Finland took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from Romania on 1 July 2019. Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU will last until 31 December 2019. Finland has previously held the Presidency of the Council in June-December 1999 and July-December 2006. Finland, which is part of the Romania-Finland-Croatia trio presidency covering the period from January 2019 to June 2020, has set the following priorities for its third term presidency driven by the motto "Sustainable Europe - Sustainable Future" :

- to strengthen common values and the rule of law,

- to make the EU more competitive and socially inclusive,

- to strengthen the EU’s position as a global leader in climate action and

- to protect the security of citizens comprehensively.

It is important to note that Finland's third EU term presidency coincides with the 20th anniversary of the landmark Helsinki Summit of 10-11 December 1999 in which Turkey was declared an EU candidate country. At the EU level, Brexit -which is currently scheduled for 31 October 2019-, senior appointments at EU institutions and the long-term EU budget will be the main agenda items requiring Finland's attention. Finland is also the first presidency to integrate the new priorities of the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 into the Council's work.

Further information on Finland's Presidency of the Council of the EU is available at https://eu2019.fi/en/frontpage