Foreign Minister Haavisto to visit the European Parliament to present the priorities of Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU

On 2 September, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit the European Parliament in Brussels to present the priorities of Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU and exchange views on current EU external relations matters with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

During its Presidency, Finland will fully support the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in strengthening the EU as a global actor, as envisaged in the EU Global Strategy.

Finland’s priorities are to enhance the unity, coherence and effectiveness of the EU’s external action and to comprehensively protect the EU's common values.

The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will hear from Pekka Haavisto about the Finnish Presidency’s objectives for reforming the EU’s external action funding in the multiannual financial framework (2021–2027) and for the role of the EU’s enlargement policy and the Western Balkans in furthering the stability and development of Europe. Finland also emphasises the EU’s engagement in active dialogue globally and development of the partnership between the EU and Africa.

The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs deals with topical foreign policy matters. The committee’s responsibilities include starting, monitoring and concluding EU accession negotiations. The committee is also negotiating a legislative proposal on the EU’s future external financing instrument in trilogue negotiations with the Council presidency and the European Commission.

Minister Haavisto's visit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs is part of Finland’s role as the current Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Ministers representing the Council presidency present the priorities of their presidency to the committees of the European Parliament and have an exchange of views with Members of the European Parliament.

The meeting can be followed live from the European Parliament(Link to another website.) starting at 17.30 Finnish time (EET).

Inquiries: Katja Kalamäki, Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 295 351 518 and Emilia Mustajärvi, Desk Officer, tel. + 358 295 350 376

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format [email protected].