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Prior to its entry into force, the EU reform agreement has to be ratified in all member states. In Finland’s case, the agreement will have to be confirmed twice. The approval both of the Finnish Parliament and the Provincial Assembly of the Åland Islands has to be obtained for the agreement.

The EU Heads of State or Government, meeting in Lisbon in October, adopted the EU Reform Treaty. The Reform Treaty strengthens in a number of ways the Union’s principles on democracy, transparency and good governance. The Treaty simplifies and clarifies some of the Union’s complex procedures and basic characteristics.

The European Union’s Permanent Representatives Committee has seen representatives of many countries come and go, but one of the current ambassadors has sat in the chamber for longer than others. He is Eikka Kosonen, 60-year-old EU old hand. Kosonen has witnessed almost everything possible at the EU. Yet he still has enough drive for new challenges. Eikka feels that, first and foremost, he is a Finnish diplomat, even though he has lived in Brussels for eleven years.

There have been numerous changes in the staff at the Permanent EU Representation of Finland. New faces include Cops ambassador Anne Sipiläinen and Chief of Administration Pekka Puustinen. Permanent representative, ambassador Eikka Kosonen continues as head of the Representation. Ambassador Nina Vaskunlahti is still responsible for Coreper-1 affairs.

The European Council has reached an agreement on the reform of the existing EU Treaties. The European Union Member States have decided to convene an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which will negotiate the details of the

The website of the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union, which is located in Brussels, has a new look. The change is part of the overhaul of the websites of the overseas representations and embassies of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The website of the EU Representation can now be consulted in Swedish. As before, Finnish, English and French versions of the site also exist.

Finland and the other euro area countries are issuing a two-euro commemorative coin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. In addition to the name of the issuing country, the national side of the new coin will also show the Treaty document as signed by the representatives of the six Founder Member States.