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Some progress was made to reduce the relatively high taxes for low-income earners, but limited efforts have been made to shift taxation towards more growth-friendly taxes. However, some measures have been taken to improve tax compliance, the Commission said in its Country Report Lithuania 2016.

“Limited progress has been made in undertaking a comprehensive pension reform… Some steps have been taken to increase the labor market relevance of education, but progress has been limited to better attainment of basic skills. Limited progress has been made on improving the performance of the healthcare system” the report said.

As regards social protection and labor market policy, the Commission said that the Lithuanian government was considering a number of reforms, which, however, had not yet been adopted hence progress in this area had been limited.

Regarding Lithuania’s progress in reaching its national targets under the Europe 2020 strategy, the Commission pointed out that the country was performing well on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, on increasing the overall share of renewable energy, on improving energy efficiency and on tackling other problems.

Still, the Commission said that more effort was needed on the employment rate, renewable energy in transport and R&D investment.