 
Risk Management Plan. 

2019 priority actions 

 

Ensure  timely  reporting  of  river  basin  management 
plans  in  accordance  with  the  Water  Framework 
Directive. 

70 COM(2017) 749 , SWD(2017)445. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of REACH75 underlining the need to improve enforcement 
by all actors, including registrants, downstream users and 
importers  in  particular,  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field, 
meet  the REACH objectives and ensure consistency with 
measures that aim to improve environmental compliance 
and  governance.  For  this,  consistent  reporting  of 
Member States’ enforcement activities was considered of 
key importance. 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU policy on the urban environment encourages cities to 
put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning  and 
design.  These  should  include  innovative  approaches  to 
urban  public 
sustainable 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

transport  and  mobility, 

living 

in  Europe 

in  urban  areas 

The  population 
is 
projected to rise to just over 80% by 205076. Urban areas 
pose  particular  challenges  for  the  environment  and 
human  health,  but  they  also  provide  opportunities  for 
using  resources  more  efficiently.  The  EU  encourages 
municipalities to become greener through initiatives such 
as  the  Green  Capital  Award77,  the  Green  Leaf  Award78 
and the Green City Tool79. 

the 

participates 

European  Urban 
in 
Lithuania 
Development  Network  (UDN)81,  which  includes  more 
than 500 cities across the EU responsible for carrying out 
integrated  measures  based  on  sustainable  urban 
development  strategies  financed  by  the  ERDF  in  2014-
2020. In June 2018, the UDN organised a workshop open 
to  Estonian,  Latvian  and  Lithuanian  cities  implementing 
sustainable urban development measures. 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Lithuanian  municipalities  are  generally  involved  in  EU 
initiatives  on  environmental  protection  and  climate 
change. 

Three  Lithuanian  municipalities  are 
in  the 
URBACT  initiative,  which  supports  sustainable  urban 
development  through five thematic networks82. None of 
these networks are currently led by Lithuania. 

involved 

Several  Horizon  2020  network  projects  have  also 
contributed to the sustainability of Lithuanian cities. Four 
cities,  namely  Vilnius,  Kaunas,  Klaipėda  and  Palanga, 
participate  in  CIVITAS  initiative,  which  aims  to  improve 
the  efficiency  of  urban  transport  in  Europe  and  beyond, 
while  reducing  the  negative  impacts  of  the  transport 
sector and combatting harmful emissions83. 

15  Lithuanian  municipalities  are  involved  in  the  EU 
Covenant  of  Mayors.  Good  project  examples  include 
several  projects  related  to  renovating  public  and 
residential  buildings,  replacement  of  fossil  fuels  by 
biomass in the Kaunas DH system and modernising public 
transport in Kaunas84. 

initiatives  and  networks  should  be 
These  urban 
welcomed and encouraged, as they contribute to a better 
urban environment. In 2017, 21.6 % of Lithuanians living 
in  cities  considered  that  their  residential  area  was 
affected  by  pollution,  grime  or  other  environmental 
problems,  a  slight  increase  compared  to  2015  (21.2 %) 
and 2014 (20.8 %).  These  figures are above EU-28 levels 
(18.9 % in 2016, 19.2 % in 2015 and 19 % in 2014)85. 

Financing greener cities 

Lithuania has allocated EUR 204.7 million or 5.85 % of its 
allocation  under  the  European  Regional  Development 
Fund  (ERDF)  and  EUR 6  million  or  0.5 %  of  its  allocation 
under  the  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  to  sustainable 
urban development80. 

75 COM(2018) 116. 
76 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 
77 European Commission, European Green Capital. 
78 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award. 
79 European Commission, Green City Tool. 
80 EU structural assistance 2007-2013, Partnership agreement 2014-
2020. 

81 European Commission, The Urban Development Network. 
82 URBACT, Associated Networks by country. 
83 CIVITAS initiative. 
84 Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, Country signatories. 
85 European Commission, Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other 
environmental problems by degree of urbanisation. 

20 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Nature and cities 

Around  9 %  of  Lithuania’s  Natura  2000  network  is  in 
functional  urban  areas86,  above  the  EU  average  of  15 % 
(see Figure 18). 

Several  Lithuanian  cities  are  taking  positive  action 
towards 
the 
greening  urban 
implementation of green infrastructure. 

regeneration 

and 

There  is  no  progress  on  the  proportion  of  renewable 
energy  used  in  transport.  The  proportion  of  renewable 
energy in fuel consumption is decreasing: 4.3 % in 2014, 
4.6 %  in  2015  and  3.6 %  in  2016.  The  Lithuanian  rail 
lowest  electrified  rail 
network  remains  among  the 
networks 
in  the  EU:  only  6.9 %  of  rail  tracks  are 
electrified.  However,  with  the  help  of  various  funding 
instruments, progress is expected in the coming years. 

Figure  18:  Proportion  of  Natura  2000  network 
functional urban areas (FUAs)87 

in 

Urban sprawl 
Lithuania’s weighted urban proliferation of 1.69 UPU/m2 
in  2009  was  around  the  EU  average  (EU28+4)  of  1.64 
UPU/m2,  having 
increased  compared  to  2006  (1.64 
UPU/m2)8889. 

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

Traffic  congestion  is  not  one  of  the  main  environmental 
issues  affecting  Lithuania.  However,  many  subjects 
addressed  in  this  report  are  to  some  extent  related  to 
traffic congestion, especially air quality and noise. 

Lithuanian  cities  generally  have  low  levels  of  traffic 
congestion.  The  capital  city  Vilnius  has  a  traffic 
congestion level of 28 %90. 

Regarding urban mobility, there has been an increase  in 
the  use  of  public  transport  in  recent  years,  especially 
buses  and  trolleybuses,  but  also  other  transportation 
alternatives to the private car. 

In  freight  transport,  the  proportion  of  road  transport  in 
Lithuania was far below the EU average in 2015. Railways 
played  an  important  role  for  freight  transport  in  2015 
and are far above the EU average. 

Lithuania  is  one  of  the  EU  countries  with  high  road 
fatality  rates  despite  the  significant  decreases  that  have 
been recorded since 2007. 

86 European Commission, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 
87 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 
88 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as well 
as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
89 EEA, Urban Sprawl in Europe, Annex I, 2014, pp.4-5. 
90 TOMTOM, TOMTOM Traffic Index. 

