Columns and Interviews

After the parliamentary elections on 14 April, it is time to look at the challenges for the next government. The formulation of energy and climate policies has to be based on long-term goals. The tasks of Finland’s future government have by and large been laid out by EU obligations. Finland’s Presidency of the EU Council, to start at the beginning of July, will provide us a unique opportunity to influence the EU priorities as we move towards a carbon neutral Europe. In Finland, special attention must be paid to improving the efficiency of emissions reduction measures in the sectors outside the Emissions Trading System.

After the parliamentary elections on 14 April, it is time to look at the challenges for the next government. The formulation of energy and climate policies has to be based on long-term goals. The tasks of Finland’s future government have by and large been laid out by EU obligations. Finland’s Presidency of the EU Council, to start at the beginning of July, will provide us a unique opportunity to influence the EU priorities as we move towards a carbon neutral Europe. In Finland, special attention must be paid to improving the efficiency of emissions reduction measures in the sectors outside the Emissions Trading System.

Jari Vilén, Senior Advisor in Arctic policy matters, spells out the challenges that we face today in the Arctic region. Climate change is a major issue, but there's more to it than that.

There is a talk a lot about Finnish agriculture and especially the ways to support it. This is a good thing. The topic is highly important, and support policy with all its complications is far from simple. Large amounts of the public funds collected as taxes are used to support agriculture and the rural areas, which is why public discussion is also needed.

LEADER is an excellent example of how the EU may be present in our everyday lives. Finland adopted the LEADER approach as the local development tool in 1996, one year after Finland's accession to the Union. Influence at the grass-root level was easy to adapt to the Finnish society and way of thinking, and it is going to have a significant role in the future as well. In the early years LEADER managed to win many of the EU critics in the rural areas on its side.

At its December summit, the European Council will discuss the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU for the first time in eight years. In recent years we have grown used to endless European Council meetings dealing only with the fate of the euro. Why have security and defence matters now risen onto the agenda of the heads of state? What objectives have been set for the talks? What results can be expected in December?

Following the conclusion of its membership negotiations, Finland began to participate in the working parties of the Council of Ministers in spring 1994. At first we had observer status and were not entitled to speak, but following the signature of the Treaty of Accession in Corfu in June of that year, we acquired speaking rights.

Two years ago, in the summer of 2008, I was making preparations for my move back to Brussels. I made a whistle-stop tour of Helsinki to find out what expectations people would have of me as Permanent Representative of Finland to the European Union. A great deal of useful input was forthcoming, but some advice that has stayed with me more than most was that given by Teija Tiilikainen: always remember the community method.