Vanhanen sees Article 141 as the only way that Finland can secure livelihood of its farmers

Many see agricultural subsidies as less threatening to government cooperation than nursing sector dispute

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Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) says that it would be difficult for his government to keep its promise to improve the income of Finnish farmers if the national subsidies under the EU’s Article 141 come to an end.
      "We need to get the right to give subsidies through Article 141. There is no point in entertaining hopes that there would be another way if permission to pay it is denied", Vanhanen said on Tuesday to Helsingin Sanomat.
      The European Commission is expected to decide on the matter in the coming weeks.
     
Centre Party Secretary Jarmo Korhonen told Helsingin Sanomat that the promise in the government programme must be implemented one way or another.
      The government programme states that the government will keep abreast of the profitability of agriculture, and of changes in the income level of the farming population, and will secure upward development of income through means of taxation, among other things.
      Korhonen mentioned Austria as an example, noting that in that country, farmers do not pay income tax at all. Vanhanen pointed out, however, that the Finnish constitution puts a great emphasis on equality.
     
There have been predictions that the fate of the subsidies could lead to a crisis within the government, or that at the very least it could become a grave political question for Minister of Agriculture Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre).
      On Tuesday, members of the Centre Party did not want to anticipate the option that negotiations with the Commission might fail.
     
Assurances came from both the Centre and the National Coalition Party that the government is standing in a united front on the matter.
      National Coalition Party leader and Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen called for caution in all statements. "Even though emotions are running high, it would be important for statements made in Finland to be moderate", he said.
     
Timo Kalli, chair of the Centre Party’s Parliamentary Group, was very cautious in anticipating the feelings of his group if the 141 subsidy were to end:
      "It is worth asking, that if there is a decision on 141, that Minister Anttila is making, and it does not meet the expectations of the group, what will happen then? Nevertheless, I am confident that Anttila will not make any bad agreements that go against the government or the Parliamentary group."
      Kalli emphasised that the whole government is responsible for the support.
      Prime Minister Vanhanen noted that the political wrestling match over the subsidies is only just beginning. He denied the view that the Centre, or he himself, would not have enough personal unofficial contacts with the EU.
     
Vanhanen was in Parliament on Tuesday to brief the body on the fresh EU reform treaty - the Lisbon Treaty - and at the same time he repeated his view that Finland was not going to make any linkage between Article 141 and ratifying the treaty.
      As Vanhanen sees it, Finland would be "kicking itself in the ankle" if it were to try to topple the treaty that it has considered necessary.
      In Parliament, a small number of representatives of the opposition Left Alliance, Christian Democrats, and True Finns said that Finland should not sign or ratify the treaty unless it is able to keep the Article 141 subsidies.
     
According to some sources, the threatened industrial action by the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) would be a much more serious challenge to government cooperation than possible defeat on the 141 issue.
      There are views within the Centre Party according to which the National Coalition Party is at least partly to blame for the crisis in nursing, if it materialises.
      For instance, Centre Party deputy chairman Antti Rantakangas suggested that he considers the threat of industrial action by the nurses to be a more serious matter for continued government cooperation than the issue of agricultural subsidies.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  European Commissioner for Agriculture: Finland has enjoyed 13 years of fair treatment (23.10.2007)
  Vanhanen trusts Commission´s "sensitivity" in farm subsidy issue (22.10.2007)
  Labour market experts doubt nurses will get pay hikes they want (22.10.2007)
  Health care workers threaten mass resignation in labour dispute (10.10.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat