Finland’s value-based Presidency of the Council of the EU 2019
Keywords:
EU, Council Presidency, common values, Finland, rule of lawAbstract
Finland acted as the President of the EU Council in the second half of 2019. The Finnish Presidency program had an ambitious value-based agenda, which underlined the role of the EU as a community of values. The aim of this article is to study why Finland chose to promote values, and what kind of political discussion preceded the presidency term. Secondly, the article focuses on the practical implementation of the common values outlined in the program. Thirdly, the article discusses how to evaluate the presidency, and whether Finland can be considered successful in its value promotion. The analysis draws from the key documents related to the Presidency, as well as on research interviews (N=33) with key Finnish politicians, civil servants and civil society experts in spring 2020. According to the article, the focus on values was an evident priority already when the Finnish parties started to plan possible themes for the term. As the term approached, the relevance of values increased. During its Presidency, Finland was successful in the promotion of several values by binding them with practical questions. As the article suggests, the evaluation of the success of the value-based agenda can be approached from various perspectives with different outcomes.
