Minister of Transport and Communications, Ms Susanna Huovinen has barely had the time to unpack her suitcases in-between her travels in the run-up to Finland's EU Presidency that begins on 1 July 2006. Ministry civil servants have also been kept busy by preparations for the Presidency.
On 9 February, Ms Huovinen delivered a keynote address at the Trust in the Net seminar in Vienna. She stressed that it is important for Europe to take seriously the Asian challenge in the development of everyday information society.
The EU's information society strategy i2010 is a good beginning, but it remains too detached from practice. We need to identify the concrete measures with which the strategy's objectives can be achieved." Among the objectives highlighted by Ms Huovinen were to improve the quality of and access to public services on the Internet and to facilitate electronic payments.
On 16-17 February, Minister Huovinen will be hosting a visit to Finland by Jacques Barrot, EU Commissioner for Transport. Towards the end of February she will be travelling to Sweden to meet with her counterpart there. At the beginning of March, Ms Huovinen will be attending the Informal Meeting of Transport Ministers in Bregenz, Austria, and later in the month the EU Transport Council will be convening in Brussels.
Preparationsfor the Finnish EU Presidency will gather steam later in the spring. In April Ms Huovinen will be welcoming the Secretariat of the EU Transport Council to Helsinki, and later Germany's Transport Minister. In addition, Ms Huovinen herself might be travelling to Paris to meet her French counterpart.
Finland's emphasis on logistics and data security
Foremost on the Finnish agenda during the country's EU Presidency will be logistics. In the communications field, the main priority is the development of data security.
Logistics was singled out as the main transport policy focus for the Finnish Presidency because occasionally, its crucial significance to European welfare tends to be overlooked. Strong logistics supports EU business and industry and European competitiveness in the global marketplace. The development of logistics is particularly important for more remote countries.
In communications, Finland aims to promote data security and user confidence in data security as a key issue in European information society policy. During the Finnish Presidency, the EU will be working to develop a European information society strategy.
For further information contact:
Mr Perttu Puro, State Secretary, tel. +358 40 779 3436
Mikko Nikula, Press Officer, tel. +358 9 160 28 623 or +358 40 707 8042
