Foreign Minister Tuomioja: The Åland islands - a Finnish model for good governance
Autonomies in the European Union The Special Case of the Åland Islands Address by Mr Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, at a seminar in the European Parliament, Altiero Spinelli Building, Brussels 12 March, 2002
This seminar focuses on the regional aspect of the European Union, with a particular emphasis on areas with a certain amount of self-government. Finland is usually conceived as a very homogenous and harmonious country at the northern outskirts of Europe. It may thus come as a surprise to many of you that we have within our borders an autonomous region – the Åland Islands –with an extensive self-government.
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The European Union is a multi-layered entity. In addition to the Union’s own structures and national level, Europe is also governed regionally and locally. The role of regional and local authorities is of vital importance, especially since they are closest to the European citizens.
Questions concerning the role of the regions will probably come up in the next Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). One of the issues relates to a clearer definition of competences between the Union and the Member States, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle
We should aim at defining the Union’s competence and objectives more clearly and precisely in each sphere of Union policy. Decisions should be made as closely as possible to the citizens and EU-level measures should provide true added value for the Member States and citizens. In other words, it is important that the EU’s competence is exercised in accordance with the proportionality and subsidiarity principles.
It has been proposed that we should also define competences between the Member States and regions. However, national constitutional arrangements differ significantly in this respect and it should be left for the Member States themselves to decide.
Another important aim of the next IGC is to reinforce the legitimacy and democracy of the EU and bring it closer to the citizens. The legitimacy of the EU depends largely on how well citizens consider they can influence its decisions and how freely they are provided with information. More active participation at the grass-roots level can be encouraged by transparency.
It is important to consider various options for increasing democracy and improving citizens’ confidence in the EU’s decision-making system. EU matters are prepared in the Member States mainly by their governments and parliaments. In some cases the local and regional level are also involved in the preparation process. In Finland, for example, the participation of the Åland Islands is guaranteed through the constitution-level Act on the Autonomy, to which I will come back shortly.
The question of European governance is also partly linked to the debate on the future. The Commission’s white paper deals with suggestions, which aim at getting the citizens more involved. In Finland’s view, the Commission’s paper forms a good basis for discussing the ways in which the relations between the Union and national, regional and local authorities could be improved. The role of autonomous regions, such as the Åland Islands, should be taken into account when new contact and consultation networks are created.
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Let me now revert to the Åland Islands and describe how its autonomous status is taken into account in Finland’s activities within the European Union.
In order to appreciate the special features of the status of Åland today, one has to be aware of the consequences of the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century and the turbulent situation which emerged at the end of World War I. Åland, which had always been administered from the Finnish mainland, was lost by Sweden to Russia in 1809 and was made an integral part of the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1917, the October revolution in Russia, the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk and President Wilson’s doctrine on the self-determination of peoples all had an impact on the situation in the Province of Åland. A separatist movement in Åland arose with the aim of reuniting the islands with Sweden. Actively supported by Sweden, the movement gained considerable strength.
At the end of 1917, when Finland had just declared her independence from Russia, over 7 000 residents of the Åland Islands signed a petition addressed to the Swedish king, requesting a reunion of the Islands with Sweden. Finland categorically refused the Swedish proposals for holding a plebiscite on the islands regarding their possible reunion with Sweden. On a British initiative the dispute between Finland and Sweden over the sovereignty of the islands was taken up by the newly established League of Nations in 1920. Both Sweden and Finland gave their consent to be bound by the settlement made by the League. The population in the Province was not invited to be represented in the League’s deliberations.
It may be noted that in 1921 the Nagorno-Karabakh question was also discussed at the League of Nations. However, only the Åland question was resolved.
In its final decision in June 1921, the League decided on three issues which still today are essential elements of the Åland’s status:
1. Finland maintained sovereignty over Åland;
2. Åland gained autonomy or self-government, including guarantees for the protection of the Swedish language;
3. Sweden achieved demilitarisation and neutralisation of Åland.
Even if none of the three parties involved were satisfied at the time, we are now able to say with good reason that the solution proved to be a viable one and all parties are today very content with the situation.
The autonomy is a dynamic arrangement and is being continuously developed and expanded. The autonomy is based on the Act on the Autonomy of the Åland Islands, which may only be amended with the mutual consent of the Parliament of Finland and the Legislative Assembly of Åland. At present, the Autonomy Act is being revised again. To that effect, the Government will submit a Bill to Parliament in the course of this spring. This will be the second amendment made to the Autonomy Act since Finland became a Member State of the European Union.
