AT THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
IN ROME ON WEDNESDAY 29.01.1997
The global role of the European Union
I should like to begin by thanking the organisers for the opportunity to make a presentation at this prestigious institute. We share the task of creating a more secure and more democratic international community. The strengthening European Union is an increasingly important actor in this work of construction. I now propose to outline my own assessment of what this challenge means.
It is a great pleasure for me to do so in Italy and here in Rome, where the most central fundamental treaty on which the EU is based was signed almost exactly forty years ago. Italy's role has remained central ever since; your latest stint in the Presidency of the EU - which coincided with Finland's first half year as a member - left us with positive memories. Italy's role in getting the Intergovernmental Conference under way was significant. You demonstrated an ability to achieve conciliation and determinedly took matters forward.
The Treaty of Rome represented a significant step in bringing together and building up a Europe that had been torn apart.
The values and objectives that led to the Treaty of Rome endure. Four decades of development in Western Europe are clear proof that the road chosen was the right one, and that it should continue to be followed.
In applying for EU membership Finland was striving both to safeguard her position in decision-making relating to herself and to strengthen her international status and security. The other alternatives available would have given us access to the Single Market, but in practical terms the benefits of integration would have been limited to that.
When we assess our status as an EU member today, we can say that our international position and security have been strengthened and that participation in the Union's decision-making has clearly increased our international opportunities.
National unity in Finland together with understanding of and respect for our special features on the part of others are prerequisites for our being able to avail of the new opportunities that are presenting themselves. Those special features include our country's large area and northern location. Our rural areas are in the throes of a difficult structural transformation. For us, as certainly also for you Italians, the countryside has an intrinsic value. Indeed, the maintenance of vital rural communities has been recognised as one of the central objectives of the Union.
In Finland, the economic and political effects of membership have largely corresponded to our expectations. We appreciate the fact that since our accession it has been possible to achieve progress on matters that are important to us: the northern dimension, Baltic cooperation and certain values that we hold dear.
We, in turn, have embraced the premise that all member states must strive to promote the interests that we share. That has brought new features of solidarity to our thinking and our international field of operations is likewise expanding. Our active participation in Mediterranean cooperation is an example of this. Within that framework we have offered to host a ministerial conference to deliberate environmental questions of interest to us all. The conference will take place in Finland later this year. In the same connection, we hope to gain the support of all EU members for efforts to strengthen cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.
As a new member we have naturally had to ponder the Union's international position and role. The EU as an economic actor is one of the leading forces in the global economy. Indeed, it has an established and recognised role in international trade talks. The question now is how we can develop the Union's role in international politics.
An international role for the Union is not, of course, an end in itself, and it should not seek to act as a nation state. The EU is a community of independent states. Indeed, the point in question is how, as an association of states, it could best promote the interests of its members. The Union can not substitute for its members' own foreign policy, but it can provide an additional value from which all members benefit. It lies in the interests of, especially, small members to increase the effectiveness of the EU both in the economic sphere and in matters of foreign and security policy.
The tasks associated with the EU's international role can be defined in three categories:
The great task that binds the European Union together is that of promoting cooperation and stability globally. Here, my classification of the Union's international activities indicates the course to be followed. What matters most is that the EU is recognised to a growing degree as a new kind of "voice of Europe", as a promoter of global economic and political cooperation.
The European Union can not be understood in isolation from its members' Euro-Atlantic ties. The EU and the United States already constitute the world's biggest trade and investment community. Thus the EU's transatlantic dimension will remain one of the main pillars on which its international influence is supported in the 21st century.
Nevertheless the EU is developing its ties globally. The line that divided Europe during the Cold War has been eliminated, and it must not be created again. It is essential that Russia be linked into cooperation and the international economy. By succeeding in this we shall have signed a real peace treaty for future generations in Europe.
The EU has developed deepening dialogues on a broad range of themes with the countries of South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific as well as with the organisations representing them. In the Middle East, the Union's role has strengthened, not only as a provider of economic assistance, but also and to a growing degree in the political sense.
All in all, the European Union has laid the groundwork for an ability to wield economic and political influence globally. What must be ensured now is that its capacity for action is developed to match the challenges that lie ahead.
The questions of strengthening the position of the EU and increasing its effectiveness in international diplomacy are currently being deliberated at the Intergovernmental Conference. It is true that institutional changes can improve matters and add efficiency to decision-making, but what is paramount, especially in matters concerning external action, is political will. No institutional arrangement can substitute for that.
Finland is prepared to make her contribution to strengthening the Union's role as an international actor. Many necessary reforms can be agreed on at the Intergovernmental Conference. But already now a lot can be done using the existing rules. What is of central relevance is whether the member countries want to act together in world politics. With that purpose in mind, I have proposed a summit meeting between the EU, Russia and the United States. In any event, cooperation between them will be important in the development of security in Europe and beyond.
