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Presidency meetings outlined in the Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs

Government Communications Department
Publication date 15.9.2017 9.40 | Published in English on 19.9.2017 at 15.21
Press release 405/2017

In its meeting on Friday 15 September, the Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs discussed Finland’s EU Presidency, the UK's exit process, the way forward for both the EU’s common security and defence policy and for defence cooperation, trade agreements, and the informal meeting of energy and transport ministers.

Within the context of Finland’s EU Presidency (from 1 July to 31 December 2019), the Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs outlined that, based on the expected agenda and regularity, six informal ministerial meetings will be held in Helsinki. They are the meetings of the foreign ministers and defence ministers, the finance ministers and the Eurogroup, the ministers of agriculture and fishery, the justice and home affairs ministers, the environment ministers and the competitiveness ministers. The meetings of ministers and civil servants will all be held in one place in Helsinki. Finland’s Presidency will on the whole be handled cost-effectively.

The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs was given an account of the UK’s withdrawal process from the EU and on ways forward for the EU’s common security and defence policy and for defence cooperation.

The ministers were also given an update on the European Commission’s plans on future priorities. The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs discussed the State of the Union Address held by Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, and his letter of intent. The Committee noted that Finland’s efforts in terms of the Commission’s plans have been of a long-term nature and timely. This work will be continued.   

The Committee also discussed the Commission’s proposal to divide trade agreements based on EU competences into union and mixed agreements. From the viewpoint of the Finnish economy, it is important to ensure that Finnish businesses can reap the benefits brought about by trade agreements as swiftly as possible. Indeed, Finland takes a positive and pragmatic view on the proposed division of agreements.

In addition, the Committee outlined Finland’s positions for the informal meeting (19 to 21 September) of the energy and transport ministers. The agenda of the meeting includes the governance design of the Energy Union, an electricity market model, expectations related to the development of infrastructure, based on the experiences gained from the implementation of the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, investment policy in the transport sector beyond 2020 and air traffic accessibility and its relevance to regional cohesion in the EU.

Inquiries: Kare Halonen, State Secretary, EU Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 319, Riikka Pakarinen, Special Adviser (EU Affairs), tel. +358 40 580 0833 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office