Ulkoministeri Ilkka Kanervan 9. marraskuuta 2007 Budapestin Corvinus-yliopistossa pitämä luento aiheesta Suomi ja Unkari EU-kumppaneina.
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express my pleasure to have this opportunity to address this distinguished audience. I hope we will have an interesting discussion about our common Europe and EU, with which living is hard at times but living without would be unthinkable.
The EU's enlargement process has strengthened stability, prosperity and democracy in Europe
The EU's enlargement process has been an essential factor in strengthening stability, prosperity and democracy in Europe. The ten new Member States that joined in 2004, and the accession of Bulgaria and Romania at the beginning of 2007, abolished the division of Europe that had remained since the Second World War. Enlargement has extended peace, the rule of law and human rights across Europe as well as fostering economic development.
Both old and new Member States in the EU have benefited from enlargement. An economically stronger Union, with larger internal markets, has been better able to meet the challenges brought by globalisation such as increased international competition. Besides enlargement, the EU is also about to deepen integration. The signing of the long awaited Reform Treaty in December will hopefully mark an end to more than six years of institutional reforms - or, looking back to the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty, to a much longer period of reforms.
Some have indeed concluded that in its quest for better institutions and instruments, the EU has been lately more inward-looking than it should have been in front of our common global challenges. But such a conclusion would not pay full tribute to the fundamental and positive importance of the recent enlargement for the EU.
Hungary and Finland share many, if not most, of the fundamentals in EU policy. For example our approach to the recent enlargement of course, which saw Hungary's entry into the EU, and support for the reforms of the EU. We have both adopted an active and positively constructive policy, seeing national interest in commitment to an ever closer union. During its first dozen years of membership, this approach has been described in Finland as being part of the core of the EU.
It has been interesting to observe that in Hungarian politics today one of the common causes shared between the government and the opposition is EU policy. The internal consensus in Hungary's EU policy is reminiscent of the way of thinking in Finland. Coherent EU policy, with its main lines supported by consensus, is in the national interest of a small member state. This is the lesson we have learned from 12 years of membership.
The EU must be open for further enlargement
The enlargement process does not, and should not, stop here. We still have countries negotiating for membership and others applying. The prospect of EU membership functions as an incentive to implement necessary reforms in the candidate and aspiring countries. The Union must continue to be open towards countries that fulfil the necessary criteria. This includes Turkey.
The peoples of the Western Balkans see themselves as a part of the European heritage and culture and we will keep the door open for them to enter the Union. Their progress in turning their European perspective into a reality is first and foremost in their own hands. Some of the countries are well on track; some have a steeper hill to climb. Eventually - I believe - all of them will be members of our European Union and at that point present problems can be relegated to history.
In the accession process each country must be treated equally and progress depends on the merits of each country. The accession negotiations are an open process, where the shared objective is the candidate country's membership of the Union. The pace at which a candidate or potential candidate approaches the EU reflects the pace of its political and economic reforms as well as its capacity to fully assume the rights and obligations of membership.
Support for the enlargement process among EU citizens is essential. The renewed enlargement consensus recognizes the need to demonstrate the benefits of enlargement better than in the past. In this context we all need to be active and continue to remind the general public of those benefits.
Finland supports the idea of establishing the Group of the Wise
In August, France's President Sarkozy made an interesting proposal for the establishment of what he called a Group of the Wise. This Group would make proposals on what the EU should look like in the period 2020 to 2030 and above all how we should tackle global challenges that await us as a union. We welcome the idea and support the formation of such a group, which in our view should focus on policy challenges of the European Union in the longer term. We have in mind three issues around which the group's mandate could be formulated.
First, the EU needs to rejuvenate its effort to become the most competitive economic area in the world. How the EU can achieve this in the face of ever intensifying global competition, is an appropriate question to be addressed by such a group, which should be properly composed for this endeavour. Second, it is obvious that the EU faces some difficult policy challenges, for example how to tackle climate change and establish a viable energy policy, how to fight terrorism with our partners, where to go with our nascent EU immigration policy and so on. Finally, the group would need to address the issue of the EU's global role, in order to ensure that the Union will effectively take its place as a global player or - as a pamphlet put it - "run the 21st century".
I believe we all agree that the time of institutional reforms is now past, for a while at least, and that any discussion of the EU's future should now avoid falling back into the institutional trap. Also, the most pressing items on the EU agenda, such as conducting the Financial Perspective Review during the next few years, must not be affected by the group's work. Touching upon institutions, focusing on Europe's borders and enlargement or the Financial Perspectives Review would be fatal for the group's work. Furthermore, suffice it to say that as the EU now conducts a consistent enlargement policy, with policy lines accepted in common last December (2006) during Finland's EU presidency, addressing directly the question of Europe's borders would in our view merely muddy EU waters when we need clarity.
We need to integrate new and old EU Member States
The EU is a community based on values, with a goal to strengthen Europe for the benefit of all its citizens. One of the key challenges facing the EU today is how to integrate new and old Member States so as to provide fresh opportunities for all.
