Brussels, 26/08/2003 (Agence Europe) - Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen confirmed to the press after a meeting with President of the European Commission Romano Prodi on Tuesday in Brussels that his government would be adopting, early September, a White Paper on the draft European Constitution and the next Intergovernmental Conference. He said in answer to a question that they did not envisage proposing a referendum on the future Constitution. Romano Prodi, who was at his side, stressed the "deep agreement" that characterises relations with the Commission and Finland - "not surprisingly", he remarked (see also page 5).
The day before, during a reception in Helsinki, Mr Vanhanen had recognised that the European Convention's draft comprises a certain number of problematical proposals for Finland and other small Member States. According to Reuters, the Prime Minister mainly felt that the text did not preserve the principle of balance between institutions and equality between Member States. He was opposed to the changes proposed with regard to defence policy.