Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen to the diplomatic corps at a banquet at the President’s Palace on 17 April 2007

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My husband and I take great pleasure in welcoming you to this banquet for diplomats accredited to Finland. For us, this has become a tradition which marks the arrival of spring in Finland.

This year, we are meeting at a particularly interesting time. Finland has just had a parliamentary election. We say that these elections marked the 100th anniversary of universal suffrage and the unicameral Parliament in Finland. I am very pleased to see that 84 of the new Members of Parliament are women: the largest number so far in our history. On the other hand, voter turnout 67.9 % was very low compared with the other Nordic countries. This is a cause for concern, since the downward trend has continued steadily for twenty years.

The day after tomorrow, a new Government will be appointed. I have had a very good co-operation with the departing Government and the previous Parliament, and I believe that this will continue to be the case also in the future. Finland’s strength especially in the field of foreign and security policy is in a broad consensus, and in achieving that consensus the President, the Government and Parliament each have their own tasks.

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The European Union has enlarged rapidly during the recent years and the number of issues on which cooperation is needed has increased. The EU with its 27 Member States needs a new treaty. The new treaty must essentially preserve the principles and the fine balance that we have already agreed on. I would like to take this opportunity to express Finland’s support for the current EU Presidency holder, Germany, for its ambitious plans to achieve the new treaty.

Naturally, the EU’s authority is and will be created through practical action. The Union is a community based on common values. However, on individual issues there are of course different views. Achieving a common position calls for readiness for open discussions and willingness to find solutions together. Better consensus in foreign and security policy has increased the global role of the EU, and the international community seems to expect the EU to be an active player.

Finland had a tangible taste of this last summer, when the crisis in Lebanon erupted in the very first days of our EU Presidency. The EU remained united and was able to help end the conflict. EU was one of the first to provide humanitarian aid to the region, and peacekeepers from EU Member States form the backbone of the UNIFIL operation.

The EU continues to be committed to supporting the United Nations and all the parties in the region in order to achieve stability and security in the Middle East.

Trust has to be built also at the level of civic society. I believe that if women are actively mobilized in the peace process, there will be more chance of a sustainable solution. The UN women’s organization UNIFEM is promoting a project to strengthen the dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian women. I, too, have supported this initiative with other women leaders.

Cooperation between different international organizations is important also for Europe. I hope that the cooperation between the EU and the Council of Europe and the OSCE will be intensified. Finland will hold the OSCE chairmanship in 2008. International crisis management, too, calls for cooperation between various organizations. For example, both the EU and NATO have developed their respective rapid response forces. It is extremely important to share information and to develop coordination, so that we can avoid overlaps.

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Climate change is everyone’s problem: it has an impact on each and every one of us, and combating it is most likely to succeed if everyone participates in it. Acting in time will be easier and cheaper than acting later. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, and by then we must achieve as broad a consensus as possible on this matter. An important UN meeting on these issues will take place before the end of this year.

I believe that we can be cautiously optimistic. In my meetings and discussions with my colleagues, I have noticed positive signs of attitudes changing and of a stronger common understanding. Climate issues are dealt with in nearly all high-level political meetings, often linked with energy goals.

Non-governmental organizations have been active in this area for a long time, and the business world is starting to follow the example. It seems that readiness to act is increasing both among the countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol and those countries that have not joined the Protocol.

In March, the European Council outlined the views of the EU on future international climate policy. The objective is clear: we need a global treaty featuring a wide range of means in which all countries must participate according to their responsibilities and their resources.

The EU has set a unilateral goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from the 1990 level by the year 2020. An alternative is to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by the year 2020 if all other industrialized countries commit themselves to a similar reduction in emissions. The European Council also agreed on increasing the use of renewable energy sources to 20 per cent of the overall energy consumption in the EU by the year 2020. The country-specific objectives will be defined later this year. We hope that EU’s commitments will be encouraging examples for the others.

All countries have the right to develop. At the same time, the worldwide level of greenhouse gas emissions must be kept in check. I believe that the industrialized countries and the developing countries can act together to combat climate change. The industrialized countries have more resources to develop the required technology and new solutions, which must then be distributed for worldwide use. Readiness and political will for change is needed from everyone. It is time for cooperation.

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I would like to thank you all for your excellent cooperation. I hope that your diplomatic duties will permit you to attend the festive events taking place to celebrate important steps in Finland’s history. I refer to the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of Finland’s independence and the 450th anniversary of the death of Mikael Agricola, who created the written Finnish language.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to propose a toast in honour of you – the members of the diplomatic corps – and to our continued international cooperation.