Finland's EU Presidency: Newsletter 1/2006
03 Jul 2006, 16:20
FINLAND'S SIX-MONTH EU PRESIDENCY BEGAN ON 1 JULY 2006
Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen set out the priorities for Finland's EU Presidency in his speech to the Finnish Parliament on 21 June 2006. The framework for the Presidency was drawn up in cooperation with Austria and published already in December 2005. Since then more detailed plans have been made and they were published in the Presidency agenda in May 2006.
The official Presidency website eu2006.fi contains a section on the EU's nine policy areas and on issues to be prioritised during Finland's Presidency.
Priority areas and Presidency agenda: www.eu2006.fi/priorityareas
Policy areas: www.eu2006.fi/policyareas/
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION MET THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT IN HELSINKI
The Members of the European Commission arrived in Helsinki on Sunday, 2 July, to meet the Finnish Government. On Monday, the 25 Members of the Commission and the Finnish Government discussed the agenda for Finland's EU Presidency.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso held a press conference at noon. The press conference was webcast.
Webcasts: www.eu2006.fi/webcasts/
EU2006.FI AT THE SERVICE OF THE MEDIA
SUBSCRIPTION TO E-MAIL AND SMS TEXT MESSAGE NEWS SERVICES
It is possible to subscribe to e-mail and SMS news services from the Presidency website. An electronic Presidency newsletter will be issued in English, French and Latin. The Latin news-in-brief was introduced during Finland's previous EU Presidency in 1999. It aroused much interest and we received a lot of good feedback. The news subscription service was opened on 1 July 2006.
Newsletters: www.eu2006.fi/news_subscription/
MEDIA ACCREDITATION FOR PRESIDENCY EVENTS IS OPEN
A request for accreditation should be submitted in good time before the meeting. Online accreditation requests must be submitted a week prior to the meeting in question. Accreditation for the ASEM 6 Summit and the EUROMED meeting must take place two weeks prior to the meetings.
Accreditation: www.eu2006.fi/accreditation/
WEBCASTS AND PHOTOS
The main press conferences and open Council sessions will be webcast live at eu2006.fi. Later they will be available as video recordings. The "Photos" sub-section offers media representatives a picture archive consisting of print quality photographs of the most important meetings, Finnish Government Ministers, and Finland in general.
Webcasts: www.eu2006.fi/webcasts/
Photos: www.eu2006.fi/photos/
MAIN EVENTS IN WEEKS 27 AND 28
- Presentation of the Presidency Programme by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at the European Parliament, 5 July 2006 (Strasbourg)
- Informal ministerial meeting: Employment, Social Policy and Health 6-8 July 2006 (Helsinki)
The press conference can be followed live at eu2006.fi on 6 July, at 18:30 (GMT+3) and on 7 July, at 17:30 (GMT+3)
- Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), 11 July 2006 (Brussels)
- Informal ministerial meeting: Competitiveness, 10-11 July 2006 (Jyväskylä)
Press conference can be followed live at eu2006.fi on 10 July, at 17:00 (GMT+3) and on 11 July, at 12:15 (GMT+3)
- Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), 14 July 2006 (Brussels)
- Informal ministerial meeting: Environment, 15-16 July 2006 (Turku)
Press conference can be followed live at eu2006.fi. Times to be confirmed.
MORE EVENTS
Calendar: www.eu2006.fi/calendar/
The next newsletter will be issued on Monday, 10 July.
