Finland to take lower profile in globalisation project

Helsinki conference begins Wednesday

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Finland plans to scale back its role in the so-called Helsinki Process, which is aimed at seeking ways to manage globalisation.
      According to Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (SDP), the goal is to give other countries and research institutes a greater responsibility in globalisation debate. The process, which was launched by Finland and Tanzania in 2002, culminates this week in a conference in Helsinki.
     
About 500 people representing organisations and institutions around the world, are gathering at the conference in Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall on Wednesday. The aim is to encourage more political will for the establishment of greater fairness in globalisation.
      Topics during the three-day meeting include ways to eliminate poverty, the implementation of human rights, environmental sustainability, the preservation of peace, the guaranteeing of security, and good governance in all parts of the world.
      Parallel to the conference, there will be seminars on various themes held by non-governmental organisations. On Friday evening, there will be a large public celebration at Helsinki’s Makasiinit (old railway warehouses).
     
The conference at Finlandia Hall brings together representatives of international organisations, NGOs, companies, and research institutes to seek solutions to global issues, and to find ways to manage globalisation.
      The host of the conference, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, says that people can see on the television news that world events are not in anyone’s control.
      "Anything can happen: your job can disappear overnight, a disaster taking place on the opposite side of the world can have a deep effect... Borders no longer define even personal security."
      So ultimately, the management of globalisation involves the security and well-being of ordinary people, and naturally, how issues and problems that have become global might somehow be brought under control.
     
"We will not see a world government in our lifetimes, and we may not even need one", Tuomioja ponders.
      He has a different model in mind: that of the European Union. He feels that other parts of the world could operate in the way that the countries of Europe are doing; they solve issues together in the EU, "perhaps not always in the best style, but in a clear and democratic process based on rules".
      "The EU also has a clear solidarity-based starting point both in mutual security, and in finance. Poorer countries and regions are helped together. Nobody thinks that the EU countries would resolve conflicts by resorting to weapons", Tuomioja says.
     
Tuomioja’s goal, as a leading figure in the Helsinki process, is the establishment of a stronger network of mutual agreements, where international law is respected, where problems and crises are resolved together, where differences in income are reduced, both between nations, and within them, and where more sustainable development is gradually established.
      By "gradually", Tuomioja does not mean a very long time - just a few decades at the most.
      He warns against expecting too much from this single conference: the massive problems facing the world will not go away immediately. However, he expects that the best ideas would be worked on later in "round table discussions", which all countries could join, including the great powers.
     
Tuomioja hopes to gradually bring Finland more into the background, while giving more responsibility to the governments of other countries involved.


Links:
  Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy
  Helsinki Conference 2005 Mobilising Political Will

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