Turku in Brussels

by Ms Krista Taipale-Salminen

TURKU-Southwest Finland European office is a lobbying, marketing, communications and EU-affairs office of Turku and its partners: Regional Council of Southwest Finland,University of Turku, Turku School of Economics and Abo Akademy University. The main task of the office is to provide concrete added value for its stakeholders by services in EU-funding, lobbying, communications, training and special assignments.

The office currently focuses on the following topics: EU's common maritime policy, funding programmes 2007-2013, urban and regional policies, innovation, transport and co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region. The office operates simultaneously on strategic-political and operational level. Strategic-political level includes constant policy monitoring and watching over regional interests towards EU- institutions, including concrete lobbying actions when needed.

The most important task is to inform about changes in the EU-environment (early warning-system). A working tool in this respect is our European office newsletter. The operational level refers to concrete support to regional and local actors in their everyday EU-related work, such as services with regard to EU-projects, supporting visiting groups, dealing with information requests etc. The Brussels office also provides concrete support to actors when writing EU-project applications, facilitating contacts with the EU-officials, finding project partners, etc.

From experience, the most successful results with regard to EU-funding or oninthe lobbying actions can be achieved by close and strategic co-operation with back-up offices. In some cases, however, the role and expertise of Brussels-based office may be crucial.

Our European office has contributed to lobbing actions on, for example, the Motorways on the Sea-concept, regional dimension in the EU's 7th Framework Programme for Science and the elaboration of common EU Maritime Policy.

The operational volume of Brussels' office is much easier to measure. In 2005 the office received 280 service-requests, organised 20 visits to Brussels and 40 meetings with the EU-officials. Regional presence in Brussels was promoted by six separate marketing and pr-events.