Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs discusses EU security commitments to Ukraine

In its meeting on Friday 5 April, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs discussed the proposal on EU security commitments to Ukraine. The Ministerial Committee also discussed the proposed declaration on social rights and the annual report on EU litigation, and outlined Finland’s positions for three upcoming council meetings.

The Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs outlined Finland’s position on the External Action Service’s 19 March proposal on EU security commitments to Ukraine. The EU’s commitments would largely be based on the continuation of existing EU support and would supplement the Member States’ bilateral security commitments to Ukraine. Finland wants to see swift progress in negotiating on and adopting the security commitments. In Finland’s view, the proposed forms of support are an appropriate starting point for further work. Finland is open to the proposed forms of support and to the development of related measures. Finland is strongly in favour of using the European Peace Facility to support Ukraine and contributing additional capital to the fund for that purpose. Finland is open to a variety of funding solutions to support Ukraine. Finland will assess each initiative and its impacts separately.

The Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs also agreed that Finland could adopt the draft declaration by the EU institutions on the future of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The declaration is to be signed at the High-Level Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights to be held on 15–16 April in the city of La Hulpe in Belgium, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

The Ministerial Committee discussed the 2023 annual report of the EU Litigation Unit. It describes EU litigation cases in which Finland participated in 2023, as well as judgments issued during the year and proposals for decisions by the Advocate General on matters in which Finland has previously participated. The annual report is public and will also be submitted to Parliament.

The Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs also outlined Finland’s positions for the following upcoming meetings: 
•    Eurogroup (11 April) and ECOFIN (12 April)
•    Informal meeting of ministers of agriculture  (7–9 April)
•    Informal meeting of telecommunications ministers (11– 12 April)

The ECOFIN Council is to adopt the Commission’s conclusions on the mid-term evaluation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Other topics on the agenda include the economic and financial impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU's policies for the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central banks, the declaration of the President of the Council of the European Union to the IMFC, the fight against fraud in the Union and the role of the European Investment Bank in financing the defence industry. The Eurogroup will discuss the preparations for several international meetings and the digital euro.

The ministers of agriculture will discuss ways to improve the EU’s self-sufficiency in plant protein production.

The meeting of the telecommunications ministers will focus on the needs of European digital infrastructure and promoting a secure network environment.

Inquiries: Jori Arvonen, State Under-Secretary for European Affairs, tel. +358 295 16001, Jari Luoto, Director General, EU Affairs Department, tel. +358 50 468 5949, and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office

Agendas for the meetings of the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs and public documents discussed at the meetings are available on the Prime Minister’s Office website (in Finnish).