Minister for joint EU solutions to respond to acute energy crisis

Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen on Monday said that the European Union must jointly agree on solutions to respond to the acute energy crisis while also supporting a permanent withdrawal from Russian fossil energy.

The Minister made the comment on the eve of the meeting of EU General Affairs Council scheduled to be held in Luxembourg on Tuesday, said a government press release.

“We must continue and strengthen our wide-ranging support for Ukraine. The EU must remain united in this respect. The EU must jointly agree on solutions to respond to the acute energy crisis while also supporting a permanent withdrawal from Russian fossil energy,” Tuppurainen said.

Topics on the agenda for the meeting included preparations for the October European Council, rule of law issues, the follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe and the European Parliament’s proposal to amend the legislation governing European Parliament elections.

Tuppurainen will represent Finland at the meeting.

“Finland has long supported increasing qualified majority voting especially with respect to the Common Foreign and Security Policy. It should be noted that there are already means in place to improve the effectiveness of the EU’s actions within the framework of the existing Treaties. What we need is the common will of the Member States to make use of them,” she added.