Foreign Ministry aims at reducing secrecy
1.4.2004
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is developing its public diplomacy policy and the related practices in order to increase openness and decrease secrecy. The development work has been going on for a long time, but now the Ministry introduces a new phase by setting up a working group that will present its recommendations to the leadership by September.
The working group will hear the Ministry's cooperation partners both within and outside the government administration as well as external experts. The group does not intend to involve the well established practices of the handling of the EU affairs in its developing work.
The working group will study the application of the legislation on publicity within the Foreign Ministry, the developing of the communications towards the state government and the parliament, the application of treaty obligations concerning information security from a public diplomacy point of view, the information concerning the international negotiations of the state government and also the citizens' information service relating to the Foreign Ministry's competence area especially with the help of web services.
The aim of the work is to further develop the Foreign Ministry's ability to serve the state government, the parliament and the public in the issues related to its competence on the basis of the legislation on publicity and the international obligations concerning information security.
The working group is chaired by Under-Secretary of State Hannu Himanen and its members represent the different departments of the Ministry.
Additional information: Under-Secretary of State Hannu Himanen, tel. 09 160 55020, Director-General Yrjö Länsipuro, tel. 040 754 4448, and Chief of Information and Documentation Martti Favorin, tel. 09 160 55338