21 

 
                                                                 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental 

funding and investments 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

oil filters, air intake filters, shock absorbers and mercury 
lamps92. 

incentives, 

Financial 
taxation  and  other  economic 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

Lithuania’s  revenue  from  environment-related  taxes 
remains  below  the  EU  average.  Environmental  taxes 
accounted  for  1.91 %  of  GDP  in  2017  (EU-28  average: 
2.4 %),  as  shown  in  Figure  19,  and  energy  taxes  for 
1.73 % of GDP (EU-28 average: 1.84 %). In the same year, 
environmental  tax  revenues  stood  at  6.42 %  of  total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social  security  contributions 
(compared to the EU-28 average of 5.97 %). 

The  structure  of  taxation  shows  that  the  proportion  of 
labour  tax  revenues  in  total  tax  revenues,  at  48 %  in 
2016,  was  in  line  with  the  EU  average,  with  the  implicit 
tax  burden  on  labour  at  32.2 %.  Consumption  taxes 
remained high (at 38.3 %, 9th place in the EU-28), which 
suggests  that  there  are  obstacles  to  shifting  taxes  from 
labour  to  consumption,  as  well  as  to  environmental 
taxes. 

In  the  European  Country  reports,  the  Commission  has 
repeatedly  indicated  that  there  is  further  potential  to 
increase  environmental  taxes.  Lithuania  has  the  lowest 
excise duties on motor fuel, petrol and diesel in the EU91 
and  the  proposals  to  introduce  a  CO2-based  motor 
vehicle tax have been rejected so far. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  several  cases  that  show  the 
implementation  of  sound  fiscal  measures  related  to  the 
environment. Seven widely used products, which account 
for  a  large  portion  of  the  waste  stream,  were  added  to 
the  products  taxed  under  the  Law  on  the  Tax  on 
Environmental  Pollution  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania: 
tyres, accumulators, galvanic elements (batteries), fuel or 

91 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, 
p16. 

Figure  19:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  %  of  GDP 
(2017)93 

Meanwhile,  post-tax  fossil  fuel  subsidies  added  up  to 
more than USD 2.24 billion (this includes not only price-
gap  subsidies  but  also  subsidies  to  combat  the  negative 
consequences  associated  with  fossil  fuel  use,  such  as 
change  and 
faster 
local  air  pollution, 
congestion)94. 

climate 

In  2018,  some  efforts  have  been  made  to  reduce  the 
‘diesel  differential’  (difference  in  the  price  of  diesel 
versus petrol). Lithuania has increased the rate for diesel 
(propellant)  in 2018  by  5%,  however  rate  for  petrol  has 

92 Institute for European Environmental Policy, Case Studies on 
Environmental Fiscal Reform, Environmental Pollution Tax in Lithuania. 
93 European Commission, Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2019. 
94 European Parliament and IMF, Fossil Fuel Subsidies, 2017, pp. 10-11. 

22 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

not  been  changed.  In  2016,  there  was  still  a  32 %  gap 
between  petrol  and  diesel  tax  rates;  whereas  in  2005  it 
was only 17 %95. 

There  are  no  CO2-based  motor  vehicle  taxes  in  place  in 
Lithuania.  Incentives  to  encourage  the  purchase  of  cars 
with lower CO2 emissions were low in 2016. New vehicles 
purchased 
least 
environmentally  friendly  in  the  EU,  with  average  CO2 
emissions  of  126.2  grams  per  kilometre,  above  the  EU 
average of 118 grams in 201696. 

Lithuania 

among 

the 

are 

in 

The proportion of alternative fuels used in road transport 
is  low  in  Lithuania.  The  focus  is  on  electric  vehicles,  but 
Lithuania does not  yet  have  a  dense  enough network of 
publicly  accessible 
recharging  points.  The  spatial 
distribution of recharging points does not currently cover 
terms  of  distance 
the  needs  of 
requirements97.  

vehicles 

in 

Green public procurement 

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement  criteria  to  at  least  50 %  of  public  tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The purchasing power of public procurement amounts to 
around  EUR 1.8  trillion  in  the  EU  (approximately  14%  of 
GDP).  A  substantial  proportion  of  this  money  goes  to 
sectors  with  a  high  environmental 
impact  such  as 
construction  or  transport.  Therefore,  green  public 
procurement  (GPP)  can  help  to  significantly  lower  the 
negative  impact  of  public  spending  on  the  environment 
and  can  help  support  sustainable  innovative  businesses. 
The Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria98. 

In Lithuania, a GPP national action plan and strategy are 
in  force,  and  the  GPP  implementation  measures  for 
2016−2020 were approved in October 2015. A European 
Parliament  study  shows  that  Lithuania  has  partially 
implemented the GPP national action plan99. 

Statistical data show that the proportion of GPP tenders 
in  overall  public  procurement  (excluding 
low  value 
contracts) was 7 % in 2013 and 5.7 % in 2014. The value 
of  GPP  tenders  compared  to  the  overall  value  of  public 
procurement (excluding low value contracts) was 19.9 % 
in  2013  and  8.6 %  in  2014100.  GPP  accounted  for  only 
8.3 %  of  the  number  of  tenders  and  13.3 %  of  tender 
value  in  2016  and  19.1%  of  the  number  of  tenders  and 
11.3 of tender value in 2017, all well below target levels. 

Resolution  No  1133  adopted  by 
the  Lithuanian 
government  on  21 July  2010  stipulates  that  contracting 
authorities  and  contracting  entities  must  ensure  that  at 
least 45% of procurement includes environmental criteria 
in  both  2017  and  2018  and  that  at  least  50%  includes 
environmental  criteria  in  both  2019  and  2020.  The 
Minister  of  Environment  Order  No  D1-508  of  28 June 
2011  sets  minimum  and  comprehensive  environmental 
criteria  for  30  products  such  as  paper,  office  supplies, 
products  from  recycled  plastics,  publishing  and  printing 
related services, event management services and others. 

Environmental funding and investments 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate  in  their  funding  strategies  and  programmes  for 
economic, 
rural 
development and maritime policy. 

social  and 

territorial 

cohesion, 

Achieving sustainability goals requires the mobilisation of 
public  and  private  funding101.  Using  the  European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF)102  is  essential  to 
achieving environmental goals and integrating them into 
other  policy  areas.  Other  instruments  such  as  Horizon 
2020,  the  LIFE  programme103  and  the  EFSI104  may  also 
support implementation and help spread good practices. 

According  to  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on 
attitudes of EU citizens towards the environment105, 89 % 
of  Lithuanians  support  greater  EU 
in 
environmental protection (EU-28 average is 85 %). 

investment 

95 EEA, Environmental taxation and EU environmental policies, 2017, 
p. 27. 
96 EEA, Average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars sold in EU-28 
Member States plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland in 2016. 
97 European Commission, Transport in the European Union Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, p 82. 
98 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better environment’ 
(COM (2008) 400) the Commission recommended the creation of a 
process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic concept of GPP 
relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and ambitious 
environmental criteria for products and services, based on a life-cycle 
approach and scientific evidence base. 
99 European Parliament, Green Public Procurement and the Action Plan 
for the Circular Economy, 2017, pp. 79-80. 

