Finnish Institute of International Affairs

Their core work

FIIA is Finland's leading foreign policy think tank, providing research-based policy analysis on European integration, EU governance, and international relations. Within H2020, they contribute expert knowledge on how the EU manages internal diversity — including differentiation in integration, multi-level governance, and the political dynamics of processes like Brexit and EMU reform. Their work bridges political science and law to produce actionable policy advice for EU decision-makers and national governments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FIIA's early H2020 involvement (2015–2018) centered on geopolitical area studies, particularly the Caspian region, Central Asia, Russia, and Iran — reflecting a traditional international affairs focus. From 2019 onward, their work shifted decisively toward internal EU dynamics: integration, differentiation, Brexit consequences, and multilevel governance. This pivot shows a think tank that moved from studying the EU's external neighborhood to analyzing the EU's own structural challenges and future scenarios.

FIIA is deepening its niche as a go-to expert on EU differentiated integration and governance reform — a topic that will remain politically salient as the EU considers enlargement and treaty changes.

How they like to work

FIIA operates almost exclusively as a supporting expert rather than a project leader — they have zero coordinator roles and participated mostly as a third party (3 out of 4 projects). Despite their small project count, they connect to 63 unique partners across 32 countries, indicating they plug into large, well-established consortia led by major universities. This makes them a low-risk, high-value addition for consortia needing credible policy analysis from the Nordic perspective.

Despite only four projects, FIIA has touched 63 partners in 32 countries — a remarkably wide network for their size, reflecting their integration into large pan-European research consortia on EU governance topics.

What sets them apart

FIIA occupies a distinctive niche as a non-university think tank that brings real-world policy advisory experience into academic consortia. While universities provide theoretical frameworks, FIIA adds the practitioner perspective — they advise the Finnish government and engage directly with EU policy circles. For consortium builders, this means a partner who can translate research findings into policy recommendations that actually reach decision-makers.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EU IDEA
  Their only directly funded project (EUR 173,294), focused on the politically charged topic of EU integration amid Brexit — their clearest signal of core expertise.
• DiCE
  Produced a practical 'differentiation manual' and scenario tools — rare examples of think tank research yielding concrete, reusable policy instruments.