Sweden - how natural an EU ally for Finland?
COLUMN
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By Erkki Pennanen
The elections for the European Parliament provided new reasons to ponder both the future of the European Union and the position of Finland in an expanded EU. Where could we most easily find others who think like we do? If seeking to be in the core of the EU is seen as megalomania for a small Nordic country, then what is the alternative?
Many feel that the most natural option would be to intensify cooperation with Sweden and other small like-minded countries. Those who think like this seem to have failed to grasp that it is increasingly difficult to count Sweden among countries whose thinking in the EU is like that of Finland.
Swedish voters refuse to adapt to the EU mainstream, and are much less willing to seek to get into its core - nor do they care one iota about the pro-EU views expressed by their government and large parties.
Voter unpredictability has not previously been part of Sweden’s political culture; for decades it has been a country with just one dominant political party. The change that has taken place during EU membership is becoming apparent only now.
A Social Democratic government managed to persuade a majority of the Swedish people to support EU membership. However, the referendum left bad scars within the Social Democratic Party, and it took years before Prime Minister Göran Persson dared endorse joining Economic and Monetary Union. In spite of careful planning, the people rejected moving over to the euro in a referendum last autumn.
The elections for the European Parliament came as a new shock to both the Social Democrats and the pro-EU non-socialist parties. The Social Democrats fell more than 10 percentage points behind their normal support level - lower than at any time since the First World War.
Some of the voters of both the conservative Moderate Party and the liberal Folkpartiet also gave their votes to the new Eurosceptic "June List", which became the third-largest "party" in the election with 14% of the vote, even though it is not yet even registered as a party. The creators of the June List are not Sweden’s typical EU opponents: they are old gentlemen from Stockholm with impressive backgrounds in banking.
The movement does not oppose EU membership, but it is against the EU’s new constitution, and it supports the right of every country to establish clear limits to the power of the EU.
The message from the Swedish people in last Sunday’s elections was quite clear: they take a very critical view of the current authority of the EU, and of its further development. This cannot help but affect the government’s EU policy.
This might also reflect on Norway, where the large parties have prepared to take up EU membership again in connection with next year’s election campaign. Many in Norway now fear that after the negative experiences of the European Parliament elections, the risks might be too great, and the parties might not have the nerve to revive debate on a third EU referendum.
But what about the effect on Finland? At first glance, the question might seem far-fetched, because the situation in Finland is so different. There was no sense of protest in the European Parliament elections. Interest in the vote was scant, but the turnout nevertheless rose by as much as ten percentage points from the last time around.
All of the large parties were in a position to claim victory in the elections. There was an effort of national common cause to increase the voter turnout; it was embarrassing for the image of the Finns to be among the laziest voters of the EU.
Because of our historical experiences, the opinions that people in "Europe" have of our country are still important for us Finns. Ultimately, the most important aspect of joining the European Union was that it definitively changed Finland’s political location in Europe - from that of a country in the shadow of Russia to that of a member of the EU, and in the best case, part of its core.
Presidents J. K. Paasikivi and Mauno Koivisto were cautious leaders, while President Urho Kekkonen, and former Prime Minister and current Speaker of Parliament Paavo Lipponen are among the more daring.
For Sweden and the Swedes, joining the EU did not bring the same kind of historical uplift of their political profile. Sweden has long had a respected position in the world. It has always also had a strong national identity based on its great-power past, and on its long tradition of non-alignment and going its own way. In the European Union, Sweden does not get to be a model for others to follow. Instead it has to adapt to common decisions and rules, just like all other countries.
One is tempted to suggest that the Swedish reluctance to adapt to life in the EU also partially reflects the indecisiveness and inability of the political leadership to clarify to the people the historical role of the EU in the development of Europe. The endless EU debate that has gone on for years has focused on the negative sides of the EU, and this has led to dissatisfaction among the Swedes. The atmosphere of negativity efficiently feeds anti-EU sentiments.
The government of Göran Persson naturally understands that being labelled a problem-case is not in Sweden’s interest in the EU. In a democratic country a government can try to steer public opinion, but it cannot purposefully act against it. That is a serious limitation for Persson’s government.
This means that there can be no question of a new debate on joining the euro or on NATO membership any time soon. Sweden’s government will have to take a very cautious attitude toward deepening EU cooperation.
Finland’s political leadership must recognise this. Both countries have many common interests to promote in the EU and in other fora, but the idea of strengthening the Finnish and Swedish axis would be strange in the present situation. Finland must seek out like-minded countries where they exist, and strive for active and constructive policy in the EU.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.6.2004
ERKKI PENNANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
erkki.pennanen@hs.fi
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| 22.6.2004 - THIS WEEK |
 Sweden - how natural an EU ally for Finland? |
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