EU policies and politics matter at every level of decision-making. In order to get first-hand information, build up the necessary networks and influence the EU decision-making process, it is essential for a city or a region to be present in Brussels. Tampere is one of the pioneers as it has had an EU office in Brussels since 1999.

The Tampere Region EU Office is a collaboration between the City of Tampere, the municipalities from the Tampere City Region (Kangasala, Lempäälä, Nokia, Pirkkala, Orivesi, Vesilahti, Ylöjärvi) and the Council of Tampere Region. Since the year 2010, the office has been representing the entire Tampere Region in Brussels.

In addition to lobbying for our regional interests, our main tasks in the office are the following:

• to follow EU programmes and funding opportunities
• to identify the best possible partners for our projects
• to brand the Tampere Region among our European partners

Currently we have an efficient two-woman team placed in Brussels: Director Hannele Räikkönen has been in charge of the EU Office since August 2007 and Senior Advisor, European Affairs Petra Kortelainen joined the team in September 2009. The team also benefits from a rotating trainee (2/year) from the Tampere University.