Finnish attitudes toward EU grow more negative than before

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Recent surveys indicate Finnish attitudes toward the European Union have grown more negative than before. The trend is the same, whether the opinions being measured concern EU membership itself, the image of the EU, or the proposed constitution.
      Juhani Pehkonen, head of research at TNS-Gallup, says that Finland has traditionally been critical toward the EU. In this respect, Finland is in the same category as Sweden, Austria, and the UK. Pehkonen says that Finnish attitudes indicate that a majority of Finns do not feel that this country has benefitted from EU membership.
     
Finnish anti-EU sentiment also reflects disappointment with the government’s policy toward the EU, says Finnish political scientist, Professor Esko Antola. He says that Finns want Finland to take a tougher stance, and to show more self-interest in the changed EU, in which all member states promote their own interests.
      The Eurobarometer survey published on Tuesday indicates that only 27 percent of Finns feel that the EU has a positive image, and although supporters of the proposed EU constitution outnumber opponents 49 percent to 42, outright opposition to the constitution is highest in Finland.
      In the survey, respondents were asked about their attitudes toward the idea of a constitution, not how they would vote in a possible referendum.
      "There may be fears concerning the constitution. Opposition can reflect the idea that the EU has not responded to people’s expectations", Pehkonen says.
     
The rejection of the draft constitution in France and The Netherlands turned Finnish attitudes a notch more negative. Shortly after the rejection, a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat indicated that 33 percent of Finns would vote yes, and 47 percent would vote no in a possible referendum. Before that, the two sides were closer together.
      Pehkonen says that it is perhaps easier for the respondents to accept the idea of a constitution, than the constitution itself. Before the referendums, 60 percent of the French and 53 percent of the Dutch said that they support the constitution.
     
The latest Eurobarometer indicates that the EU constitution is now supported by majorities in both France (67 percent) and The Netherlands (62 percent). However, this does not necessarily mean that the constitution would be passed in a new referendum in either country.
      Professor Antola says that the Eurobarometer result shows that the French and Dutch did not so much vote against the constitution, as against their leaders, EU enlargement, a weak economy, and economic liberalism.
      "The problem is not that the people would not believe in the constitution. The problem is that politicians are unable to sell it", Antola says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish Parliament takes positive view of EU constitution treaty (30.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat