On 20 March 2003 the Parliament adopted Law No IX-1381 on Amendment of the Constitutional Law on the Entities, Procedure, Conditions and Restrictions of Acquisition of Land Plots, stipulated in part two of Article 47 of the Constitution. By this law a new wording of the constitutional law was adopted. The law establishes that from the day of accession to EU, the prohibition for foreign entities, which meet the criteria of European and Transatlantic integration chosen by Lithuania, to acquire by the ownership right the land of agricultural purpose, internal waters and forests is cancelled thus equalling their rights to the analogous rights of the citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Lithuania and concurrently protecting the interests of the Republic of Lithuania. The law is aimed at providing of proper legal and economic background for the integration of Lithuania into EU.

      The law establishes that the entities which meet the criteria of European and Transatlantic integration may acquire land only after restitution and registration in statutory procedure of the ownership rights to such land of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, whereas land of agricultural purpose, internal waters and forests may be acquired by the said entities only upon completion of the restitution of the ownership rights and execution of the land reform in the certain cadastre locality. The law also provides that the foreign entities which meet the criteria of European and Transatlantic integration, except for the foreigners who have been permanent residents in Lithuania for at least 3 years and engaged in agricultural activities, also foreign legal entities and other foreign organisations which have established representative offices or affiliates in Lithuania, may acquire land of agricultural and forestry purposes only upon expiration of the transitional period of 7 years defined in the Accession Agreement of the Republic of Lithuania to EU.