Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen laid down guidelines for Finnish EU Presidency

Finland’s EU Presidency next year is a huge effort for a small country. The European Union is now different than it was ten years ago when Finland joined the Union, and in 1999 during Finland’s previous presidency, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen stated when speaking to the heads of foreign missions who convened in Helsinki on Thursday 25 August.

According to Vanhanen, Finnish accession to the Union happened at an opportune moment, and during the ten first years of membership the EU was living an era of close community. The situation is different for the states that joined the EU last year, since close community has given way for inter-governmental handling of affairs and more open political competition. Achieving cohesion between 25 member states is not easy, and the internal difficulties of so-called engines of the Union, i.e. big old member states, are reflected upon the Union as emergence of stronger national self-interest.

The intention was that the constitutional agreement would bring the citizens closer to the Union and increase its transparency, so that people would better understand who is making the decisions and what has been decided. It was supposed to be an answer to the dissatisfaction of the citizens, but the results of the referenda in France and the Netherlands have shown the real depth of the crisis. The constitutional agreement has not been declared dead, but it has now been put in deep freeze, Vanhanen said. In Finland the Government will introduce a report about the matter to the Parliament hoping, at the same time, for a thorough debate about the future of the EU.

Prime Minister Vanhanen examined also the unsuccessful attempt under Luxembourg Presidency to settle the financial framework for the years 2007-2013. When Finland detached itself with many other countries from Luxembourg’s proposal, Finland knew that it would not be passed, and this way wanted to maintain its positions for the next round. Great Britain has now announced that it would seriously seek for a solution during its presidency, and there is reason to hope for success. The consequences of postponing the solution to the Finnish Presidency would be bad for both the new member states and Finland.

According to Prime Minister Vanhanen, the upcoming EU presidency is such a challenge for Finland that we have to do our homework more carefully than ever before. Joint programme for next year is currently being drawn up with Austria and the European Council secretariat. Finland has to handle well all the tasks on the EU agenda, not only its own favourites. We must also make it clear for what reason the Union exists and what it should do – we must clarify its mission. The dissatisfaction of the EU citizens has to be addressed.

The EU is a community of values and an international actor, which is expected to make its own contribution for peace and security. It must also concentrate on operating so that the action at the EU level would bring added value as compared to the action at national level. Delay in implementing the constitutional agreement does not prevent the development of common security policy and crisis management, the management of trans-Atlantic and Russian relations or the implementation of the northern dimension. We can also make progress in judicial and internal matters, and in fight against international crime and terrorism. This is what the citizens expect, but we must also make clear that exactly for this reason we need Union cooperation.

The European Economic Community is now in trouble, which is visible also in the growth figures. According to Vanhanen, there is no common view of how Europe could succeed in global competition. Even though the Lisbon Strategy is being implemented primarily through national decisions, the country holding the presidency has an obligation to promote it and to emphasize openness and forward thinking when facing the challenges of globalisation. This does not need to be done at the expense of social security, since even international competitiveness studies have shown that it is possible to combine economic competitive ability, good social security, and also sustainable development.

Next year Finland has to show that we are capable of leading a Union of 400 million people, Vanhanen underscored.