“The northern dimension”

Finland took over the European Union presidency on July 1. The presidency program emphasizes four main directions: the EU’s future, competitiveness, international relations and domestic policies, and legal matters.

According to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland, the EU’s future depends on solving problems connected to the community’s constitution and enlargement. As of today, 15 out of 25 EU member states have ratified the constitution. After the referendum fiasco in France and the Netherlands more than a year ago, this process was temporarily frozen in Finland and that other EU member states that had not yet ratified the constitutions.

Vanhanen says that Finland intends to do its best to achieve progress in this matter during its presidency. “We need to increase the EU’s popularity and public trust in the Union’s justice and effectiveness. To this end, we should do specific things, not just proclaim slogans. Finland is going to work in this direction during its presidency,” the Finnish prime minister promised.

Consultations on EU enlargement are scheduled for December. The main stages and dates for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania should be determined during the period of Finland’s presidency. In addition, talks will continue with Turkey and Croatia, and the overall situation in the Balkans will be discussed. In the Finnish prime minister’s view, major difficulties may arise around Turkey because of its relations with Cyprus and non-compliance with set requirements.

“Real problems with Turkey may emerge this fall. Of course, we would be very disappointed if the negotiations were to be cut short during our EU presidency,” Vanhanen said. At the same time, he emphasized that the EU should not set its members any unconditional limitations and should assess candidate states on their merits only. “In the long term I see that all the Balkan countries, including Albania, will join the EU,” Vanhanen added.

Can Ukraine count on EU membership at least in the long term? In principle, things do not depend greatly on the Finnish government, even though Helsinki has always supported Kyiv’s Euro integration intentions. At the end of last month EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn announced that Brussels will not change European Union membership criteria. He pointed out three main findings on whose basis the European Commission will carry out the enlargement.

First, EU enlargement is of historic importance for the security, stability, and prosperity of Europe. Second, the criteria of admission are unchangeable. “This confirms our overall enlargement agenda, which contains the countries of South-Eastern Europe, i.e., Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Croatia, as well as the southeastern Balkans.” Third, the enlargement should not run counter to the EU’s ability to function successfully. The European Council will be discussing all EU enlargement aspects this December. Rehn promised that somewhat earlier, in October-November 2006, the commission will draw up a strategic document to tackle all the contradictory issues connected to enlargement, including so-called “absorption capacity,” which many consider an obstacle for Ukraine to join the EU.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that while Finland chairs the European Union, the Ukraine-EU Action Plan will be implemented and Ukraine-EU visa relaxation talks will be completed. Last Tuesday Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Vasyl Fylypchuk expressed hope that these results will be achieved at the tenth Ukraine- EU summit to be held this fall in Helsinki. “After this forum, Ukraine hopes to achieve concrete results that will be included in the text of the General Political Declaration,” the diplomat said. At the same time, Fylypchuk noted that Ukraine also expects to achieve concrete results as far as drawing up a free trade area agreement is concerned.

Will these hopes come true? We may learn something even today. The prime minister of Finland is speaking at the European Parliament, where he will officially announce Finland’s priorities during its EU presidency.