100 Dovilė Šličiuvienė, Public Procurement in Lithuania: (Dis)balance 
Between Profitability and Environmental Protection, Springer 
International Publishing, 2017. 
101 European Commission, Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth 
102 ESIF comprises five funds — the European Regional Development 
Funds (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), 
the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and the 
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and 
the ESF together form the Cohesion Policy funds. 
103 European Commission, LIFE Lithuania Factsheet, 2017. 
104 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 
105 European Commission, 2017 Special Eurobarometer 468 on attitudes 
of EU citizens towards the Environment. 

23 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

employment  initiative.  Of  this,  ESF  funding  amounts  to 
EUR 1.13 billion in Lithuania. 

EU funds are a key asset for protecting the environment 
in  Lithuania.  The  investment  priorities  for  Lithuania  in 
2014-2020  include  climate  change,  water,  waste,  air, 
biodiversity  and  nature,  and 
sustainable  urban 
transport112. 

Figure  20:  ESIF  2014-2020  –  EU  allocation  by  theme, 
Lithuania (EUR billion)113 

European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 

Through three national programmes, Lithuania has been 
allocated EUR 8.39 billion from ESIF funds for 2014-2020. 
With a national contribution of EUR 1.56 billion, Lithuania 
has  a  total  budget  of  EUR 9.95  billion  to  be  invested  in 
various  areas,  from  innovation  and  competitiveness  to 
SME 
promoting 
employment, quality education and social inclusion106. 

efficiency, 

resource 

support, 

for 

the  environment.  The 

Member States’ administrative capacity in areas including 
human resources, relevant knowledge, skills, systems and 
tools  is  one  of  the  key  elements  needed  to  ensure 
successful and efficient investment of EU funds, including 
those 
importance  of 
administrative  capacity  is  well  understood  in  Lithuania: 
the  country  actively  participates 
in  administrative 
capacity  events  and  networks,  e.g.  a  seminar  on  anti-
fraud  and  anti-corruption  measures  related  to  ESIF 
funding  held 
Integrity  Pact 
Stakeholder  Event  in  Bucharest  (2017);  and  the  TAIEX 
REGIO  PEER  2  PEER107  network  where  Lithuania  is  the 
most  active  Member  State.  In  addition,  Lithuania  is  one 
of the 11 Member States participating in a pilot ‘integrity 
pact’108  exercise;  more 
the  Vilnius 
municipality is taking part with three projects. 

specifically, 

in  Riga 

(2015); 

the 

According to the Sustainable Governance Index, Lithuania 
scores  rather  well 
in  terms  of  policy  performance 
(including  economic,  social  and  environmental  policies); 
it  is  ranked  11th  amongst  41  countries  world-wide109. 
However, according to worldwide governance indicators, 
Lithuania scores lowest in terms of political stability and 
corruption  control  perception  and  this  area  has  the 
highest potential for improvement110. 

Cohesion policy 

In  2014-2020,  Lithuania  is  managing  one  multi-fund 
operational  programme  for  the  European  Regional 
Development  Fund  (ERDF),  the  Cohesion  Fund  and  the 
European  Social  Fund  (ESF),  covering  all  thematic 
objectives under EU cohesion policy111. 

For  2014-2020,  Lithuania  has  been  allocated  around 
EUR 6.82  billion  (current  prices)  in  total  cohesion  policy 
funding,  including  EUR 4.63  billion  under  ERDF  for  less 
developed  regions  (the  entire  country  is  classified  as  a 
less  developed  region),  EUR 2.05  billion  under  the 
Cohesion Fund, EUR 113.7 million for European territorial 
cooperation  and  EUR 31.8  million  under  the  youth 

The  ERDF  allocation  in  Lithuania  for  moving  towards  a 
low  carbon  economy  is  EUR 517  million,  in  addition  to 
EUR 4 million for climate adaptation and EUR 190 million 
for  environmental  measures.  The  Cohesion  Fund  has 
allocated EUR 454 million to the low carbon economy, as 
well  as  EUR 104  million  to  climate  adaptation  and 
EUR 539  million 
to  environmental  protection  and 
resource efficiency114. 

treatment 

The  Cohesion  Fund  has  supported  the  construction  of  a 
sludge 
facility  at  Vilnius’s  wastewater 
treatment  plant  with  nearly  EUR 29  million.  The  project 
addresses  a  number  of  environmental  challenges,  while 
improving  the  quality  of  life  of  more  than  590 000  local 
residents.  The  sludge  pellets  produced  by  the  new 

106 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds, 
Country factsheet Lithuania, 2017. 
107 TAIEX REGIO Peer-to-peer. 
108 European Commission, Integrity pacts. 
109 Sustainable Governance Index. 
110 World Bank Governance Indicators. 
111 European Commission, Cohesion Policy and Lithuania, 2014. 

112 European Commission, Summary of the Partnership agreement for 
Lithuania, 2014, p. 1. 
113 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
Data by Country. 
114 European Commission, Summary of the Partnership agreement for 
Lithuania, 2014, pp. 4-5. 

24 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

system  also  have  potential  use  as  a  fuel  source  for 
greener energy. 

Current data suggest that the EU funds allocated in 2007-
2013 were fully spent115.  

Rural development 

The  approved  national  rural  development  programme 
(EARDF)  has  a  budget  of  EUR 1.6  billion.  7.2 %  of  this  is 
dedicated  to  agri-environment-climate  measures,  7.6 % 
to organic farming and 14.5 % to areas  facing natural or 
other  specific  constraints  (ANCs).  It  is  planned  that 
EUR 436  million  will  be  spent  on  Lithuania’s  ecosystem, 
representing 27 % of the total budget. 

for 

important 

Lithuania  are:  using 

As  regards  integrating  environmental  concerns  into  the 
common agricultural policy (CAP), the two areas that are 
rural 
most 
development  funds  to  pay  for  environmental 
land 
management  and  other  environmental  measures,  and 
ensuring  the  effective  application  of  ‘’Greening’’  rules. 
Lithuania’s  2015-2020  budget  for  direct  payments  is 
EUR 3.1  billion,  30 %  of  which  are  being  allocated  to 
greening  practices  beneficial  to  the  environment116.  The 
latest  financial  data  available  (relating  to  the  2007-2013 
period)  show  that  Lithuania’s  absorption  rate  for  rural 
development  funds  was  100 %  better  than  the  EU 
average (97.3 %)117. 

