Special Adviser Julia Mikkola

1. Who are you?

My name is Julia Mikkola, and I work as a Special Adviser at the Finance Unit of the Administrative Policy Department in the Ministry of Defence. I started in my position last autumn.

As to my background, I was born in Helsinki and I hold a Master of Social Sciences degree from Uppsala University. Prior to my current job, I have lived for the past seven years in Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Belgium because of my studies and work. I’m a winter swimmer and I also like cross-country skiing, hiking and downhill skiing. I also love reading, and recently I’ve focused on the history of Russia and the Soviet Union.

2. What’s your job profile like?

I’m responsible for international matters and matters related to the European Union. These include the monitoring, reporting and national implementation of various initiatives, funding mechanisms and programmes funded from the EU budget. As a representative of the Finance Unit, I work closely with matters related to the European Defence Fund, the European Peace Fund, the European Union Satellite Centre and cooperation with the European Defence Agency.

As part of the EU related work at the Government level, I also work in the EU sub-committee that prepares, among other things, the multiannual financial framework of the EU. Military crisis management and related budgeting is also part of my responsibilities.

3. How did you come to work at the Ministry of Defence?

I have always been interested in defence and security issues related to foreign policy. I have studied these topics at the university and have gained relevant work experience, for example, at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, at Hanaholmen Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre and at the European Commission, where I worked as a trainee at the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space.

Even though I have worked in international institutions such as the EU and the UN, I am especially interested in representing Finland in the international context.

I have always known that I want to work for the central government, especially from the perspective of the defence administration, as I feel that I’m really doing meaningful work here.

4. What kind of matters are now topical in your work?

At the moment, my work focuses on the new European Defence Fund.

The Fund provides funding for the central governments of the Member States and for industrial and research institutes. I’m actively supporting this process, especially from the perspective of funding and the budget. My job also involves reporting on the defence administrations of the Member States that will be sent to the European Defence Agency and and I participate in related meetings.

My job description is relatively new, so an important part of my work is to create new mechanisms and ways of following, influencing and making use of initiatives from the EU that may affect Finland’s central government.

The Finance Unit’s work is centred around the “annual clock” of central government finances, and at the moment we are working on preparing the spending limits for 2023-2026 with regard to military crisis management.

5. What is the best thing about your job?

The best part of my work is to work across a broad range of different themes.

I have my own tasks in the Ministry’s financial planning but in terms of hours I work mostly with a wide range of EU initiatives from an economic perspective.

The topics may vary from satellites to industrial cooperation and from crisis management operations to VAT debates. Every day is different and brings things that I might not have expected at all in advance.

As a Special Adviser responsible for EU affairs in the Department, my work is independent and challenging with many responsibilities, and it offers an opportunity to present new ideas and perspectives.

6. Describe your workplace with a few words

I have great colleagues and the work goes smoothly and effectively with them.

The work community is very encouraging, and there is trust in everyone’s competence. After having to avoid going to the office, I have realised how fun and important it is to work with my colleagues, exchange views in the coffee room and have lunch together.

In addition to my own Department, I am part of our EU working group, with whom we meet regularly and share information actively. Our Ministry is small, so coordination at the ministry level goes smoothly, which has been a great experience. Even if the Ministry is small in size, the matters we are dealing with are of great significance.