EU Heads of State or Government meet in Lahti on 20 October
Finland will organise an Informal Meeting of EU Heads of State or Government in Lahti on Friday, 20 October. The meeting will be chaired by the Prime Minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen. The main themes of the meeting will be the Union’s innovation policy and external energy relations. Discussions will be based on the European Commission’s communications due to be issued on 12 October.
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin (left)will meet for example the President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso in Lahti. (Photo: www.g8russia.ru)
The Defence Ministers' meeting, that was to take place in Brussels on 2 and 3 October, will be organised in Levitunturi, near Kittilä, in northern Finland.
Finland will host a total of 130 meetings during the EU Presidency. The largest meetings include the Asia-Europe meeting, ASEM 6, in Helsinki, the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government in Lahti and Foreign Ministers' follow-up meeting of the Barcelona Process (EUROMED) in Tampere. In addition, there will be ten informal ministerial meetings plus a number civil servant meetings.
Finland’s six-month EU Presidency began on 1 July 2006.
Informal EU Summit will be held in Sibelius Hall in Lahti. (Photo: Sibelius Hall, Voitto Niemelä)
The Heads of State or Government will also touch on the Union’s immigration policy. Illegal immigration affects the entire Union. The EU must be able to formulate a comprehensive and effective policy which attaches due attention to the issues surrounding both illegal and legal immigration. The Union’s immigration policy will be discussed in greater detail at the December European Council in Brussels.
In addition, the situation in Sudan/Darfur will also be touched upon at the Lahti meeting.
After their informal meeting, the EU Heads of State or Government will be joined for dinner by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Discussion during the dinner will focus on the development of the strategic partnership between the EU and Russia, including cooperation in energy issues.
The Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, and the President of European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, will also host the Informal Tripartite Social Summit on growth and employment in Lahti on 20 October. The Informal Social Summit will focus on the management of change in Europe from the labour market perspective and seek ways to establish a new balance between flexibility and security on the labour market (“flexicurity”). The Social Summit will also provide a platform for the social partners to convey their views on the issues for discussion at the Informal Meeting of the Heads of State or Government. The meeting will be attended by representatives from Finland, German and Portugal, as the current and the next two Presidency countries, as well as the Commission and European social partners.
Press release on Finnish Government's web site(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Meeting information on Presidency web site(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)