The Agriculture Ministers of the EU countries will meet in Oulu on 24-26 of September during Finland's Presidency of the EU. At this informal meeting of the Agriculture Ministers, Finland will have the opportunity of selecting a theme for discussion it regards as important. In the same context, the visitors will be given an introduction to the Finnish agriculture, forestry and food industry.

A total of 300 participants is expected to attend the ministerial meeting and the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture, which will be held in Oulu at the same time. In addition to the 25 current member states of the EU, representatives of candidate countries will also attend.

The informal Agricultural Council will look at the European Agricultural Model created nearly ten years ago and review its development since the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The objective will be to reinforce the selected model of agricultural policy and specifically focus on future challenges in the agricultural sector. The main theme of the whole Presidency year as regards agricultural issues is that of creating an innovative, competitive and sustainable model for European agriculture.

This meeting will be a unique opportunity to present Finland to the European agricultural decision-makers. The schedule of the meetings will include visits by the Ministers to local farms and forestry operations. High-quality Finnish food will also play an important role during the ministerial visit.