The rise of the Europhobic, anti-immigration, nationalist political party the True Finns (also known as The Finns Party) has engendered a hitherto rare interest in Finland’s political situation throughout the European media.
Last year’s elections saw the True Finns become the third largest parliamentary grouping as the party won 39 seats in the 200-member parliament. It was a landmark result that is seen as a clear sign of EU scepticism across the country.
Since then, the historic image of Finland as an obedient EU member has fallen increasingly under the microscope, with commentators concerned about the future development of the country’s commitment to Europe. It has even been suggested that Finland’s EU policy would take an uncertain and evasive turn and that a stricter approach would be applied to negotiations regarding the EU bail-out policy.

Desire for change

Without doubt, Finnish voters expressed a desire for change when they went to the polling stations last year. All parties, except the True Finns, saw their support decline, with the biggest losers being the Centre Party and the Greens.
The Centre Party – previously the largest in government – won just 35 seats, down 16 from the previous election in 2007. After that mauling, it did not participate in coalition negotiations and was pleased to remain in opposition. More unexpectedly, perhaps, the Finns Party also withdrew from collation talks.
Ultimately, the 72nd government of independent Finland was formed through a deal between the National Coalition Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Left Alliance, the Swedish People’s Party, the Greens and the Christian Democrats.
Finns are well aware of the difficult global economic environment in which they find themselves. They see their banks in an increasingly weakened state and unemployment rates on the rise. The bleak economic outlook and turbulence in the eurozone have been major topics of discussion since last autumn.
They are also worried about the European economic crisis, are unimpressed by the idea of paying the debts of EU member states having financial difficulties and want their government to answer tricky questions over the current state of its EU policy and Finland’s decision-making processes on EU issues.

Economic stability

The Finns have learned lessons from the 1990s recession, though, with the country retaining its much-valued AAA credit rating. They are firm about maintaining economic stability and they demand open decision making from their government. A month ago, members of parliament – including the speaker – criticised the security agreement concluded between Finland and Greece that had been kept secret by the Ministry of Finance.
Not all views on the EU are negative, however. The authors of a report published at the end of last year by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum argue that Finland benefits from its membership.
The forum’s director and the editor of the report, Matti Apunen, writes that the Finns have enjoyed the benefits of EU membership and have even taken these for granted. He adds that it is the European debt crisis that has overshadowed the whole concept of integration and that for many people integration means bureaucracy. The report highlights the aim and course of the Finnish EU membership and asks what Finland wants from the union.
In a subsequent survey from the Finnish Business and Policy Forum, published in May, the researchers found that the EU is now more popular with ordinary Finns than ever before. According to the survey, the European economic situation has not yet had a negative effect on that view.
The survey was conducted during the first round of Finland’s presidential election in January 2012. It showed that 55 per cent of Finns have a positive attitude towards EU membership. Indeed that positive figure had increased by 20 per cent over the previous year, with the EU approval rating never having been so strong in Finland. On the other hand, 20 per cent of respondents had a negative attitude towards EU membership.

Courage to criticise

The survey also revealed that attitudes towards the Euro were more positive compared to the previous year. Positive attitudes also meant increased courage to criticise the EU – it is not just those with ultimately negative views who feel the need to take a harsh assessment of the system.
Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade, referred to the survey in a recent blog, saying: ‘Even though the debt crisis and populism have concreted the EU related issues, and mainly because of that, the majority of Finns have noticed the concrete benefits of EU membership. These are worth fighting for and responsible EU policy will pay back eventually.’
The True Finns remain an unpredictable factor in Finnish politics. Following the 2011 election Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote how the party’s charismatic leader, 49-year-old Timo Soini, ‘rewrote the electoral history books’.
However, Mr Soini, while on record as saying he rejects rescue funds for EU squanderers, has also assured other EU states that his party does not represent a threat to them or European stability. ‘We are not extremists, so you can sleep safely,’ is one of his more-quoted comments.

Ari-Pekka Saanio is a corporate partner at leading Finnish law firm Borenius