Recently,  Lithuania  has  focused  on  agri-environment-
climate measures (AECM) sub-measures: 

 

 

 

Extensive  management  of  meadows  by  grazing. 
is  an  effort  to  encourage  farmers  to 
This 
the  environmental  value  of  all 
increase 
meadows or pastures, irrespective of the timing 
of sowing. 
Stubbly  fields  in  winter  season,  due  to  their 
in  fostering  development  of  a 
importance 
habitat, which acts as an important food source 
for endangered species of predatory birds, while 
reducing the risk of wind and water erosion. 
Intermediate  (catch)  crops  on  arable  land,  as 
Lithuania 
to  meet  higher  agri-
environmental objectives on arable land. 

intends 

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 

Lithuania  receives  around  EUR 82  million  in  co-financing 
for  the  fisheries  and  the  maritime  sector,  with  an  EU 
contribution  of  EUR 63  million118.  Around  26 %  (EUR 22 
million)  is  earmarked  for  achieving  environmental  goals, 
sustainable, 
namely 

environmentally 

promoting 

115 European Commission, SF 2007-2013 Funds Absorption Rate, 2018. 
116 European Commission, CAP in your country (Lithuania), p. 2. 
117 COM(2017) 554. 
118 European Commission, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in 
Lithuania, 2015. 

25 

resource-efficient, 
knowledge-based fisheries and aquaculture119. 

innovative, 

competitive 

and 

The Connecting Europe Facility 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is a key EU funding 
instrument  developed  specifically  to  direct  investment 
into 
digital 
infrastructures. It aims to address identified missing links 
and bottlenecks and promote sustainability. 

transport, 

European 

energy 

and 

By the end of 2017, Lithuania had signed agreements for 
13  transport  projects  amounting  to  EUR 390  million120 
and  9  energy  projects  amounting  to  around  EUR 329 
million 121 under the CEF.  

Horizon 2020 

Lithuania has benefited from Horizon 2020 funding since 
the programme started in 2014. As of January 2019, 123 
participants  have  been  granted  a  maximum  amount  of 
EUR 15.1 million for projects from the Societal Challenges 
work 
environmental 
issues122 123.  

dealing  with 

programmes 

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate and biodiversity expenditure is present across the 
entire  Horizon  2020.  In  Lithuania,  projects  accepted  for 
funding  in  all  Horizon  2020  working  programmes  until 
December  2018  included  EUR  11  million  destined  to 
climate  action  (22.3 %  of  the  total  Horizon  2020 
contribution  to  the  country)  and  EUR  2  million  for 
biodiversity-related  actions  (3.4 %  of  the  Horizon  2020 
contribution to the country)124. 

Several projects have been finalised or are still ongoing in 
future 
Lithuania,  such  as  Ecopotential 
ecosystem  benefits  through  earth  observations),  and 
projects aiming to, for example, improve the mapping of 
ecosystem  services  for  policy  and  decision  making  and 
recycle waste tyres into devulcanised rubber. 

(improving 

LIFE programme 

Since  its  launch  in  1992,  the  LIFE  Programme  has  co-
financed  17  projects  in  Lithuania.  For  the  period  2014-
2017  EUR  5  million  has  been  allocated  to  Lithuanian 

119 European Commission, Commissioner Vella welcomes €82 million 
investment package for the Lithuanian fisheries sector, 26.08.2015. 
120 European Commission, CEF-transport funding for Lithuania. 
121 European Commission, CEF-energy funding for Lithuania. 
122 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is the maximum 
grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally corresponds to 
the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
123 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and 
raw materials. 
124 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

projects  by  the  EU125.  The  LIFE  MagniDucatusAcrola  is 
among  these  projects,  implementing  measures  towards 
ensuring long-term favourable conservation status of the 
Aquatic  warbler,  with  a  EU  requested  contribution  of 
around EUR 3 million126. 

European Investment Bank 

loans 

In  2013-2017,  EIB 
in  Lithuania  amounted  to 
EUR 4.6 billion127.  In  2018  alone,  the  EIB  Group  (the 
European Investment Bank and the European Investment 
Fund)128 
loaned  Lithuanian  businesses  and  public 
institutions  EUR 372  million,  as  shown  in  Figure  21.  Of 
this,  EUR 91.7  million  (24.6 %)  went  to  environmental 
projects. 
Figure 21: EIB loans to Lithuania in 2018 129 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) aims 
to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU. 
As  of  January  2019,  it  has  mobilised  EUR 412  million  in 
Lithuania, and the secondary investment triggered by this 
is expected to be EUR 1.6 billion130 131. 

More specifically, eight projects involving Lithuania have 
been  approved  so  far  under  the  infrastructure  and 
four  multi-country 
(including 
innovation  window 
projects),  amounting  to  EUR 295  million  in  EIB  financing 
under the EFSI. This is expected to trigger about EUR 640 
million  in  investments.  Under  the  SME  window,  five 
intermediaries  have  been 
agreements  with  financial 
approved so far132. 

National environmental financing 

(the 

annual 

average 

Lithuania  spent  EUR 186.2  million  on  environmental 
protection  in  2016,  an  8 %  decrease  from  2015133.  25 % 
of these payments were allocated to waste management 
activities 
of 
environmental spending allocated to waste management 
in  the  EU  is  49.7 %).  EUR 1.8  million  was  allocated  to 
wastewater  management  (1 %  of  total)  and  4.3 %  of 
environmental  spending  was  allocated  to  protecting 
biodiversity  and  the  landscape  (EUR 8  million).  Between 
2012  and  2016,  general  government 
for 
environmental protection was EUR 1.026 billion134. 

percentage 

funding 

Lithuania  runs  several  programmes  financed  by  funds 
collected  though  fiscal  and  market  instruments,  such  as 
the  Environmental  protection  support  programme 
(‘Aplinkos apsaugos rėmimo  programa’) and the Climate 
change  special  programme  (‘Klimato  kaitos  specialioji 
programa’)135. There are also municipal programmes that 
support environmental activities. 

The  Environmental  protection  support  programme 
receives  funds  from  environmental  taxes  and  penalties. 
the  development  of 
The  programme 
environmental 
of 
elimination 
environmental  pollution,  preservation  of  fish  stocks, 
environmental  education  and  research,  remuneration  of 
officials  carrying  out  state  control  of  environmental 
protection and other activities. 

finances 
infrastructure, 

The  Climate  change  special  programme  is  financed  by 
proceeds  from  the  sale  of  assigned  amount  units136  and 
EU emission allowances. Other sources include donations 
and  economic  penalties  to  operators.  At  least  40 %  of 
programme funds must be allocated to energy efficiency, 
another  40 %  to  renewable  energy  promotion  and  the 
remainder  to  reforestation  and  afforestation,  education 
and  consultation  on  climate  change  issues,  support  to 
developing countries and other tasks137. 

