Vanhanen bids farewell to EU colleagues

print this

At 8:07 on Thursday morning, a car escorted by two motorcycle police outriders draws up in front of the Swedish EU Mission in Brussels. Out of the back seat climbs the gangly figure of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre), who is going to a meeting to discuss a common policy line to be taken at the EU summit by the Nordic countries and the three Baltic States.
      The EU summit is Vanhanen’s last actual task as Prime Minister of Finland.
      “I feel quite all right, even though I had to get up already at four”, Vanhanen notes.
     
Today, Friday, Vanhanen hands in his resignation from the office of Prime Minister to President Tarja Halonen.
      Next week a new government is to be named under the leadership of the new Centre Party leader Mari Kiviniemi. This will rule until elections in April 2011.
     
At 9:00 the heads of government of the EU countries march along the red carpet to the venue of the meeting, Justus Lipsius, the headquarters of the European Council.
      Cameras go off like automatic gunfire as the new British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives.
      There are fewer flashes and clicks when the Finnish Prime Minister shows up.
      Vanhanen tells Finnish journalists that he has a wistful feeling at his last EU summit, saying that the meetings have been a “pleasant working environment.”
     
Vanhanen recalls that the feeling was different seven years earlier at his first EU summit.
      Finland had been left without the European Food Authority that it had been promised, and in response, Vanhanen blocked the approval of the entire package of ten EU offices.
      “I quickly learned how things are done.”
     
When he started in 2003, Vanhanen had a good grounding of knowledge about the workings of the EU, as he had chaired the Grand Committee - the Parliamentary body that deals with EU affairs - for eight years.
      Vanhanen’s EU policy was immediately seen to differ from that of his predecessor Paavo Lipponen (SDP).
      During his time in office, Lipponen worked to bring Finland to all tables where matters are decided. Vanhanen, who had once opposed Finnish EU membership, gave the impression that it is not necessary to be at every table. The impression that he put out was one of an isolationist.
     
Vanhanen says that the most important EU summit for him was in the spring of 2004, when 13 member states asked him to speak on their behalf in the debate on the EU Constitution.
      Vanhanen and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel established themselves as voices of small member-states in the debate.
     
At 9:55 a journalist of the American CNBC news channel gets an interview with Vanhanen, which he handles well.
      Words such as “strategy” and “competitiveness” prove to be a mouthful for Vanhanen, but most Finns would not manage their pronunciation without some difficulty.
      Actual negotiations at the summit take place behind closed doors. The media takes pictures as the meeting gets organised. Vanhanen stands with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip.
      The meeting begins at 10:33 and Vanhanen finds his place between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Romanian President Traian Basescu.
     
In his seven years as Finnish Prime Minister, Vanhanen has become a respected European politician.
      He has been in office about as long as Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who is also stepping down soon.
      Observers say that during Vanhanen’s second government, Finnish EU policy has become more active.
      “My basic thinking about the EU has not changed in seven years”, Vanhanen insists.
      “The economic crisis has affected my views”, he says. According to Vanhanen, the lesson learned from the crisis has been that the most important thing in developing the EU is a common political will.
     
The summit ends at 15:00, but the leaders continue their negotiations at the late lunch that follows. During the luncheon Vanhanen makes a short speech, thanking his colleagues.
      At 17:00 a press conference begins, where Vanhanen is asked about his future plans.
      “Tomorrow I will walk from a meeting with the President, and I will go somewhere for coffee”, is all that he will say.
     
Vanhanen promises to reveal the reasons for his unexpected decision last December to give up his post “sometime years from now”.
      “But there is nothing dramatic in the reasons, and everyone will certainly understand it”, he adds.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Vanhanen: Prime Minister to represent Finland at EU summits (2.12.2009)

See also:
  Kiviniemi government to seek more tax revenue (15.6.2010)
  Mari Kiviniemi chosen as new Centre Party leader and prospective PM (14.6.2010)

Helsingin Sanomat