Current affairs

On Friday 29 May, the President of the Republic appointed Finland’s 74th Government.

At the presidential session on Friday 24 April, the President of the Republic decided to appoint Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Piritta Asunmaa to serve as Head of the Mission of Finland to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Brussels from 1 September 2015.

In its extraordinary meeting on 23 April, the European Council discussed illegal immigration over the Mediterranean and the recent tragic accidents. The Council adopted concrete measures aimed at saving human lives and deterring the activities of human trafficking gangs.

The European Council stressed the importance of structural reforms, fiscal responsibility and investments in the National Reform Programmes of all Member States. The European Fund for Strategic Investments is a concrete step in speeding up economic growth in Europe. The European Council also underlined the significance of concluding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE) has invited a number of influential EU figures from Brussels to Finland to learn about the theory and practice of the Finnish bioeconomy. The group of more than 10 people includes top-level civil servants from the various departments of the European Commission, as well as the EU ambassadors of leading bioeconomy countries.

The European Council convened in Brussels on 18 December. The main theme of the meeting was the Commission's investment plan with the aim of creating economic growth and attracting private investments.

The Permanent Representation will be closed during holiday season between 24–26 December 2014, as well as on 1 and 6 January 2015.

The EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan announced today that the Union supports the Finnish milk producers suffering from the Russian import ban by 10.7 million euros.

In 2015, Finland's EU policy priorities will include competitiveness to strengthen growth and employment, better regulation and Union as a strong global actor. The Government sets out its most important EU policy objectives each year. The newly appointed EU institutions have recently begun their work and next year will be important in terms of developing interinstitutional relations.

The European Commission investment plan, streamlining of EU regulation, digital internal market and EU-US free trade negotiations dominated the discussions during Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's visit to Brussels. During his one-day visit, Stubb met European Council President Donald Tusk, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commission Vice-Presidents Frans Timmermans and Jyrki Katainen.