PM holds meetings with Hungarian, Czech counterparts

Prime Minister Antti Rinne, now on a visit to Hungary and the Czech Republic, where he held separate meetings with the prime ministers of the countries, said an official press release.

On the agenda of the meeting with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán were current EU issues, including Brexit, the multiannual financial framework of the EU, and the priorities for Finland’s presidency of the Council of the EU.

“We had very open and constructive talks. One of the main topics was the EU’s next multiannual financial framework. The aim for the Finnish presidency is to boost the negotiations on this at the October European Council. I wished to stress, in particular, that our idea to incorporate the rule of law into this framework is necessary to protect the EU’s budget, instead of being intended as a sanction mechanism,” Rinne said after the meeting.

Strengthening the rule of law is one of the key priorities for Finland’s presidency of the Council of the EU. Protecting this and other fundamental values of the European Union is an absolute necessity for the proper functioning, acceptability and credibility of the EU.

The two prime ministers also talked about climate change. The aim for Finland is that the EU summit in December would set as the target for the EU to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

“The EU must show global leadership in climate policy and set clear and ambitious targets. These targets are also very much in the interest of the European industry,” said Rinne .

Other current EU topics discussed by the prime ministers were migration and asylum seekers and enlargement.

Meanwhile, climate and energy issues are high on the EU’s agenda, and they were also the main topics when Prime Minister Antti Rinne met Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš in Prague.

The two heads of government also discussed economic relations between the two countries and how these could be further improved, development of the EU’s internal market, and other topical EU issues.

“The aim for Finland’s presidency of the Council of the EU is that the EU summit in December will agree on the target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The solutions we are looking for include energy policies that all EU countries can accept. The transition from coal and other fossil fuels to sustainable forms of energy is a challenge for all of us,” said Rinne after the meeting with Babiš.

“We already have good collaboration with the Czech Republic in the nuclear energy sector. We noted that the circular economy could offer good opportunities for cooperation that would also contribute to the efforts to combat climate change,” he said.

The prime ministers stressed the need to strengthen the EU’s internal market and secure smooth and rule-based functioning of world trade. They discussed several items on the agenda of the October European Council, including the next multiannual financial framework, EU enlargement and Brexit. Other topical EU issues raised during the meeting were migration and the rule of law.

“Prime Minister Babiš also wanted to hear about our arrangements for the presidency, as the Czech Republic will take up the task in summer 2022. It will be the second time that the Czech Republic holds the presidency of the Council of the EU,” Rinne said.