Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) will travel to Brussels on Tuesday to meet with newly re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Orpo and von der Leyen are to discuss the Commission's future programme, which she laid out in broad strokes in July.
According to a government statement, Orpo will emphasise Finland's key goals for the next five-year term, which are strengthening Europe's competitiveness and security while promoting the clean transition, bioeconomy and the circular economy.
Virkkunen’s future portfolio on the agenda
Orpo and von der Leyen will also discuss the distribution of portfolios in the new Commission.
The prime minister's party has nominated former NCP education minister Henna Virkkunen as Finland’s representative on the EU executive board. Brussels-watchers have told Yle she could land a weighty portfolio, particularly because there are so few women nominated for the next von der Leyen commission.
The current commission's term ends on 31 October, with the next expected to take office in December.
"I have been in close contact with the commission president, because the EU is at a significant point of intersection," Orpo said in a government statement on Monday morning.
He noted that von der Leyen is currently preparing her next commission's platform and how portfolios will be divvied up.
"For a long time, Finland has systematically influenced the fact that the issues important to it are prominently featured in the Commission's next five-year programme," Orpo noted.
In addition to European Council meetings, Orpo and von der Leyen have met twice this year in Finland and once in Stockholm.
Orpo will also meet with the Speaker of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who has also been re-elected for another term.
Metsola, a Maltese politician, became the youngest-ever president of the European Parliament in 2022. She is married to Ukko Metsola, a Finnish EU lobbyist for a major cruise ship company. He ran unsuccessfully for the European Parliament in 2009 on the NCP ticket after working as an adviser to cabinet ministers including the now-disgraced Jari Vilén (NCP).
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