Technical problems stall debate on family policy bill
Friday 13th November 2026 on 11:15 in
Lithuania
LRT reported that technical problems prevented Lithuania’s parliamentary Social Affairs and Labour Committee from fully discussing a revised Family Strengthening Law on Friday. Representatives of several ministries and non-governmental organisations had trouble joining the remote meeting, and the committee agreed to hold additional hearings.
“If the ministries are not connected, there is no point in working,” committee chair Tomas Tomilinas said during the hearing.
Parliamentarian Eimantas Kirkutis, who proposed holding another hearing, said the committee should not rush to approve the bill while disagreements remained. He called for more discussion and efforts to find a compromise.
Representatives of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the Ministry of Justice and the National Family Council presented their positions at the hearing. Although the government broadly supports the bill, the Justice Ministry proposed retaining the principle of complementarity between fatherhood and motherhood. Ministry adviser Jūratė Burtilienė said the ministry wanted the principle restored to the draft. A representative of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour said that proposal did not reflect the government’s collectively agreed position.
National Family Council chair Lijana Gvaldaitė urged lawmakers to retain the council’s status as a budgetary institution accountable to parliament and to strengthen its capacity. She said the state needed more independent analysis, dialogue with municipalities and expert proposals.
The revised bill would remove the council’s status as a budgetary institution, leaving it as a parliamentary advisory body operating on a voluntary basis. It would also remove the principle that support for families should take into account a child’s natural need to have both a father and a mother. Lawmakers Aušrinė Norkienė and Kirkutis have proposed keeping that provision.
The amendments also aim to improve cooperation among institutions responsible for family policy, conditions for raising children and access to family services, and to ensure ongoing monitoring of demographic trends.
On Wednesday, the Seimas Committee on Human Rights backed the bill and proposed that the lead committee revise it. The current Family Strengthening Law was adopted in 2017.