Brussels, 29/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - Presenting the Finnish presidency's priorities to the press in Brussels on Thursday 29 June, Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish foreign affairs minister, declared that “Finland's pragmatism in the way it works, is well known” (the presidency begins on 1st July). This attitude is expected to help Finland to push forward the main European areas of action and obtain concrete results that will re-establish citizens' confidence in the EU. Mr Tuomioja mainly spoke about the EU's external relations - notably with Russia, Iran and the Middle East - as well as enlargement. He gave his support to the constitutional treaty that Finland will be ratifying in September and expressed his wish to share Finland's success with Member States in terms of “competitiveness” and implementation of the concept of “flexicurity”.
Mr Tuomioja indicated that, “Russia is a direct neighbour of Finland” and relations with the country were of “strategic importance for the EU”. He also highlighted the “principle of mutual inter-dependency”, which characterises these relations because Russia is “not just an exporter of gas” it also “needs investment and foreign investment”. According to the Finnish minister “ratification” of the Energy Charter by Russia would “be to everyone's advantage” but he is not expecting results in this area at the next G8 summit in July in St Petersburg. Asked about the probability of a new clash over energy between Ukraine and Russia, Mr Tuomioja said that he hoped “all the parties would learn the lessons from January's crisis” and that the crisis would not be repeated. He stressed that as long as there was no transparency in setting prices there would “always be a place for political evaluation” and cited the example of his country in this regard: in Finland “100% of gas is imported from Russia” and there “has never been any difficulties” because relations are based on transparent market prices. An EU/Russia summit will take place in Finland in the second half of 2006, which is expected to officially launch negotiations for a bilateral agreement that is more ambitious than the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which expires in 2007. Mr Tuomioja also mentioned ongoing work leading to the adoption of a third “framework document” for relations with counties in the “Nordic Dimension”.
Speaking about EU/Iran relations within the perspective of an “overall energy policy”, Mr Tuomioja said that all counties had the right to set up their own energy mixes. “We are hoping for a positive response from Iran” to the packet of proposals from the “Six” (US, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany), which aim to bring Tehran around to renouncing its uranium enrichment activities, he declared, alluding to the “signs” from Iran that indicated that it was taking the packet of measures seriously.
In energy, the Finnish presidency will focus on the internal electricity and gas markets, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies. Implementation of the regulatory framework for liberalising the national markets will be studied in light of the Commission's report on how competition is working. The Finnish presidency will be paving the way for future strategic decisions to be taken at the European Council in spring 2007.
Mr Tuomioja said that the EU “has a central role” to play in the Middle East and indicated that without the EU the road map paving the way towards a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would not exist, even though at the present time it was not being used. He said that the good news was that “to have a real influence, a single and coherent policy is needed, which we don't have”. Asked about Hamas' implicit recognition of Israel (EUROPE 9221), the Finnish minister said that it was a step forward and was testimony to a “serious re-evaluation process” by the Palestinian government but which “did not answer all the questions”. He said that they now had to first of all to “stop the violence by both sides” and make sure that the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) for directing financial aid to the Palestinian people was working.
Enlargement figures high on the Finnish presidency's agenda. Finland will launch a debate on the EU's capacity of absorption/assimilation of new candidate countries after Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, on the basis of a specific Commission report expected out in autumn. In this connection Mr Tuomioja insisted on the need to “not send out a negative message to current or future candidate countries”. He explained that it would be necessary to “keep European prospects credible and alive,” given that this perspective constituted the most efficient arm of the EU with regard to the Western Balkans.
On Bulgaria and Romania's accession he said that it was up to these countries to “play the game”. He pointed out that the Commission would be presenting a final assessment in October
on the state of preparedness of these two countries, a report that will serve as a base for a unanimous Council decision. He added that they hoped accession by Bulgaria and Romania would take place in January 2007.
With Turkey, there is the risk that continued negotiation may be jeopardised, Mr Tuomioja warned, if Turkey continues to refuse to comply with the customs union protocol that it has signed but not ratified. He gave his assurance that the Finnish Presidency would do everything possible to avoid bringing talks to a halt as “suspension” of the negotiations would mean that the “Union has failed”. In October or November, the EU will assess implementation of the additional protocol to the Ankara Agreement on customs union between the EU and Turkey. On the other hand, the Finnish minister said that “Croatia does not pose any particular problem”, as this country has made “excellent progress”. Accession talks will continue, he went on to say, announcing the Finnish Presidency's wish to open a second chapter by the summer.
In answer to questions on the role of the Finnish Presidency in talks on the status of Kosovo, Mr Tuomioja said “we shall be working closely with Martti Ahtisaari”, former Finnish president, who is heading the talks under the aegis of the United Nations (UN). Nonetheless, “the timetable is in the hands of the UN, not the EU”, he recalled, adding that it was “still not clear whether the proposal (on the status of Kosovo) is to be finalised under Finnish Presidency”.
The Finnish Presidency took the example of the constitutional treaty to highlight its pragmatism. The government has submitted a project for ratification of the constitutional treaty and “we expect that (the Finnish parliament) will ratify in September with a clear majority”, Mr Tuomioja said. He pointed out that this majority in favour of the Constitution will be “overwhelming” and reach “90%”, even if the ranks of the minority opposed to ratification have swollen somewhat in Finland recently. The minister nevertheless admitted that there is a “likelihood of about 100% that the treaty will not take effect in its current form”. By ratifying the Constitution, Finland sets the target of “keeping the process alive” as “no-one is moving towards a full review of the treaty”, he explained. In his view, it will be necessary, however, to “get rid of” the term “Constitution”. The Finish Presidency will head consultation with the European institutions and Member States as its first work in exploring solutions to resolve the constitutional deadlock. Theses options will then be presented under the German Presidency during the first half of 2007. Answering questions on the Berlin Declaration that will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in March 2007, Mr Tuomioja said that all declarations are useful but do not replace the constitutional treaty.
Difficulties linked to ratification of the Constitution must not prevent the EU from improving the way it works in the context of the existing treaties and to act in areas that citizens believe are important, the Finnish Presidency said. “We cannot do much on the basis of the current treaty” and without applying elements of the Constitution before their time (“cherry-picking”), Mr Tuomioja said. “It is important for external security policy”, he added, as without this policy “the EU will not be able to have an influence in the world that citizens expect”. In particular, Finland hopes to plan how to develop EU external action, improve the effectiveness of the decision-making process on cooperation in police and criminal matters and make the Council more transparent (see EUROPE 9220).
Finally, the Finnish Presidency plans to make Member States benefit from its experience in the field of economic competitiveness. “On a good many criteria, we are doing better and we want to share the Finnish model”, Mr Tuomioja said, stressing the concept of flexicurity. He also hoped there would be an agreement on the services and working hours directives during the second half of 2006.