Speeches 2006
Perspectives on the Finnish EU Presidency with respect to the Finnish Security and Defense Policy
Dr. Seppo Kääriäinen Minister Of Defence, Finland. Speech at the WEU Assembly, Paris.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Western European Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour and pleasure to have the opportunity to address this highly respected body with an address on the forthcoming Finnish EU Presidency. Our second term in this demanding role will start on the first of July, less than two weeks from now.
Today I will touch upon three themes. I start by pointing out our main security and defence political goals during our Presidency. After that I will explain some basic aspects of Finland's defence solution. I will conclude my presentation by giving some ideas on filling the gap between the Union and the people of the member states, a challenge that more or less all EU members are today facing. All of these themes are connected to our Presidency and the future of the European Union.
The guiding principle of the Finnish Presidency is to enhance EUs role as a credible and coherent global actor. Finland will carefully examine the issues related to the future of the EU and carry them forward in the constructive spirit.
Finland believes that trust in the EU can be increased through concrete achievements. Speech, in other words, is not enough. We must focus on Europe's main challenges, such as globalisation, climate change, health and social issues and, of course, common European security. More attention must be paid to the functioning of the Union. Efficient decision-making, transparency and better regulation are needed. The question of Union's enlargement will also be on the agenda and must be solved in a constructive and just way.
In my capacity as the Minister of Defence I will first and foremost concentrate on the ESDP related issues which belong to my field of responsibility.
Dear friends, let me start with the operations.
In the field of operations, the Union has come a long way since 2003, when the first EU operations were launched. Our aim is to assess the ongoing operations, manage possible new operations and prepare for the future challenges. The Union is recently engaged in several operations on three continents. The largest ongoing operation is ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the latest EUFOR RD in Congo, supporting the UN MONUC operation during the crucial election period in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Close coordination of military and civilian crisis management activities is essential in both operations. The preparations for a possible civilian crisis management operation in Kosovo will increase EU's involvement in Western Balkans.
The ongoing capabilities work is our second key issue. It will produce capabilities for future operations. During our previous Presidency in 1999, the Helsinki Headline Goal was initiated. Since then, a lot of work has been done to further develop military capabilities and improve their quality. With regard to the new Headline Goal 2010, force contributions have been listed to meet the required ambition level. Finland's aim is to finalize the Force Catalogue and thus make it possible to identify capability gaps. The next step will then be to develop a Progress Catalogue, designed to bring light to possible capability shortfalls in ESDP operations.
EU's rapid reaction capability will be improved by developing the Battle Group concept. The key objective is to enable the deployment of a mission within ten days after the decision making. As of January 2007, the German-Dutch-Finnish and French-Belgian battle groups will be in the stand-by readiness. This is a historical milestone especially for Finland, for we are this year celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of our participation in international peacekeeping operations.
I would also like to say a few words of the EDA, the European Defence Agency. It is a new important institution of the EU, established in 2004. EDA is a significant forum for the defence cooperation in four key areas: capabilities, armaments, market and research and technology. We strive for strengthening its role. We believe that EDA will prove out to be an essential actor for the EU cooperation in the future, helping the Member States to identify common needs and promoting collaboration in finding common solutions.
Based in the joint initiative of the British, Austrian and Finnish Presidencies, we will continue to enhance civil-military coordination (CMCO) in EU crisis management activities. It is important to ensure that civil-military coordination will be a natural part of both planning and execution of operations. These questions will be addressed in the context of lessons-learned processes of the EU operations, in particular with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Finnish Presidency will also pay particular attention to Civil-Military Situational Awareness in the EU-led crisis management operations.
I would like to conclude this part of my presentation by emphasizing the importance of ensuring EU's role as a credible and coherent global actor. In this respect, we place a great value on good relations and intensive cooperation with third parties, such as Russia, China, the UN, African Union, the OSCE and, last but no least, NATO. In all our efforts for example in the operations and in the capability work these important relations are the key to success.
Dear friends!
I had an opportunity to meet some of you during your visit to Finland a few weeks ago. In our meeting then a wish was expressed that I should deal with some topical issues of Finland's security and defence policy. I will fulfil this wish with pleasure and present you Finland as a country of cooperation.
Finland's government stated in its 2004 report on security and defence policy that the corner stones of Finland's national defence - universal conscription, the defence of the territory of the whole country and non-membership in military alliances - will remain unchanged for the time being.