Other  programmes 
include  Waste  Management 
Programmes  and  the  Programme  for  the  Financing  of 
these 
General 
programmes  have  steadily  increased  in  recent  years:  in 
2016  they  stood  at  almost  EUR 47.7  million  and  in  2017 
they increased to EUR 52.6 million. 

Forestry  Needs.  Allocations 

for 

125 Commission services based on data provided by EASME.  
126 European Commission, LIFE projects in Lithuania, p. 4. 
127 European Investment Bank, Delivering impact in finance in Lithuania, 
2017. 
128 The EIB Group includes EIB and EFSI investments and loans. 
129 EIB, Lithuania and the EIB, 2018. 
130 European Investment Bank, EFSI project map. 
131 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for 
Lithuania, 2018. 
132 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for 
Lithuania, 2018. 

2019 priority action 

 

Improve  the  capacity  to  use  EU  funds  for  the 
environment  effectively,  including  preparation  for 
the next financing period 2021-2027. 

133 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 
134 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 
135 Ministry of Environment. 
136 Carbon credits, i.e. allowance to emit greenhouse gases. 
137 Ministry of Environment. 

26 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

5. Strengthening environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively138.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to  use  national  courts  to 
protect the environment139. It includes the right to bring 
legal challenges (‘legal standing’)140. 

Environmental information 

Lithuania  has  a  centralized  approach  to  disseminating 
environmental information. Information on most areas of 
environmental  policy  can  be  accessed  through  the  main 
environmental  portal  of 
the  national  protection 
agency141,  with  the  exception  of  information  on  the 
Habitat Directive. Occasionally, information related to EU 
legislation  was  not  available  on  the  main  environmental 
portal, but was provided via the Ministry of Environment 
website142. These portals are not linked to each other. 

its  2016 

Lithuania’s  performance  on  implementing  the  INSPIRE 
Directive leaves room for improvement. Its performance 
was  reviewed  based  on 
implementation 
report143 and most recent  monitoring data from 2017144. 
There has been good progress as regards documentation 
of data and data sharing and reuse. Additional efforts are 
needed  to  make  the  data  accessible  through  services. 
Lithuania  also  needs  to  make  additional  efforts  to 
prioritise  environmental  datasets  in  the  implementation 

138 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive, 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive, 2007/2 together create 
a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
139 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen’s Guide. 
140 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
141 The Environmental Protection Agency. 
142 Ministry of Environment 
143 INSPIRE LT country sheet 2017. 
144 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard. 

of  environmental  legislation.  In  particular,  it  needs  to 
prioritise  datasets  identified  as  high-value  spatial  data 
sets145. 

Figure  22:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Lithuania (2017)  

Public participation 
In  Lithuania146,  public  participation  in  environmental 
decision  making  is  regulated  by  several  legal  acts,  in 
particular  the  Law  on  Environmental  Protection  and  the 
Impact  Assessment  of  the 
Law  on  Environmental 
Proposed  Economic  Activity  (the  EIA  Law).  Moreover, 
there  are  general  regulations  on  public  information, 
consultation  and  participation  in  decision  making  in 
spatial  planning  and  several  specifications  addressing 
these  issues.  The  Ministry  of  Environment  website  does 
not  have  a  dedicated  section  for  public  consultations. 
However, anyone can submit a proposal on a draft legal 
act  via  the  dedicated  website  of  the  Lithuanian 
Parliament147.  

The Ministry of Environment has also established a panel 
in  which  representatives  of  environmental  NGOs, 
environmental  officials  and  representatives  of  science 
and  education  institutions  have  equal  participation.  The 
panel  is  an  advisory  body  that  considers  the  most 
important  issues  of  the  activities  of  the  Ministry148. 
However, the Aarhus Convention Implementation Report 
mentions  challenges  such  as 
lack  of  public 
involvement in the early stages of the legislative process, 
generally  low  response  rates  and  late  submissions  of 
comments.  

the 

The Eurobarometer  figures  from 2017  show that people 
(80 %  of 
relatively 
in 

Lithuania  agree 

strongly 

145 List of high value spatial data sets. 
146 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, the track-
change version of Aarhus Convention implementation report of 
Lithuania, 2016, p. 2-3. 
147 Lietuvos Seimas.  
148 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, the track-
change version of Aarhus Convention implementation report of 
Lithuania, 2016, p. 6-7, 31-34.  

27 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

in 

2019 priority actions 

respondents)  that  an 
protecting the environment. 

individual  can  play  a  role 

Access to justice 

Significant  progress  is  needed  to  inform  the  general 
public  about  effective  remedies  for 
individuals  and 
environmental associations in relation to access to justice 
in  environmental  matters  under  Lithuanian  and  EU  law. 
This could be ensured for instance by providing detailed 
guidelines  with  information  on  how  to  take  practical 
steps.  Even  if  in  accordance  with  the  Law  on  Public 
Administration an individual act must  specify the appeal 
procedure, this does not apply to general administrative 
acts.  In  particular  for  those  acts  it  is  important  that 
information  is  easily  available  and  user-friendly.  This  is 
not the case currently. People have the right to approach 
a  municipality 
the 
administrative and judicial procedures (according to their 
declared  place  of  residence),  and  the  municipality  must 
provide  legal  assistance  free  of  charge.  However,  this 
cannot  replace  structured  and  user-friendly  information 
available from public authorities online. 

information  on 

for  additional 

An  individual  or  public  body  concerned  has  the  right  to 
bring  action  directly  in  court  to  protect  themselves 
against  an  activity,  either  by  challenging  the  decision 
allowing  such  activity,  or  by  claiming  compensation  of 
damage suffered because of the activity (Article 7 of the 
Law  on  Environmental  Protection).  The  Supreme 
Administrative Court of Lithuania has confirmed that the 
Aarhus 
community-based 
organisations  the  right  to  defend  the  public  interest  in 
the  environmental  sphere.  However,  there  is  a  lack  of 
clarity  on  whether  NGOs  have  the  right  to  contest  the 
lawfulness of provisions of a normative legal act before a 
court. 

Convention 

grants 

the 

litigant  may  be  ordered 
legal  services  and 

‘loser  pays’  principle.  An 
Lithuania  applies 
to  provide 
unsuccessful 
remuneration  for 
litigation  costs 
incurred  by  the  other  party  if  awarded  by  the  court. 
include:  the  paid  stamp  duty, 
These  costs  might 
representation  expenses,  costs  connected  with  the 
investigation of the case, transport costs and others. 