At the Intergovernmental Conference we have, together with Sweden, made concrete proposals concerning the inclusion of military crisis-management in the Union's activities and defining the relationship between the EU and the Western European Union. We have been able to note with satisfaction that the other countries have taken a constructive attitude to our proposals.
These arrangements are linked to the construction of Europe's new security order. The NATO-led IFOR crisis management and stabilisation operation in Bosnia demonstrates that post-Cold War military crisis management is possible in a manner that transcends historical antagonisms. The Union has a considerable role in the reconstruction of Bosnia. We should go on from this basis, without discriminating against anyone.
Improving the Union's capacity for external action must not, however, be limited solely to security- and foreign-policy matters. Its ability to pursue its members' trade interests must likewise be developed. The common definition of trade policy has remained virtually unaltered since the signing of the Treaty of Rome. Since those days, however, the structure of international trade, international trade-policy arrangements and the needs of our economic sectors have changed thoroughly. It would now be time to see how to go on from here, how to develop international economic cooperation in such a way that we do not drift into the formation of trade blocs and confrontations between them.
As I see it, an all-round strengthening of the EU's international role accords with the interests of all member states. A feature of the internal EU discourse that has sometimes bothered me is the artificial dichotomy that has been created between small and big states. The small member states have never been opposed to strengthening the EU's foreign-policy role as such.
We Finns find it very gratifying that, together with the other members, we have been able to ponder the development of the Union. There are big challenges ahead, and responding to them will require significant changes on the part of the Union.
The most central challenges are enlargement and implementation of economic and monetary union. The effects of both will extend beyond our continent. The EU is taking steps that are the most significant since the foundation of the Communities.
Political changes in our continent have made EU enlargement inescapable. We also see it as a historic opportunity, by means of which the ultimate aims of the EU's founding fathers can be implemented continent-wide. When we accept that premise, we must also accept that all of the existing members will have to make sacrifices.
The changes needed in the Union's institutional structure and decision-making practices so as to ensure efficient operation after enlargement are being deliberated at the Intergovernmental Conference. In some quarters, enlargement has been regarded as a reason for adjusting the balance between small and large member states. We do not see any justification for this. On the contrary, such endeavours could prompt negative reactions among the citizens of smaller member states.
By contrast, we consider it important from the perspective of the Union's efficiency that the question of increasing the number of matters decided on through qualified-majority voting be examined openly and fresh-mindedly at the Intergovernmental Conference.
One of the questions that has come centrally to the fore at the Intergovernmental Conference concerns flexibility, or perhaps it would be better to say strengthened cooperation. As a small member state, however, we must assess our own attitude realistically. In any event, there will be strengthened cooperation; indeed, it is already happening. It is preferable from our point of view that it should take place within a common framework according to collectively-agreed ground rules and subject to monitoring.
Differences between levels of economic and political development within the Union may increase with enlargement. Changes are needed in the agricultural and structural policies. It will not be easy to reach agreement on those changes. However, the good and bad sides of enlargement should not be measured merely in terms of money; there are much higher values involved. The history of Europe from post-war reconstruction onwards bears clear testimony to that.
Relations with Russia must be constantly developed. Agreements between the EU and Russia provide good opportunities for achieving this. In particular the potential inherent in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement should be availed of and the timetables envisaged scrupulously adhered to.
The Dublin summit in December succeeded in resolving the central still-open questions relating to the EMU project. Companies and banks in the EU countries are preparing for the introduction of the Euro. That is a reality that must be taken into account. Yet we do not examine EMU as merely an economic project, but rather see it more broadly as part of the integration process, which also has a bearing on our own opportunities to wield influence.
Last autumn, both Italy and Finland expressed their commitment to achieving Economic and Monetary Union in a very concrete manner: by re-joining the European Exchange-Rate Mechanism.
The creation of a Euro single currency area should strengthen the EU's global role. It is to be hoped that economic and monetary union will enjoy the support of member states committed to stability and sufficiently broad co-ordination of economic policy.
That would be the best way to promote economic development also in a global context. A central problem besetting most European countries is structural uncompetitiveness and unemployment. The measures needed are mainly national in character, but we must also consider common actions. It is important from the perspective of European competitiveness that we succeed as quickly as possible in liberalising the Single Market. That is one of the prerequisites for effective economic and monetary union, for enlargement and for continued economic growth.
The world is no longer a bipolar one; instead, several strong power centres are forming. The European Union will ensure that our continent is able to cope also in a changing world. Our task is to develop interaction and cooperation between its various parts. Security in the next century downright demands that. Europe's cultural, economic and educational foundation remains strong. Our creativity and capacity for cooperation are now our trumps, and they will power our future success.