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21.5.2021 | At its meeting on Friday 21 May, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs outlined Finland’s positions leading up to the special European Council on 24 and 25 May and the other upcoming council meetings in Brussels. The Committee also received a number of topical reports.

3.2.2023 | The EU General Affairs Council (GAC) will meet in Brussels on Monday 6 February. The meeting will focus on preparations for the February Special European Council. The GAC will also discuss relations between the EU and the United Kingdom and receive an overview of Sweden’s priorities for its Presidency of the Council of the EU. Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen will represent Finland at the meeting.

25.1.2019 | At its meeting on 25 January, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs decided on the need to prepare a special act to continue UK citizens’ right of residence in Finland for a fixed term. The act is needed to prepare for the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit, where the UK withdraws from the EU without an agreement at the end of March.

13.12.2019 | Meeting in Brussels on Friday 13 December, the Euro Summit of the EU27 leaders discussed further work on the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union. The Euro Summit tasked the finance ministers with continuing the work on strengthening the banking union, finalising the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) package of reforms, and establishing a Budgetary Instrument for Convergence and Competitiveness (BICC) for the euro area in the context of the multiannual financial framework (MFF).

31.12.2020 | The UK’s withdrawal from the EU will be complete on 1 January 2021. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the complementary agreements on security of classified information and nuclear cooperation, which were agreed by the EU Commission and the UK on 24 December 2020, will be applied provisionally from the beginning of the year. The agreements have not yet been ratified but the provisional application of the agreements prevents the UK’s withdrawal from the Union without a deal.

21.6.2019 | On Friday June 20, the European Council met in Brussels to agree on the guidelines by which the EU aims to gain a stronger position in the changing environment. In future, the focus will shift even more towards the citizens of Europe and European values. The aim is a climate-neutral Union built on a strong economy.

17.7.2019 | Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s speech to the European Parliament on 17 July 2019 Government Communications Department Publication date 17.7.2019 11.18 Type: Speech President of the European Parliament, President of the European Commission, Honourabl...

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29.12.2022 | On 29 December 2022, the President of the Republic approved the Act on the National Implementation of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve. Funds from the Reserve will be used to support companies that have been negatively affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The support is channelled as business development aid from the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres). 

1.3.2023 | The EU ministers responsible for competitiveness will discuss the internal market and ways to improve the Union’s competitiveness. Ministers will seek to adopt general approaches on a proposed directive concerning distance marketing of financial services and on a proposed regulation on short-term accommodation rental services.

21.9.2022 | The European Commission proposes regulation that would effectively combat forced labour. According to the Commission, it is unacceptable that goods produced by people who have been threatened or forced to work are sold in European shops. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will organise a stakeholder event on EU proposal on forced labour on September 29.

10.11.2022 | In September 2022, the European Commission proposed regulation that would ban products made with forced labour. While the Government supports the proposal’s objective, certain points need to be considered during the negotiations.

16.10.2024 | In their first-ever summit in Brussels on Wednesday 16 October, the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) outlined a vision for closer cooperation. For Finland, it was important that the joint statement issued at the summit condemn Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

23.8.2021 | Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen's speech in the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission on the 23rd of August 2021.

23.8.2021 | Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen's speech in the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission on the 23rd of August 2021.

15.2.2024 | On 15 February 2024, the Government submitted a proposal to transpose the amendments required by the EU Blue Card Directive into Finnish legislation. The amendments will apply to non-EU nationals arriving in Finland with a EU residence permit for highly qualified workers, also known as the Blue Card.

22.2.2022 | Birgitta Vuorinen joined the Finnish Embassy in London in early January as a senior specialist in higher education and science policy. She relocated to London from the Ministry of Education and Culture, where she worked as Director of the Division for Higher Education Policy. The UK thus became the ninth area of expertise for the Team Finland Knowledge network. Vuorinen’s task is to follow higher educat...

21.5.2024 | Unofficial translation Government proposal to Parliament for an Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration MAIN CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL The Government proposes that an act on temporary measures to combat instrumentalised migration...

31.1.2020 | At its meeting on Friday 31 January, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs discussed the European Green Deal and its financing, the Brexit process, and financing of the Budgetary Instrument for Convergence and Competitiveness BICC.