 

 

 

Improve  access  to  spatial  data  and  services  by 
making  stronger 
linkages  between  the  central 
INSPIRE  website  and  regional  portals.  Identify  and 
document  all  spatial  datasets  required  for  the 
implementation  of  environmental  law149,  and  make 
the data and documentation at least accessible ‘as is’ 
to  other  public  authorities  and  the  public  through 
the digital services set out in the INSPIRE Directive. 
Improve the legal framework for and/or the practical 
application  of  measures 
facilitate  public 
participation in EU legislation that has an impact on 
the environment (e.g. by setting up a single webpage 
for the relevant information).  
Ensure that there is legal standing for environmental 
NGOs to bring legal challenges on air pollution. 

that 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
that 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste150.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion151;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring152; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement153.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability154 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

is  an 

information 

Online information is given to farmers on how to comply 
with  obligations  on  nitrates  and  nature.  The  quality  of 
this 
indicator  of  how  actively 
authorities  promote  compliance  in  areas  with  serious 
implementation gaps. The website of Lithuania’s Ministry 
of  Agriculture 
a  dedicated  page  on 
implementing  the  Nitrates  Directive155.  This  contains 
detailed  guidelines  on  the  use  of  fertilisers  and  manure 

includes 

149 European Commission, INSPIRE. 
150 COM(2018)10, SWD(2018)10. 
151 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
152 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
153This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
154 Directive 2004/35 CE, creates the framework. 
155 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, 
Implementation of Nitrates Directive. 

28 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

management156.  Protected  areas,  including  Natura  2000 
sites,  are  managed  by  the  State  Service  for  Protected 
Areas  under  the  Ministry  of  Environment  (‘Valstybinė 
Saugomų  Teritorijų  Tarnyba  prie  Aplinkos  ministerijos’). 
The  service’s  website  contains  guidelines  on  activities 
which  are  permitted  in  these  areas157.  However,  these 
guidelines  target  employees  of  the  state  service  more 
than the general public. The ‘frequently asked questions’ 
section also provides some information on activities that 
are allowed in the protected areas, as well as on permits 
needed for each of these activities158. In addition, there is 
a  dedicated  Natura  2000  website,  which  provides  a 
reader-friendly description of some limitations on various 
activities in the protected areas159. However, this website 
does not list all the obligations that landowners need to 
fulfil on Natura 2000 sites under the Birds Directive and 
the Habitats Directive. 

industrial 

inspect  these 

Major 
installations  can  present  serious 
pollution  risks.  Public  authorities  are  required  to  have 
plans  to 
installations  and  to  make 
individual inspection reports available to the public160. In 
legislation161, 
accordance  with  the  relevant  national 
inspections  under  the  Industrial  Emissions  Directive  are 
performed  by  the  Regional  Environmental  Protection 
the  Environmental 
Departments  which 
Protection  Agency162.  The  website  of  the  Environmental 
Protection  Department  contains  annual  plans  and  is 
supposed  to  include  in  future  also  annual  reports  with 
inspections163. 
details  on  planned  and  completed 
However, the annual plans and reports generally include 
very limited information, mainly indicating the number of 
inspections  planned  and  carried  out  without  providing 
details  on  the  inspection  results  (though  the  level  of 
detail varies among the reports). 

report 

to 

A  special  military  helicopter 
is  used  to  monitor 
environmental  compliance  in  Lithuania164.  At  least  75 
is  to  be  dedicated  to 
hours  of 

flight  time 

its 

156 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, Surface 
treatment and fertilization; Manure storage and use. 
157 State Service for Protected Areas. 
158 State Service for Protected Areas. 
159 Natura 2000 website. 
160 2010/75/EU, Article 23. 
161 Law on Environmental State control; Requirements on Scheduled 
and Non-scheduled Inspections under the State Environmental Control 
of the Economic Entities, approved by the Order of Minister of 
Environment No. D1-145 of 18 February 2011, and the Rules On the 
Granting, Updating and Revocation of Integrated Pollution Prevention 
And Control Permits, approved by the Minister of Environment Decree 
Order of the Minister of Environment No. D1-259528 of 6 March 
201415 July 2013.  
162 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. 
163 Regional Environmental Protection Departments, Vilnius 
Environment Protection Department, Šiauliai region environmental 
protection department, Annual activity reports. 
164 Environmental Project Management Agency (Aplinkos projektų 
valdymo agentūra). 

29 

environmental  surveillance  during  the  first  five  years  of 
use. Such airspace surveillance helped to capture cases of 
illegal  waste  storage,  dismantling  of  vehicles,  storage  of 
fishing  gear,  spilled  pollutants  at  sea.  However,  not  all 
suspected environmental violations proved to be true. In 
2016  the  regional  environmental  protection  department 
of  Panevėžys  detected  5  breaches  during  airspace 
surveillance.  They  were  eliminated  by  the  obligation  of 
individuals to clean up contaminated sites, and seizure of 
illegal  fishing  gear.  In  two  cases  the  administrative 
offenses were applied165. 

Citizen science and complaint handling 

Engagement of citizens, including through citizen science, 
can deepen knowledge about the environment and help 
the authorities in their work.  

Protected  species  information  system  (Saugomų  rūšių 
informacinė  Sistema,  SRIS)  is  used  to  obtain,  provide  or 
verify data on protected species, their habitats and sites. 
This  service  can  be  used  by  all  residents  of  Lithuania. 
Users  can provide information on protected species and 
their  habitats166.  The  Ministry  of  Environment  invited 
citizens  to  provide  information  on  observed  wolfs,  lynxs 
and brown bears by filling a special form online167.  

The availability of clear online information about how to 
make  a  complaint  is  an  indicator  of  how  responsive 
authorities  are  to  complaints  from  the  public.  The 
website of the Ministry of Environment includes a special 
hotline  (Karštoji  linija),  which  provides  information  on 
how  to  submit  a  complaint  about  an  environmental 
nuisance  or  environmental  damage.  The  website  refers 
information  monitoring 
to  the  AAKIS  environmental 
system (Aplinkos apsaugos kontrolės informacinė sistema 
AAKIS)  which  is  supposed  to  be  able  to  receive  citizen 
complaints  online168.  Another  option  given  on  the 
website is to call dedicated phone numbers169. 

