Finnish EU payments to European Union to grow in coming years

Vanhanen says costs to Finland are reasonable

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Finnish payments to the European Union are set to grow in the coming years, with the net contribution to EU coffers rising to about EUR 400 a year, up from the present EUR 140 million. EU rural development subsidies received by Finland are going down considerably.
      Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said after EU leaders ironed out the details of the reached agreement on the budget early Saturday, that the British proposal for a seven-year budget was reasonable. In his view, Finland has an obligation to contribute to the costs of EU enlargement. Vanhanen also sees the agreement as necessary for the preservation of the ability of the EU to function.
      The budget reduces the amount of rural development funds going to Finland by one third. Next year Finland is still getting EUR 350 million.
      In spite of the cuts, Finland approved the agreement, even though it means that Finland’s net contribution will be greater than it would have been under the model put forward by Luxembourg in the summer, which Finland voted against.
      "The agreement should be seen as an investment into the future of the EU, which will undoubtedly pay itself back", Vanhanen said on Saturday in Lahti.
      He noted that it is Finland's duty to take part in paying the costs of EU enlargement.
      "However, in the negotiations, we had to constantly reject demands that we increase our share of the payments in order to ease the position of other prosperous countries. We were successful in this", Vanhanen noted.
      Vanhanen says that from Finland’s point of view, the framework of the solution can be condensed into a few figures.
      "When the decision was made on enlargement a few years ago, it was feared that Finland’s net contribution could rise to over 1,000 billion euros a year. Now we will pay about 400 million a year, which is 250 million more than we do now."
      The amount of money that Finland receives from the EU will decrease by six percent, and payments to the EU will grow by 12 percent, the Prime Minister calculated.
     
Vanhanen says that Finland will next have to look for ways to even out the costs of enlargement on the national level, and among different population groups as of 2007.
      The Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) was dissatisfied with the budget, saying that the agreement forces the Finnish countryside to pay for the costs of EU enlargement, and could destroy the system of environmental support for agriculture.
      According to MTK, the budget is as bad for Finland as the previous proposal by Luxembourg, which Finland rejected.
      The environmental support system covers 98 percent of Finland’s arable land, and 94 percent of Finnish farmers. MTK feels that Finland should not have approved a budget that goes against its interests at the same time that environmental officials are calling for more stringent environmental protection measures.
     
Finance Minister Eero Heinäluoma said that the budget package will cause Finland some pain, but he nevertheless sees the solution as a satisfactory one.
      "The cuts in funding for rural areas proved to be clearly less than expected. Regional supports remained strong for East and Northern Finland", Heinäluoma said.
      He also noted that Finland would be a clear net contributor.
      "In the future it will be increasingly important for us to keep the development of the union’s overall spending under control. "Strict spending discipline is in Finland’s interests."
      The Minister for Regional and Municipal Affairs, Hannes Manninen (Centre), found the budget decision to be satisfactory.
     
There was also some strong criticism. Christian Democratic Party chairwoman Päivi Räsänen accused Vanhanen of sacrificing the Finnish countryside and agriculture by making them pay for the enlargement of the EU.
      True Finns’ chairman Timo Soini said that the government had totally failed in the defence of Finland’s vital interests. "Finland’s net contribution will increase many times over, and there is a sharp cut in rural development funds", he said on Saturday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland rejects British budget proposal as EU summit starts (16.12.2005)
  Finland considers stand on new British EU budget proposal (15.12.2004)

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