Thors and Tiilikainen to lead Finland’s Intergovernmental Conference negotiation delegation

Press release 130/2007
28 June, 2007

The Government decided on Thursday 28 June to present to the President of the Republic the appointment of Finland’s negotiation delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference to reform the Constitutional Treaty. The President of the Republic is expected to appoint the negotiation delegation on Friday, 29 June.

The chair of the negotiation delegation will be Astrid Thors, Minister of Migration and European Affairs, and the vice chair will be State Secretary Teija Tiilikainen of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The delegation members and experts will be from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland. The delegation can name other experts as needed.

In Brussels on 21–23 June, the European Council reached comprehensive political consensus on the content of the new treaty. The European Council approved the Presidency’s conclusions, which included the convening of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). The IGC is requested to draw up a treaty to amend the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.

The call to convene the ICG gives the Conference a good base and a precise outline. It defines the reforms agreed upon at the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference that will be included in the existing fundamental Treaties of the EU.

It offers the preconditions for quick progress in the ICG so that the new Treaty could enter into force before the next elections to the European Parliament, to be held in June 2009. The IGC will be convened before the end of July 2007 once the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank have given their opinions on the matter. The next EU Presidency, Portugal, will give the IGC  a proposal for the new Treaty.  The call to convene the IGC given by the European Council confirms that the Conference must complete its work by the end of 2007.

The positions of Finland to be presented in the IGC will be approved by the Cabinet Committee on European Union Affairs and they will be discussed, as necessary, by the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy. The Government of Åland will be heard, in accordance with the Act on the Autonomy of Åland. Finland’s positions for the Conference will be prepared in interaction with the Finnish Parliament.

Additional information: First Secretary Lauri Voionmaa, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5079