Enforcement 

When  monitoring 
identifies  problems,  a  range  of 
responses may be appropriate. With some exceptions170, 
information  on 
Lithuania 

lacks  structured  published 

165 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, Article of 
27.04.2016; Article of 18.05.2016; Article of 23.05.2018; Article of 
13.03.2018; Article of 13.03.2018.  
166 See this link for more information  
167 Protected species and their habitats registration form (for more 
information: DELFI news portal). 
168 Environmental information monitoring system. The Environmental 
Protection Department received 463 notifications via this system in 
2018. 
169 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. 
170 For instance, the 2017 report of Siauliai Regional Environmental 
Protection Department provides details on follow-up actions and 
penalties. The report refers to 7 non-compliance cases in 2017 and 17 
outstanding court cases, p. 6-10. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

issuing  warnings,  applying  sanctions  and  achieving 
compliance  after  follow-up  measures  have  been  set  up 
and enforcement action has been taken. Payments under 
the common agricultural policy in Lithuania are managed 
by  the  National  Paying  Agency  under  the  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  (‘Nacionalinė 
mokėjimo  agentūra  prie  Žemės  ūkio  ministerijos’).  The 
agency  also  investigates  non-compliance  with  EU  legal 
acts and provides on its website graphical information on 
non-compliance  cases171.  However,  no  data  is  available 
on  individual  cases,  and  there  are  no  references  to 
individual EU Directives that were breached. According to 
the Ministry of Agriculture, the number of non-compliant 
farms has decreased from 287 in 2015 to 138 in 2016172. 

references 

is  especially  challenging. 

Tackling  waste,  wildlife  crimes  and  other  environmental 
It  requires  close 
offences 
cooperation  between  inspectors,  customs  authorities, 
police  and  prosecutors.  The  websites  of  Lithuania’s 
Ministry  of  Environment,  Environmental  Protection 
Agency and Environmental Protection Department do not 
cooperation 
any 
contain 
arrangements  between 
inspectors/wildlife  officials, 
police and prosecutors. However, in practice the Ministry 
of  Environment  does  cooperate  with  the  Lithuanian 
Police Department173. The Environmental Department of 
the  Vilnius  municipality  also  closely  cooperates  with  the 
Lithuanian  Police  Department  regarding  preventing  and 
investigating  waste  crime174.  Other  municipalities  are 
considering  signing  cooperation  agreements  with  local 
police units on environmental crime175. 

formal 

to 

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 
prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 
information  on 
EIR 
environmental  damage,  on 
financial  security  and 
guidance.  The  Commission  is  still  collecting  evidence  on 
the progress made. 

focused  on  gathering  better 

2019 priority actions 

  Better 

inform 

the  public  about 

compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  As  a 
minimum,  this  should 
involve  providing  more 
detailed  online  information  on  inspection  plans  and 
reports on industrial inspections  
Publish  structured  information  on  the  outcomes  of 
follow-up  to 
enforcement  action  and  on  the 

 

 

 

information 

detected cross-compliance breaches on nitrates and 
nature. 
Ensure  more 
is  available  on  how 
professionals dealing with environmental crime work 
together. 
Improve  financial  security  for  liabilities  and  ELD-
guidance  and  publish  information  on  environmental 
damage. 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations 

in 

involved 

implementing 

environmental 
Those 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

Administrative capacity and quality 

Central, regional and local administrations must have the 
ability  to  carry  out  their  own  tasks  and  work  effectively 
with  each  other,  within  a  system  of  multi-level 
governance. 

The 

reorganisation  of 

the  environmental  administration 

The  2017  EIR  described  the  legal  arrangements  and 
in 
structure  of 
the  Regional 
Lithuania. 
Environmental  Protection  Departments 
the 
into 
Environmental Protection Department under the Ministry 
of Environment is expected to improve efficiency and the 
coordination of environmental  policy implementation176. 
This  reform  is  also  expected  to  streamline  compliance 
monitoring  and  enforcement  activities  and  reduce  the 
The 
administrative 
reorganisation  is  expected  to  be  completed  by  January 
2019,  and  consequently  early  results  are  likely  to  be 
visible in the second half of 2019. 

businesses177. 

burden 

for 

Use  of  the  ESIF 
improve  some  of 
is  expected  to 
Lithuania’s  environmental  governance  processes.  Six 
projects  under  the  2014-2020  investment  programme 
aim  to  improve  environmental  monitoring  and  control; 
they have a total budget of over EUR 12 million178. One of 
these  projects 
integrated 
environmental information management system (AIVIKS), 
which  should  improve  accessibility  and  the  quality  of 
environmental information. The ambitious governmental 
commitment to create a new state IT service by the end 
of  2019  should  also  facilitate  the  use  of  electronic 

the  existing 

redevelops 

171 National Paying Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture of the 
Republic of Lithuania. 
172 AGROETA, Agroverslo naujienos. 
173 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. 
174 Vilnius municipality. 
175 Vakaru ekspresas news portal. 

176 15min news portal. 
177 Gudavicius S., Aplinkosaugos kontrolės institucijos bus apjungtos, 
Verslo žinios, 21.11.2017. 
178 2014-2020 European Union investment in Lithuania, Applications 
and projects. 

30 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

services  and  enable  the  public  or  regulated  entities  to 
interact with environmental authorities online179. 

According  to  the  EUPACK  study,  there  were  almost  130 
thousand  employees  in  core  public  administration  in 
Lithuania in 2015180. 

According to the annual report of the Ministry of Interior, 
institutions  under  the  supervision  of  the  Ministry  of 
Environment employed 6 788 people in 2016. Employees 
dealing  with  environmental  matters 
in  municipal 
administrations  are  not  included  in  this  number.  The 
total  number  of  employees  in  municipal  administrations 
was around 14 000 in 2015 and 2016181. 

Coordination and integration 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR  Report,  the  transposition 
of  the  revised  Environmental  Impact  Assessment  (EIA) 
Directive182 into national law provides an opportunity for 
countries  to  streamline  their  regulatory  framework  on 
environmental  assessments.  Lithuania  transposed  the 
Directive  late  and  the  Commission  is  waiting  for  missing 
information to be submitted.  

the 

in  environmental  assessments 

The  Commission  encourages 
streamlining  of 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
avoid  overlaps 
for 
projects.  Streamlining  helps  to  reduce  unnecessary 
administrative  burden. 
It  also  accelerates  decision 
making,  without  compromising  the  quality  of  the 
environmental  assessment  procedure183.  Lithuania  has 
introduced  streamlining  of  environmental  assessments 
under the EIA and Habitats Directives. 

agriculture. 

The  current  Lithuanian  eGovernment  gateway  offers  82 
electronic services for businesses, related to environment 
include 
and 
of 
environmental  reports  and 
issuing  of  environmental 
permits.  The  gateway  also  offers  85  services  for 
individuals. 

submission 

These 

Indictors)  adaptability  ranking, 

Lithuania  scores  very  well  on  the  SGI  (Sustainable 
i.e.  on 
Governance 
cooperating  with  other  countries  while  implementing 
new  developments  at  national  level.  Only  a  few  EU 
Member  States,  such  as  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Finland, 
scored higher. 

