Finns unhappy over appointments to top posts in European Union
Olli Rehn
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Seppo Kääriäinen
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Finnish officials are less than happy with a new round of appointments to top positions in the European Union.
Finns were unexpectedly not given top posts in the European Defence Agency, in spite of their obvious competence.
Top appointments to the agency went to France, Belgium, Sweden, and Italy.
Defence Minister Seppo Kääriäinen (Centre) sees the situation as unfortunate, and says that the Ministry of Defence will look into what happened in Brussels.
Although he is unhappy that Finland was left out of the appointments, Kääriäinen does not plan to pursue the matter further.
Also, in the European Commission, the only section in which Finns will hold senior posts will be in the office of the Finnish Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The Finnish candidates for the posts were two Defence Ministry officials: Arto Koski and Brigadier General Jukka Juusti, who were in the running all the way to the final short list.
One Italian candidate proved to lack the necessary competence. However, about a week after the deadline, Italy put forward another name - Brigadier General Carlo Magrassi, who secured the post.
Even if Magrassi had not been chosen, the appointment of Juusti or Koski was far from certain. According to an EU official the Finns had "clearly unrealistic" expectations.
Although one EU source says that Finland would probably win the case in the Court of Justice in the European Communities, Defence Minister Kääriäinen says that he does not plan to lodge an appeal over the process leading to the appointment of Magrassi.
"They calculated quite correctly that the Finns would not raise a fuss", one EU source said.
In addition to Magrassi, the new appointees to the EDA are Sweden’s Ulf Hammarstöm, France’s Bertrand de Corrdoue, and Belgium’s Pierre Hougardy. The agency will be led by Nick Witney of Britain.
Sweden resorted to heavy lobbying on behalf of its candidate, with someone from the "ministerial level" personally approaching the EU’s foreign affairs envoy Javier Solana.
In the Swedish view, the post would not have been appropriate for a Finn, because Finland is not considered trustworthy.
Sweden also noted that it is one of Europe’s largest producers of defence materiel.
"A shameful side plot here is that we got Finns only into the cabinet of Olli Rehn. We have always been bad at this and we still are", one Finnish official grumbled.
The next big appointment will be that of the head of the EU’s Border Guard. Finland’s candidate for the post is Colonel Ilkka Laitinen of the Finnish Frontier Guard. Germany is expected to push for the appointment of its own candidate, and observers say that there could be some horse trading, as the top post of the European Law Enforcement Agency (EUROPOL) is also up for grabs.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 15.10.2004 - TODAY |
 Finns unhappy over appointments to top posts in European Union |
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