There is a Finnish information team attached to the Congress and this team has arranged events for the Finnish press, in order to provide information on the history, structure and the aims of the trade union movement in Europe. In addition, the Finnish press has been informed of the draft documents which have been prepared for the Congress.

In order to surmount the language barrier, we have arranged for some ETUI (European Trade Union Institute) documents to be translated into Finnish, whilst we are very pleased to announce that we have been able to acquire a Finnish version of the ETUC brochure produced by ETUI. Other literature, in Finnish, on the European trade union movement has been distributed to SAK shop stewards and to union activists. We have also given out information on the opportunities which will be available for participation in the various events connected with the Congress and for listening to the proceedings of the Congress from the public gallery of Finlandia Hall.

The presence of this Congress will certainly be noticeable on the Helsinki streets.

The first day of the Congress will be marked by a reception to be hosted by the City of Helsinki, for the Congress delegates.

Later in the week, SAK, STTK and AKAVA will invite the delegates to a joint evening event.

The ETUC Women's Conference will also take place in Finlandia Hall, on Monday the 28th June.

On behalf of the Finnish hosts of the Congress, we would like to offer a warm welcome to Helsinki to all Congress delegates, in late June and early July. These dates will of course be marked in the history books, as the very first Finnish EU presidency is due to commence on the 1st July 1999.

Tuulikki Kannisto