Turku-Southwest Finland European Office

Turku-Southwest Finland European Office (Turku EU Office) represents City of Turku and Regional Council of Southwest Finland bringing together all 27 municipalities in the region. The office has been active in Brussels since 1998.

The main mission of Turku EU Office is to act as interlocutor between our region and Brussels – we bring EU closer to the region and serve as regional contact point in Brussels. Our main task is to support our stakeholders to implement their strategic priorities at the EU level.

Our main activities are:

to advocate our regional interests in Brussels
to monitor and analyse the EU legislation relevant to the region
to follow EU programmes and funding opportunities as well as help to identify potential project partners
to brand City of Turku and Southwest Finland in Brussels.

Currently, our work focuses primarily on the areas listed below:

EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
Regional and Urban Policy
Transport and connectivity
Climate and environmental action
Sea: Archipelago Sea and maritime industry

We are proud to represent one of the most vibrant and sustainable regions in Finland. With a population of almost 500.000 people, the Region of Southwest Finland is the third biggest region in Finland. City of Turku, the oldest city in Finland, is a lively university city. Thanks to the dynamic economic sector, the population continues to grow steadily. You can read more about our partners and our priorities.

If you wish to have more information about our city and region or about our work, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Varsinais-Suomen kartta — Municipalities: Aura, Kaarina, Kemiönsaari, Koski TL, Kustavi, Laitila, Lieto, Loimaa, Marttila, Masku, Mynämäki, Naantali, Nousiainen, Oripää, Paimio, Parainen, Pyhäranta, Pöytyä, Raisio, Rusko, Salo, Sauvo, Somero, Taivassalo, Turku, Uusikaupunki, Vehmaa.

Our Partners

City of Turku

Turku is a vibrant and steadily growing city by the Baltic Sea. Founded in 1229, it is also the oldest city in Finland and the former capital. Nowadays, the City has over 200.000 inhabitants. The Turku region, comprising Turku and neighbouring municipalities, has approximately 330.000 inhabitants which makes it the third biggest urban region in Finland.

Turku has four higher education institutions: two universities – University of Turku and Swedish-speaking Åbo Akademi University, as well as two universities of applied sciences – Turku University of Applied Sciences and Novia University of Applied Sciences. In addition, two other universities of applied sciences have their campuses in Turku. Altogether there are some 40.000 students in the city.

Sustainability is Turku’s key priority. The city has set an ambitious objective to become carbon neutral by the year 2029.

Regional Council of Southwest Finland

Regional Council of Southwest Finland is one of Finland’s 19 regional councils. Regional councils are joint municipal authorities. Their role is to operate both as regional development authorities and as planning and lobbying organisations.

Council of Southwest Finland is comprised of 27 municipalities with a total population of almost 500.000 inhabitants. The biggest municipalities are Turku and Salo.

Maritime industry plays an important role in region’s economy. Life science and health technologies constitute another important economic sector, Turku being the leading region in medicine development in Finland. Metal and electric industries have long been strengths of the region and nowadays the Uusikaupunki automotive plant counts Finland’s largest concentration of industrial robots. Southwest Finland is also Finland’s leading agricultural area and a significant food producer.