The European Council will meet in Brussels on 24 October. The main themes of the meeting include the Digital Single Market, services and innovation. The EU Heads of State or Government will also be briefed on the development of EMU and the Banking Union. The meeting will also discuss measures to improve the EU's regulatory fitness.

Colleagues who have been in Brussels longer than I have told me that so far the autumn has been exceptionally calm. They recall the marathon night-time meetings and tough back-and-forth discussions that were commonplace in the worst days of the Eurozone crisis. The crisis is abating, even fading.

The EU Foreign Ministers will convene for an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, 21 August. The meeting is held owing to recent events in Egypt. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

The European Council met in Brussels. The main themes of the meeting were youth unemployment and the financing of the economy.

On 22 May, the European Council discussed energy and tax policies. The focus is on the creation of new jobs and growth.

President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy will visit Helsinki on Tuesday 7 May. During his visit Van Rompuy will meet Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen to discuss key EU issues. On 7 May, President Van Rompuy and Prime Minister Katainen will also hold a public discussion session to debate the future of Europe.

On Tuesday 16 April, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He delivered a statement at the Parliament's plenary session focusing on the future of the European Union. - Can Europe be more fair in the future? I think it can. To me fair integration means that the European Union continues to be founded on common values and rules that are truly respected by all and at all times, Katainen said.

The Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union has moved to a new location. The new address is Avenue de Cortenbergh, 80, 1000 Brussels, Belgium. Our telephone numbers remain unchanged.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja spoke about the future of the European Union’s foreign policy, the European External Action Service and diplomacy at the event “Policy Dialogue – Shaping the EU system of diplomacy: the European External Action Service and the future of foreign policy”, organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC) and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) in Brussels on 11 March.

On Friday afternoon, the European Council reached an agreement on the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014–2020. Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen finds the agreed outcome good for Finland and Europe.