The government currently being formed in Finland should adopt a more proactive stance on EU policy, Silvia Modig, an MEP for The Left group in the European Parliament since 2019, said.
Speaking to e-zine Uusi Suomi on Tuesday, Modig encouraged the new Finnish government to set up an inter-parliamentary committee to reflect on how Finland could be more influential at the EU level, particularly on issues relevant to the country.
”One should be proactive in the early stages. Our inputs often arrive really late when proposals have been made. For example, we should already be influencing the work programme of the future Commission,” said Modig.
According to her, the Finnish government must formulate its position and ministers receive their mandate from the parliament much earlier than nowadays.
”I have often called a ministry but only been given no for an answer since the government stance does not yet exist,” she added.
According to Modig, Finland is not impotent at the EU level but should change its attitude.
”We (Finland) are living in an illusion. According to it, the harder you say no, the better you defend the Finnish point of view. Having been in many political negotiations, I’m able to say that it is a false tactic to enter negotiations. A mere ’No’ is a populistic, short-sighted approach bringing only moderate results. Rather come with a compromise proposal,” Modig added.
Just like any other country, Finland also poses difficulties in bringing its own quirks to the Brussels table, forestry being the latest example.
”Maybe we should also have a bit more courage and insolence. Could we find those qualities in ourselves? Others do possess them,” she concluded.
Modig, a former journalist, is The Left’s coordinator in the Committee on the Environment, a member of the Committee on Budgets and a sub-member of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.
(Pekka Vänttinen | EURACTIV.com)
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