Prime Ministers of Finland and Belgium met in Helsinki

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel met in Helsinki on 20 February. The key topics on the agenda were the next Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU, development of EU’s single market, Brexit and climate change.

“In the near future the EU will have to outline important climate policy strategies related to setting the objective to 2050, followed by updating the emission reduction objective to 2030. The EU must do its part to meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Belgium and Finland are both among the countries that drive an ambitious climate policy, and we both aim for net zero emissions by 2050”, Prime Minister Sipilä says.

The visit of the Belgian Prime Minister was part of a series of meetings by Prime Minister Sipilä leading up to Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Prime Minister Sipilä has now discussed with 21 heads of EU Member States, and he aims to meet leaders of all EU countries before Finland’s Presidency, which will start in July.

Inquiries: Kare Halonen, State Secretary for EU Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 319, Niina Nurkkala, Special Adviser (EU Affairs), tel. +358 50 347 2661, and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office

Photos from the meeting

Video of the press conference