Finland is one of the few European countries that continue to rely on the general conscription. Finland is a big country with a small population and limited natural resources. Professional defence forces would be particularly unsuitable for Finland - we have estimated that budgetary allocation to national defence should be multiplied if the capacity to defend the whole country would be preserved. In the time of declining defence expenditures, cost-effectiveness is more than necessary. The basic characteristic of an independent country is to take care of the defence of its whole territory. About 80 % of the Finns have said that they are ready to defend their country with military means and over 80 % of the men in each age group carry out their military service. If needed, we are prepared to defend our country from Helsinki to Lapland.
A functional reserve created through the general conscription system simply gives us a cost-effective tool for our defence. At the same time we have been able to use this same reserve successfully in international crises management operations. For Finland, the general conscription system is a so called secret weapon.
The third cornerstone deals with the idea of international cooperation and, at the same time, the idea of not belonging to any military alliances. Finland is a country of international cooperation; there is no doubt about that. We have participated in peacekeeping and crisis management operations since 1956. We are and we will be an active participant in the ESDP affairs. We joined the Partnership for Peace arrangement in 1994 and have since then been one of the most active participants in NATO's crisis management operations. Today we have around 800 peacekeepers in NATO and EU operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some Finns also serve as observers in UN operations. From January 1st onwards over 200 Finns will serve as a part of the German-Dutch-Finnish EU battle group.
Finland belongs to the small group of a few European countries that have not applied for a NATO membership. As pointed out above, Finland is ready to continue and even strengthen cooperation with NATO. Interoperability is created through NATO. We need this interoperability in international crises management. This applies for both NATO and EU led operations. For us, a possible NATO membership is a political choice, basing on political preferences and considerations.
When speaking of international cooperation, the national dimension should not be forgotten either. Finnish defence forces have a crucial role as an institution that supports the whole Finnish society to protect its vital functions. This takes place by giving executive assistance to other security officials when asked. The principles and forms of such an inter-agency cooperation is defined in Government's strategy on securing the vital functions of society, enacted in November 2003.
The new Finnish government, to be formed after the Parliamentary election in March 2007, will face many challenges, old and new. The above-mentioned corner stones of our defence policy will then be re-evaluated, including our relationship to NATO. Whatever that relationship will be in the future, it is certain that the main responsibility of Finland's defence and security will belong to the Finns. It is certain that Finland will be a nation of cooperation in the future as well.
Honourable members of the WEU Assembly!
Let me now conclude my presentation by touching upon the important and challenging question concerning the relationship between the European Union and the citizens of its member States, an issue that cannot be avoided.
Critical and negative attitudes towards the European Union are everyday phenomena in most of its member states. The citizens simply have difficulties to see the Union as the builder of the better tomorrow. Quite many people seem to think that the Union is a bureaucratic construction and indifferent to the needs of ordinary Europeans. Some of its decisions and measures create only irritation and even anger. In Finland, for example, some EU decisions on agriculture or the regulation of tar and hunting of wolves are such, simply because they are felt to be based on ignorance of the conditions in Finland. Similar reactions can be found from other member states, too. If attention is paid mainly to such negative phenomena, real achievements of the European Union - peace, security and stability are easily forgotten. And this is the case in spite of the fact that these issues are continuously on the agenda and are very relevant.
The decisions in the Union should be made so that their meaning could be understood by all member states and their citizens. The basis for a successful future can be created only if all citizens of Europe can understood their purpose. Only then can legitimacy emerge. In this respect positive achievements and a transparent working culture are decisive for the image of the Union. Various advertisement campaigns are simply not enough.
EU can win the trust of the citizens by driving a policy that creates value added. With this concept I mean that the EU must bring something additional to national policies and traditional inter-state cooperation. Value added is needed, for example, in security issues, employment policy and social security, in solving environmental and energy crises and in high technology development. We must sincerely concentrate on big issues. In this, the EU must be more than the sum of its member states.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Two years ago, when visiting the transformation centre of the US Armed Forces in Norfolk Virginia, I was told of the slogan on which the whole transformation process based. This slogan fits very well to the activities of the Union and even to all of us personally. This slogan is: It is not enough to do things better, we must also do better things.
I thank you for your attention. I am now ready to hear your comments and answer your questions.