Prime Minister Sanna Marin (the SDP) will visit Berlin on Wednesday and meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Marin and Merkel will discuss the EU’s long-term budget for 2021–2027.
They will also share thoughts on current EU affairs, including the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in the European Union by 2050.
Marin and Merkel will also discuss the presidency of the Council of the EU, the role, which was completed by Finland in December and is after the Croatian stewardship to be taken over by Germany in July.
Discussions on international matters are also on the agenda.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Marin will attend a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels where the EU heads of state or government will seek to reach an agreement on the EU budget.
During its presidency of the Council of the EU, Finland prepared a proposal for the next financial framework that takes into account the views of all member states.
Finland still considers this proposal a good basis for further negotiations, although the framework set out is a little too high from Finland’s point of view.
Important matters for Finland in further negotiations include the level of funding for rural development, supporting research and innovation and linking EU funds to comply with the rule of law. Positions on individual funding programs can be further adjusted as the negotiations proceed.
President of the European Council Charles Michel, who leads the negotiations, has had individual talks with the leaders of the EU member states based on the proposal prepared by the Finnish presidency.
He will present a proposal on the overall size of the long-term budget ahead of the special European Council.
