Since its establishment in 1989 over 900 journalists have participated in the training programme on European affairs. The programme is managed by the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Turku. It aims at improving the professional capacities of Finnish journalist reporting on European affairs. It is designed both for the printed press and for radio and TV media.
Typical participants are mid-career journalists who actively report on European affairs.
Before the Finnish accession to the European Union in 1995 the programme focused on providing basic facts on European integration in a form of longer programmes. In recent years the focus has been on more specialised training courses. The Economic and Monetary Union, the institutional reform of the EU, the evolution of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU as well as focal sectoral issues like the Common Agricultural Policy have been on the training agenda. In 1999 the total number of courses offered was highest ever. Of 15 courses organised a half was devoted to the Finnish EU Presidency.