Organisation

Annual conference Meeting of the chairmen Meeting of Region Mayors European office

The decision-making procedure for the WFA’s activities is implemented on three levels
-WFA Annual Conference
-Meeting of the Chairpersons appointed by each of the five Regional Councils
-Meeting of the Region Mayors of WFA Regional Councils

WFA annual conference is a cooperation forum that makes recommendations on policy decisions and commitments on cooperation. The boards and the assembly chairpersons of the five Regional Councils make up the Annual Conference of the WFA. The Annual Conference is organised by each of the five Regional Councils in turn. The Assembly Chairperson of the organising region chairs the WFA Annual Conference.

Meeting of the chairmen is in charge of the preparation of policy and makes recommendations to the boards of WFA Regional Councils. The chairpersons of the regional board and assembly are appointed the WFA Chairpersons Meetings. Each of the chairpersons has a deputy selected from the group of board and assembly chairpersons in each regional council. Region Mayors from each council also participate in the Meetings of WFA Chairpersons. The chairpersons meet 3-4 times a year.



Meeting of Region Mayors is in charge of practical matters and makes decisions within its authority. The decisions must be unanimous. The minutes of the meeting are approved by the Region Mayors of every council or by a person designated by him/her. The original minutes give the date and the method of each approval. Region Mayors of WFA Regional Councils meet monthly.

The matters to be processed and decided upon by the bodies and/or authorities in question should have been unanimously accepted by the appropriate organs of each Regional Council. Region Mayors of the Regional Councils can appoint taskforces, which, however, have no independent decision-making power. In urgent matters, use can be made of a written decision-making process.

EUROPEAN OFFICE

West Finland European Office

The international operations of the WFA are directed towards the European Union and are aimed at monitoring and influencing EU activities and programmes, at distributing information from the EU and member countries, and at cooperating with other regions. The West Finland European Office has been set up in Brussels for the purpose of promoting the common interests of the WFA regions. The office personnel includes a director, an EU Policy Adviser and a trainee.

The Office’s contact addresses for information are as follows:

West Finland European Office
45, Square Ambiorix
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
tel. +32 2 286 90 81
fax +32 2 286 90 89
e-mail: european.office@westfinland.be

Director
Kjell Nybacka
puh. +32 2 286 90 80
GSM +358 50 349 4719
s-posti: kjell.nybacka@westfinland.be

EU Policy Adviser
Erkki Räisänen
Puh. +32 2 286 90 81
GSM +358 50 597 9260
s-posti: erkki.raisanen@westfinland.be

Trainee
Sanna Hautamäki
Puh. +32 2 286 90 82
GSM +32 473 127 050
s-posti: trainee@westfinland.be