The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), in cooperation with Trans-European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA), is organizing the TEPSA 2019 Finnish Pre-Presidency Conference.
Finland will assume the Presidency of the EU Council on 1 July 2019. The third Finnish Council Presidency will take place right after the EU elections, and it will coincide with the process of making the EU’s top appointments and agreeing on the key political priorities of the EU’s five-year institutional cycle. Finland’s own presidency priorities will be finalized by the new government in the making.
The aim of the TEPSA Pre-Presidency Conference is to provide sound assessment, analysis and advice on topical issues facing the EU in general and the Council Presidency in particular. In this context, the conference will address themes and topics such as the Future of Europe in light of EU elections, EU defence in the changing security policy landscape and the Finnish Presidency priorities. Other key topics (inter alia) include Growth and Multi-Annual Financial Framework, Rule of Law challenges, and the Future of EU-Africa relations. Keynote speakers include the Commission’s Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier and State Secretary Kare Halonen.
TEPSA is the first transeuropean research network in the field of European affairs. It consists of leading research institutes in the field of European affairs throughout Europe. The TEPSA Pre-Presidency Conference is held twice a year in the capital of the country assuming the rotating EU Council Presidency.
The conference is supported by the Representation of the European Commission in Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union, and the SEnECA and InDivEU projects in the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
