Finnish presidency to focus on innovation, competitiveness

Innovation, competitiveness, cooperation on justice, freedom and security and further EU enlargement will be the main themes that Finland will be working on during its second six-month presidency term since its accession in 1995.

One of the smallest EU member states, with a population of just over five million, Finland is currently leading the way in innovation in the EU.

Speaking to visiting EU affairs correspondents, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said that he would explain the "Finnish model" of combining economic flexibility with social security to EU leaders, trade unions and employers during an informal summit to be held next October in Lahti, 100km north of Helsinki.

Mr Vanhanen said that Finland has set an example in innovation by spending more than 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product on research and development, and giving high priority to investing in education.

"If all member states could achieve that, it would mean more than €100 billion extra spending on R&D annually. That would be a huge boost to R&D in Europe," he said.

Finland will be aiming to promote the development of a broad-based innovation policy during its presidency. Speaking to The Times, an aide at the Prime Minister's office said that a report on new ideas and challenges in innovation policy is planned and, on the basis of the report, recommendations are to be made for the future of innovation policy by the end of the year.

"As part of this exercise, there will be a review of best practice in the member states with regard to effective commercialisation and the creation of new demand for innovation-generating activity," he said.

Mr Vanhanen said that the most important decision to be taken during Finland's presidency in the field of research and innovation policy will be the decision on the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme. Finland's objective is to bring the negotiations on all aspects of the Framework Programme to a successful conclusion so that the programme can start at the beginning of next year.

Malta and several other countries are currently opposing the formalisation of this agreement due to ethical reservations concerning embryonic stem cell research.

Finland is also planning substantial progress on the issues of justice, security and freedom and in particular on a common approach to migration issues.

In the spring of 2007, the Commission is planning to present a green paper on a common European asylum system, which should be finalised in 2010 along with the Hague programme.

A debate will be launched on how to develop the asylum system now that a first round of legislation has been adopted. Finland will try to ensure that the minimum rules are turned into genuinely common rules and that the asylum rules are broadened to include secondary protection.

The Prime Minister said that practical cooperation between the member states' asylum authorities should also be developed at the same time.

"There will be a comprehensive examination of immigration issues during Finland's presidency, covering both legal and illegal immigration. The Hague programme stresses the importance of legal immigration, though it acknowledges that it is for the member states to decide on the nature of work-related immigration and on the numbers involved.

"We will address the Commission communication on illegal immigration. Finland's aim is for the Council to adopt conclusions providing guidelines for future work in this field."

Mr Vanhanen said that the presidency will also see implementation of the EU action plan on combating trafficking in human beings, which will set out a human-rights based and victim-centred approach.

On border security, Finland will aim to get political guidelines adopted committing the member states to more effective control of the EU's external border. This will mean channelling national resources and funding to the right places. Frontex, the border-security agency, will be given political guidelines and support.

Enlargement will also feature in the next six months as the EU has to take the final decision on whether to let in Bulgaria and Romania as from next January.

Mr Vanhanen said that the presidency will be expecting a recommendation by the Commission is a few months time and EU leaders will take their final decision in December.