Transport Minister Lulu Ranne heads to Dublin for EU mobility talks

The Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed on Monday that Minister Lulu Ranne will represent Finland at the informal meeting of EU transport ministers in Dublin on 21 September. On the agenda: accelerating the shift to low-carbon aviation fuels, coordinating the roll-out of digital rail signalling (ERTMS) on core TEN-T corridors, and resolving cross-border driver-shortage issues. Finland is expected to press for faster EU approval of Nordic night-train pilot projects that would link Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen by 2030. Minister Ranne will also raise concerns about the late-2025 Entry/Exit System (EES) go-live, urging the Commission to support member-state funding for additional e-gates at Helsinki Airport to minimise queuing times for business travellers. The meeting offers Finnish companies a chance to influence forthcoming revisions to the Trans-European Transport Network Regulation—critical for securing EU co-financing of the 15-billion-euro Helsinki–Tallinn under-sea rail tunnel. Logistics and mobility-tech firms should follow outcomes closely; the informal gathering traditionally shapes the formal Transport Council conclusions adopted later in the year. A bilateral with Ireland’s Minister for Transport is also scheduled, focusing on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending mandates. Finnair, which has committed to net-zero by 2045, is lobbying for a ‘book-and-claim’ accounting model that would let corporate clients credit SAF purchased outside Finland against their own travel emissions. The Dublin discussions mark Ranne’s third EU trip this quarter, underscoring Helsinki’s strategy of embedding Finnish rail-tech and winter-navigation expertise in upcoming EU funding rounds.