Mr Kari Häkämies, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Finland, accompanied by Ms Kirsti Rissanen, Secretary-General in the Ministry of Justice, Mr Ahti Rihto, Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, and senior officials, travelled to Luxembourg today on an official visit to the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

On his arrival, Mr Häkämies and his delegation were welcomed by the President of the Court, Mr Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, the President of the Court of First Instance, Mr Antonio Saggio, and by the Judges of Finnish nationality, Mr Leif Sevón, Judge of the Court of Justice, and Ms Virpi Tiili, Judge of the Court of First Instance.

The visit took place in the context of the preparations for the Intergovernmental Conference and gave the Minister and the Court of Justice an opportunity to express their respective ideas on the development of the organization and role of the Court of Justice.

The programme included a private conversation between the Minister and the President of the Court of Justice and round table discussions with the Presidents and Members of both Courts, followed by a meeting with the Judges of Finnish nationality.

Among the matters dealt with in the course of the visit, the Court of Justice referred to its Report on certain aspects of the application of the Treaty on European Union (1), in which the Court emphasized that its essential concern, with reference to the various proposals regarding its jurisdiction and organization, is to maintain the effectiveness of the judicial system set up by the Treaties. For that purpose, it considered it to be indispensable that the interpretation and application of Community law should continue to be ensured by a single independent Community institution whose judgments are binding.

Also emphasized were the efforts being made by the Court Ä the judicial institution of the Communities Ä to establish links between it and the national judicial systems of the Member States in the context of the preliminary ruling procedure provided for in Article 177 of the EC Treaty.

The latter point aroused much interest on the part of the Minister, who stressed Finland's resolve to ensure the proper application of Community law in that country. He also stated that it was with a view to enabling the Court to organize its work under the best possible conditions that Finland had already proposed that Judge Sevón be appointed for a further term of office of six years from 7 October 1997.

The Minister also stated that he shared the Court's anxieties at the increasing workload which might affect the institution's ability to deal with the cases brought before it within a reasonable time for those concerned.

Finally, in connection with the Intergovernmental Conference, the Minister referred to the proposal by Finland that certain matters currently falling under the third pillar should be transferred to the first pillar, and thus brought within the jurisdiction of the Court.

(1) For a copy of the Report, apply to the Press and Information Division, Ms M.-F. Contet, tel. (352) 4303 2497.