Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs discussed the special European Council

On Friday 28 April, the Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs outlined that Finland is prepared to adopt the guidelines, discussed in the General Affairs Council on 27 April, that define the framework for the Brexit negotiations with the United Kingdom. The Council, in an EU27 format, will adopt the guidelines in the special European Council on Saturday 29 April.

According to the draft guidelines the EU wants to mitigate the negative impacts of Brexit. The EU aims to safeguard the interests of the EU, Member States, EU citizens and companies as well as to ensure that the UK settles its financial commitments from its time as an EU Member State.

The EU will later decide its position on the separate negotiations concerning the new relationship between the EU and the UK.

The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs also discussed the follow-up on the reflections on the future of the EU and the Rome Declaration of the EU27 heads of state. This mainly involves continuing and compressing the ongoing work. The key issue is to focus on achieving concrete results in the fields of growth and security.

The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs also outlined Finland’s positions for the informal meeting of competitiveness ministers on 3 May. The topics of the meeting are research and innovations.

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