Current affairs

Minister of European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen will attend the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 28 January in Brussels. At the meeting, the ministers will hear a presentation on the priorities of Croatia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020. The ministers will also hold a preliminary discussion on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The UK will withdraw from the EU when the EU–UK withdrawal agreement enters into force on 1 February 2020. The withdrawal agreement dismantles all cooperation based on the UK’s EU membership in an orderly manner and provides for a transition period until the end of 2020, during which the relationship between the EU and the UK will continue under the current EU rules.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin emphasised at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the economic exploitation of the Arctic region for the production of fossil energy is short-sighted. According to the Prime Minister, the focus must instead be on combating climate change.

Finland’s Presidency of the Council accompanied the European Union on the path towards a new decade and a socially fair and environmentally sustainable future.

On Thursday 13 June, the Government nominated Member of Parliament, Master of Educational Science Jutta Urpilainen as Finland’s candidate for the next European Commission, to be appointed for the term 2019–2024.

It’s that time of the year! The annual Finnish Tennis Diplomacy once again proved to be a success. After all, there’s nothing better than trying to beat out friends and colleagues from the European Commission in a friendly (but tough) match of tennis.

Like many languages, Finnish is full of loanwords – words that were, at some point, borrowed from other languages and incorporated into Finnish. Finland would now like to give the rest of the world a word, to encourage international discussion about equality and inclusivity, and to support everyone who is working to promote them. The word is: hän.

Sustainable development principles form a common thread throughout the meeting arrangements for Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. Finland wants to draw attention to the climate impacts of meetings and is keen to seek new ways of doing things. Sustainability is also evident in the visual identity for Finland’s Presidency: the design for Finland’s previous Presidency has been recycled and revitalised for the Finnish Presidency that begins on 1 July.

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.