Preparation of EU affairs in Finland

The central government has a special system for coordinating EU affairs. The system aims at ensuring that Finland can present a timely, coordinated position in line with its general EU policy on any issue under consideration in the EU, at any stage of consideration. The system consists of the Government EU Affairs Department at the Prime Minister’s Office, relevant ministries, the Cabinet Committee on European Union Affairs, the Committee for EU Affairs and its sub-committees.

The preparation of Finland’s position on current agricultural affairs in the EU begins at the latest when the Commission publishes a legislative proposal or a communication and sends it to the Council and the European Parliament. Each proposal is designated a public servant responsible for the matter. They begin preparing Finland’s position taking into account a broad range of Finnish EU policy guidelines and the views of relevant stakeholders.