Summary of Finnish response to CIG 9/03
Regarding the legislative function, all council formations should continue to exercise such, the public legislative part being concerned with all laws and framework laws.
The list of Council formations should be adopted unanimously by the European Council, and should be based on the list of Council formations approved in Seville. The overall aim should be to limit the number of Council formations to a maximum of ten.
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Finland does not support the nomination of any fixed presidencies - this applies to all Council formations; Finland does not support the proposal to let the Union minister for Foreign Affairs chair the External Affairs Council.
Finland is open to the idea of team presidencies as long as it provides real added value by allowing better, more coherent and transparent management of Council work. Finland proposes teams of four to five member states would share the Presidency for terms of two to two-and-a-half years. Every member of the team would in turn chair all council formations on a ministerial level, as well as COREPER I and II during a six month period.
The basic system for the Council Presidency must be included in the Constitution and not left for the European Council to decide.