EU package should offer added value to Europe: Tuppurainen

Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen on Wednesday said that the upcoming EU COVID-19 recovery package should offer "added value" to Europe, but "must not increase the burden of net payer countries too much", reported Xinhua.

Tuppurainen talked to the media after participating in the first informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council under the German presidency of the Council of the EU. She said that Finland aims at reaching an agreement, but cannot accept the current plan for the recovery package. "In the final negotiations, the overall entity matters and Prime Minister Sanna Marin will decide what Finland can approve," she said.

Tuppurainen noted that Finland underlines a concrete role of the European Council in allocating and controlling the assistance for each member country.

In response to a media question, she said the EU is not "an incomes transfer union", but the EU assistance to less affluent countries contributes to gradual convergence of economies and the development of the internal market. "And we want to curb the European inequality," she added.

In addition, Tuppurainen said she was optimistic that the work for the rule of law, which Finland took up during its presidency of the Council of the EU a year ago, will continue during the current German presidency.

"When moving from the emergency conditions, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, towards normal everyday life, we in Europe must also stay alert," said Tuppurainen, noting that the EU must firmly continue to defend equality, democracy and the rule of law.