A further important aspect of the autonomy is that any international treaty signed by Finland which affects the autonomy must also be approved by the Åland Legislative Assembly, if the treaty is to be applied to the Province. For example, when negotiating on the accession to the European Union in 1992, Finland had to take into account the needs to protect the constitutional and economic interests of Åland. Thus, representatives of Åland participated in the membership negotiations as part of the Finnish delegation.
As a result, the special status of the Åland Islands is recognized in Finland’s Treaty of Accession in different ways. Of particular relevance are
· the unilateral declaration by the Finnish Government on the constitutional and international status of Åland, that was included in the minutes of the ministerial meeting of the accession conference on 22 February 1994, at which the special arrangements concerning Åland were adopted; and
· the reference in the Preamble to the Protocol on Åland (Protocol 2) to the “special status that the Åland islands enjoy under international law.
The Åland Protocol contains two derogations from the acquis communautaire:
1. the regional citizenship rights (hembygdsrätt) are not incompatible with the Principle of Non-Discrimination in the EC Treaty; and
2. Åland is permanently excluded from the requirement of harmonization of legislation in the field of indirect taxation.
The latter provision allowed for continued sale of duty-free products to travellers at airports and on board aircraft and ships. This provision was essential for the Åland’s economy which is highly dependent on transport links provided by the ferries operating between mainland Finland and Sweden.
On 31 December 1994, a new Chapter 9 A was added to the Autonomy Act. According to its provisions
· the Ålandic Government shall be informed of matters being prepared in the institutions of the European Union if the matters fall within the jurisdiction of the Government or may otherwise be of importance to Åland.
· The Ålandic Government has the right to participate in the preparation of such matters within the scope of its participation in the work of the Finnish Government.
· In so far as a matter falls within its competence, the Government of Åland shall formulate the national position of Finland on the application of a given joint Community policy in Åland.
· One of the candidates for representing Finland in the Committee of Regions of the European Community shall be a candidate nominated by the Government of Åland.
After Finland’s national referendum in September 1994, in which 57% of the voters were in favour of Finland’s membership in the European Union, a separate regional referendum was arranged in Åland. Almost 74% of the residents of Åland voted in favour of being part of the Union together with Finland. The Legislative Assembly of Åland approved for its part Finland’s Treaty of Accession. Åland is so far the only autonomous region that has chosen to adhere to the Union.
During the more than six years of EU membership, several questions have arisen in the context of taking the particular competencies of Åland into account within the larger framework of the European Union. Some of these problems have been solved through closer cooperation between the Government of Finland and the Åland Government. For example, Mr Nordlund, Head of the Åland Government, participated as a member of the Finnish delegation to the European Council in Laeken last December.
Other problems will find a solution in the forthcoming revision of the Autonomy Act.
Apart from that, however, the relations between the Government of Finland and the autonomous Province of Åland are subject to dynamic development. The search for even better and closer forms of cooperation, with a view to guaranteeing a viable development of the Åland autonomy, will continue in the years to come.
Experts on international law and conflict resolution have frequently referred to the particular status of the Åland Islands. Each model of autonomy is of course different. What makes the Åland case rather unique is that the Province is both demilitarized and neutralized as well as autonomous under international agreements.
In recent years, the Government of Finland and the Provincial Government of Åland have together arranged a series of high-level seminars in order to present the case of Åland as a viable example of an autonomy constituting an alternative to secession. The seminars were held in Geneva (1999), Stockholm (2000) and New York (2001).
The three autonomous territories in the Nordic Countries – Åland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands - have all been subject to discussion in international seminars focusing on the Nordic Cooperation model. The constitutional and functional aspects of autonomy have been on the fore in three seminars held in former Yugoslavia, the first one in Sarajevo in 1998, the second in Ljubljana in early 1999 and the third in Belgrade in October 2001, It is worth noting that at Belgrade, a total of 12 states of the region attended the seminar where the Åland case was the subject of a presentation of its own.
The largely autonomous, neutral and demilitarized status of Åland provides an interesting example of functional self-government which could be applied to the resolution of present-day regional and ethnic conflicts in various parts of the world.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
The regional aspect of the European Union is getting increasingly important. When considering the future role of the regions, our approach should be pragmatic. Differing national arrangements and special circumstances in the European regions should be taken into account. The arrangements concerning Åland have proven successful. The solution can serve as one example, which could be applied, as appropriate, also to other regions.
Thank you for your attention.
Opening address: Mr. Roger Nordlund, Head of Government, The Åland Islands