Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) feels that Finland and Spain are very close to each other in all large issues involving the European Union. On Thursday, Vanhanen met with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero in Madrid. After the meeting Vanhanen said that the two had found several common interests and points of view.
"Both are countries that tried to bring the EU forward in the midst of difficulties."
One common cause for concern is the EU’s financial framework and the extension of EU regional support to poor areas of old member states.
Both Vanhanen and Zapatero expressed the hope that agreement could be reached on the EU’s financing framework during the present Luxembourg Presidency.
Common interests were also found in the realm of external relations.
The Northern Dimension interests Spain, which has a special interest in the EU’s relations with countries of the Mediterranean region.
The countries hope to exchange experiences in two meetings to be held in the early summer.
"Spain will arrange a working meeting on the development of the Northern Dimension, and we will arrange a working meeting in Finland on the Mediterranean dimension", Vanhanen said.
The Finnish Prime Minister added that the Spanish want to learn practical experiences on forms of cooperation between the EU and Russia, so that those experiences might be applied to relations with North Africa.
Spain also wants to send a group of experts to Finland to learn how Finland has sought to develop its international competitiveness for the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy.