In 2010, 8.1 % of public services were available online. In 
2015, this figure jumped to 27.2 %. 

According  to  Europe’s  Digital  Progress  Report  2017, 
Lithuania’s  digital  public  services  score  is  0.62/1.  This  is 
higher than the EU-28 average (0.55/1)184. 

Enabling financing and effective use of funds 

All information about the ESIF in Lithuania can be found 
on  one  central  website185.  It  includes  information  about 
funding  opportunities, 
calls,  public  procurement 
opportunities, application procedures, projects, statistical 
data and other details.  

2019 priority actions 

 
 

can 

Complete transposition of the revised EIA Directive. 
Lithuania 
overall 
environmental  governance  (such  as  transparency, 
citizen  engagement,  compliance  and  enforcement, 
as well as administrative capacity and coordination). 

improve 

further 

its 

Adaptability, 
(eGovernment) 

reform 

dynamics 

and 

innovation 

International agreements 

After  joining  the  open  government  partnership  in  2012, 
Lithuania  pledged  to  increase  the  number  of  e-services 
offered.  To  address  this, 
in  2015  the  government 
adopted  Resolution  No 875  ‘On  the  Development  of  an 
assessment framework on environmental governance’. 

179 Nakrošis, V., Support for developing better country knowledge on 
public administration and institutional capacity building (EUPACK), 
Report on Public Administration Reform Trends and Reform Dynamics 
in Lithuania, report prepared for DG EMPL of the European 
Commission, 2017, p. 10-16. 
180 Nakrošis, V., Support for developing better country knowledge on 
public administration and institutional capacity building (EUPACK), 
Public administration characteristics in Lithuania, report prepared for 
DG EMPL of the European Commission, 2017, p. 2. 
181 Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, 2016 report of 
the public sector, (“2016 metų viešojo sektoriaus ataskaita”), p.31, 93. 
182 Directive 2014/52/EU. 
183 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1. 

The  EU  Treaties  require  the  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018186.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 
respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  

184 European Commission, Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR), 
Country Profile Lithuania, 2017, p. 9. 
185 2014-2020 European Union investment in Lithuania.  
186 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  

31 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Lithuania 

Lithuania  has  signed  and  ratified  almost  all  Multilateral 
Environmental  Agreements.  It  has  signed  but  not  yet 
ratified the Nagoya Protocol. 
Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)187/  Forest  Law 
Enforcement,  Governance 
(FLEGT) 
Regulation188 

Trade 

and 

Between  March  2015  and  February  2017,  Lithuania 
carried  out  7264  checks  on  operators  who  placed 
domestic  timber  on  the  EU  market  for  the  first  time.  It 
also  carried  out  227  checks  on  operators  importing 
timber.  These  numbers  are  way  above  the  number  of 
checks  Lithuania  had  planned  for  this  period189.  It  is 
estimated  that  25940  Lithuanian  operators  placed 
domestic  timber  on  the  EU  market  for  the  first  time  in 
this period, and 800 imported timber. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  Lithuania’s  highest  number 
of penalties issued, other than notices of remedial action, 
related to domestic timber190. 
On  cooperation  (Article 12  EUTR),  Lithuania  reports  to 
have  collaborated  with  other  government  institutions 
within  Lithuania  and  with  other  EU  authorities,  e.g.  the 
European  Commission  and  the  Forestry  Institute  of  the 
Czech  Republic.  Lithuania  is  also  involved  in  the  Nordic-
Baltic network on EUTR implementation. 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)191  

and 

applied 

resources 

Lithuania  has  designated  competent  authorities  for 
genetic 
for 
infringements  of  the  EU  ABS  Regulation.  However, 
Lithuania  has  not  submitted  a  due  diligence  declaration 
to  date,  nor  has  it  applied  any  penalties.  Lithuania 
submitted its first ABS Regulation implementation report 
to the Commission at the end of 2017. 

sanctions 

the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  wildlife 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)192 

Lithuania  has  established  relevant  national  authorities 
and is processing import, (re-) export and intra-EU trade 
documents, including requests, on a regular basis. 

Reports  on  seizures  of  illegal  wildlife  shipments  (in 
particular  those  reported  every  6  months  to  TRAFFIC 
under  its  contract  with  the  Commission,  and  those 

187 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010. 
188 Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 
189 60 checks on operators of domestic timber and 155 checks on 
operators importing timber were planned for the period 2015-2017. 
190 Approximately 300, all of which being penalties following notices of 
remedial action. 
191 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 
192 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

exchanged  through  the  EU-TWIX  platform)  show  the 
activity of customs authorities. 

To ensure that the EU wildlife action plan (2016) is fully 
implemented193, Lithuania’s national and local authorities 
regularly  monitor  traders,  breeders  and  keepers,  in 
addition to checks carried out at border crossing points. 

2019 priority action 

 

Increase  efforts  to  be  party  to  relevant  multilateral 
environmental 
the 
agreements,  by 
remaining agreements. 

ratifying 

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs 

development 

and 

the 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 

implement  environmental 

With  Decree  No.  D1-920,  Lithuania’s  Minister  of 
Environment  set  up  a  working  group  on  implementing 
the  UN  sustainable  development  goals  in  Lithuania194. 
The  working  group 
includes  representatives  of  the 
Ministries  of  Environment,  Finance,  Social  Security  and 
Labour,  Economy,  Energy,  Agriculture,  Education  and 
Science,  Transport,  Interior,  Culture,  Health,  Foreign 
Affairs,  the  Association  of  Local  Authorities,  Statistics 
Department and non-government organisations. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  working  group  was  held  on 
29 November 2017 and focused on preparing a report on 
implementation of the SDGs. SDG indicators for Lithuania 
are  available  on  the  website  of  the  Ministry  of 
Environment195.  The  group  proposed  focusing  on  the 
following  priorities  until  2020:  no  poverty,  decent  work 
and economic growth, reduced inequalities, good health 
and  well-being,  affordable  and  clean  energy,  industry 
innovation  and  infrastructure,  responsible  production 
and consumption and climate action. These priorities are 
in line with the Lithuanian government’s programme for 
2018–2020  with  funding  coming  also  from  the  so-called 
Lithuania 
‘reform  basket’ 
submitted 
on 
implementation of the SDGs to the UN in 2018197. 

krepšelio’)196 
voluntary 

(‘pokyčių 

national 

review 

a 

193 European Commission, EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, 
2016. 
194 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. 
195 Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. 
196 Lithuanian Government. 
197 Voluntary national review on the implementation of the UN 2030 
agenda for sustainable development in Lithuania. 

32