Prime Minister Sipilä to attend special meeting of the European Council
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä will be attending a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Sunday 25 November 2018. EU leaders will meet to endorse the UK’s withdrawal agreement from the EU. The leaders are also expected to approve a political declaration on future EU-UK relations that will accompany the withdrawal agreement.
Finland is gratified that a draft withdrawal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom was contracted on 14 November. Finland’s priorities, i.e. the right of citizens and the financial settlement, remain unchanged in the draft agreement. The outline of the political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom is based on the premise that cooperation will be as close as possible in practice at all policy levels, subject to the conditions set out by the parties.
The UK is due to withdraw from the EU on 29 March 2019. This will be followed by a transition period of two years. The aim is that future EU-UK relations will be finalised by the end of the transition period.
Inquiries: Kare Halonen, State Secretary for EU Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 319, Riikka Pakarinen, Special Adviser (International Affairs), tel. +358 40 580 0833 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office