EU Presidency will cost Finland more than EUR 50 million

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Finland takes up the helm of the rotating EU Presidency just under a year from now, in July 2006, and the six-month stint is estimated as costing the country in excess of 50 million euros.
      Next year's budget proposals recommend the setting aside of roughly EUR 42 million for the running of the Presidency term, of which an estimated 13 million euros will go to training and payroll costs of civil servants and others hired for the Presidency.
      Security expenditure called for by the Ministry of the Interior will take up around EUR 6 million.
      The biggest single cost items are the arranging of conferences during the six months. The largest of these will be the Asia-Europe Meeting in Helsinki in September 2006. The ASEM summit was initially planned for Tampere, but was subsequently moved down to the capital.


Links:
  EU:ASEM

Helsingin Sanomat