National Coalition Party MEPs speak out twice as much as Centre Party colleagues
Esko Seppänen
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Piia-Noora Kauppi
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Anneli Jäätteenmäki
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Kyösti Virrankoski
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Ari Vatanen
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Satu Hassi
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Ville Itälä
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Hannu Takkula
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Alexander Stubb
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The four Members of the European Parliament of Finland’s National Coalition Party have spoken in Parliament an average 33 times during the present term. The average for MEPs of the Centre Party, who also number four, is about half of that in the past two years.
The figures come out in an analysis by Helsingin Sanomat on the work of Finland’s current representatives in the body.
Holding speeches is only the surface of the work of an MEP. More important are the posts within the body that each individual member has received.
In addition to the National Coalition Party members, Left Alliance MEP Esko Seppänen is one of the most eager to speak in front of the body. He has also managed to amass the greatest number of reports, which allow an MEP to powerfully influence EU legislation. Piia-Noora Kauppi (Nat. Coalition Party) has also been very successful in this respect.
In addition to the number of reports, their content is important, as not all legislative initiatives are of equal significance. One of the most important legislative packages of recent years has been the Service Directive, in which former Finnish Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre) represented her party group.
"Tasks have varied from the service directive to Finnish wolves. Nothing that is human is alien to an MEP", Jäätteenmäki says.
It is not easy to compare the diligence and success of Members of the European Parliament. For instance, Kyösti Virrankoski (Centre) has not been given a single report to draft, but he will answer for a crucial EU budget report next year.
Euro-Parliamentarians also do public relations work, whose importance is difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate.
"I will never be a star in the statistics, but I am trying to get results", says Finnish rally driver Ari Vatanen, who was elected to the European Parliament on the list of the French UMP Party.
Vatanen is one of France’s most famous Finns, and he has close ties to French politicians.
"Vatanen has certainly done much public relations work for Finland", says one expert who has closely followed events in the European Parliament.
The influence that an MEP holds also largely depends on how high a position he or she has managed to achieve. For instance, Satu Hassi (Green) is the vice chair of the EP’s Environment Committee, while Ville Itälä (Nat. Coalition Party) is one of the vice chairs of the largest groups of the Parliament, the EPP.
"My job is one in which a politician can achieve much more than with mere Parliamentary speech", Itälä explains.
A considerable amount of power in the European Parliament is in the hands of so-called coordinators, who draw up instructions on voting for their respective party groups.
"Most of the gang do not know what they are voting on at any time. They simply follow the lists drawn up by the coordinators", says one expert.
Three Finnish MEPs have been named coordinators: Esko Seppänen, Reino Paasilinna (SDP), and Hannu Takkula (Centre). Itälä, Kauppi, and Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) have been named deputy coordinators.
Media visibility is very important for MEPs. Stubb has the greatest amount of domestic visibility. "I’ve been flashing my teeth in dozens of international interviews, from the BBC to Le Figaro", he says.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 29.5.2006 - TODAY |
 National Coalition Party MEPs speak out twice as much as Centre Party colleagues
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