European Union
Permanent representation of Finland to the EU, Brussels
Finland seeks election to the International Maritime Organization Council (IMO) for the 2024–2025 term.
Finns are once again actively travelling abroad. Over the years, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has been reminding travellers of things to take into account when travelling abroad to make sure their trip runs as smoothly as possible.
Passports and identity cards issued by the Finnish authorities will have a new appearance as of 13 March 2023. Minor technical adjustments will also be made to residence permit cards and residence cards. The changes will have no effect on the validity of previously issued passports, identity cards or residence permit documents.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin will attend a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 9 and 10 February. The meeting will focus on Ukraine, the economy and competitiveness, and migration. After the meeting, the Prime Minister will visit Luxembourg.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin will attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana, the capital of Albania, on Tuesday 6 December. The meeting will discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries while also taking into account the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression on the region.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin will attend the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 20–21 October. Topics on the agenda will include Ukraine, energy, economic issues and external relations. The EU leaders will continue the discussion they began at the informal European Council on 7 October in Prague about the effects Russia’s war of aggression is having on the energy crisis and the economy in Europe.
Finland ranked first in the European Union’s digital performance comparison. The European Commission’s annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) monitors the digital performance of EU Member States and tracks their progress in digitalisation. Finland has been at the top of the list for several years, ranking number two in 2021 and number one in 2019 and 2020.
On Tuesday 31 May, the second day of its special meeting, the European Council discussed security, defence and food security.
At the special meeting of the European Council, which began on 30 May in Brussels, the EU leaders agreed to impose new sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. The leaders were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via video conference for a discussion at the beginning of the meeting. Finland was represented at the meeting by Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