Although the EU enlarged in 2004 and 2007, there still remain some differences inside the Union. Some countries are not members of the euro zone but the preparations to enlarge the Schengen area, that is to abolish inner border controls for the countries that joined the EU in 2004, as did Hungary, are now at the final stage. The grounds for the removal of controls are the conclusions accepted in the Justice and Home Affairs Council in December 2006 during the Finnish EU presidency. That is why the enlargement of the Schengen area is a matter of particular interest and Finland is keen to see Hungary as part of the said area. As a matter of fact our Minister of the Interior, Anne Holmlund, is coming to Hungary specifically to witness this event next month, on December the 21st.
The psychological effect of the enlargement of the Schengen- area will probably be bigger than its practical implications, but this removal of inner border controls will be seen as a sign of equality, in addition to the free movement of workers, and adoption of the euro that makes Hungary an equal partner in the Union.
For membership of the euro zone certain economic criteria agreed upon in the Maastricht treaty regarding budget deficits, interest rates, the debt equity ratio and inflation have to be fulfilled. To achieve the stability in the Hungarian economy that will eventually bring Hungary into the euro zone requires the Hungarian government to continue its fiscal corrections. The EU Commission estimates that Hungary is now on track but the challenge remains to avoid sharing public assets to please voters. The economic measures to be taken in 2008 and 2009 are crucial to ensure that the preparation of the election year budget of 2010 will remain credible. If Hungary's convergence programme is followed strictly, Hungary could join the euro zone sometime between 2011 and 2013.
We need to find a European solution for Kosovo
For too long the EU has been locked inside its internal debate about its institutions. Challenges outside our borders have not diminished. On the contrary, they have increased. Therefore a major challenge for the Union is the credibility of its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Close to Hungary, and extremely urgent, is the status of Kosovo.
Eight years after the last war in the Balkans, the conflict of Kosovo is still in search of a solution. The United Nations has been in charge of helping the Provisional Institutions of Self-Governance (PISG) in Kosovo to build up local capacity. However, despite the progress achieved under UNMIK auspices, the present status quo is universally deemed untenable. The human development of Kosovo and the stability of the Western Balkans are held back due to the unclear future status of Kosovo. We cannot afford to have a volatile feud within Europe, with all the side-effects in the form of organised crime, corruption, human trafficking, poverty, poor economic development and political problems.
Kosovo is primarily a European problem and we need to find a European solution for it. Unfortunately, a solution has not been readily forthcoming. Despite converging interests in many of the sectors under discussion, the parties also have diametrically opposing views on the key issue of the future status of Kosovo. In this situation, the European Union would need to reach unity in opinion and direction. As can be expected, producing a common view out of 27 viewpoints is complicated. . And even though we are making headway, we have not yet arrived at a common position. . In this process, insights from neighbouring countries such as Hungary are important.
For the moment, the EU is working for a Kosovo status resolution achieved through a negotiated agreement, while we are also preparing ourselves for some less desirable possible outcomes. We are already the largest donor in Kosovo and the European Union is expected to take a lead role in Kosovo in line with the comprehensive status settlement presented by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. . We should not let our neighbours down. Failure now can have far-reaching consequences.
Reform Treaty gives us more efficient, visible and coherent EU
For Finland, a strong global role for the EU is essential. A dynamic Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) plays a crucial part in this. In fact, the development of the CFSP has during the last couple of years been one of the major achievements of the Union.
Finland has been an active promoter of a more efficient, visible and coherent EU. Developing the EU's instruments with this aim was a priority during our last Presidency of the EU but let me stress the importance we give to the Reform Treaty in this respect. Indeed, in our view these reforms are very necessary and if correctly implemented, they will also work.
First of all the High Representative's role in the new institutional setting will be different from the one Mr Javier Solana has today. According to the Reform Treaty, the High Representative will have the special task of ensuring the coherence of the EU's external affairs and this is intended to cover the EU's external actions as a whole. Indeed, Finland places a lot of hope on the High Representative's double-hatted role of vice-president of the Commission and chair of the external affairs council.
Second, the EU will have a new European External Action Service, which will assist the high representative in all his tasks. The External Action Service will bring together current resources from the Commission and the Council. Again, this important reform should help in developing a truly coherent global role for the EU and my ministry has already started its internal thinking and preparations for the establishment of this new service . Work on planning and setting up the External Action Service should in our view start at EU-level as soon as possible, after the Reform Treaty has been signed in December. I am looking forward to good cooperation with Hungary in exchanging ideas on how we two see the role and functioning of this service.
As a third reform which will take effect with the Reform Treaty, touching on the external affairs of the EU in the future, comes of course the role of the new President of the European Council. Finland had some reservations about this new post, when we negotiated the Treaty in 2004. We still of course emphasize that the functions and the role of the President of the European Council should not challenge the role of the European Commission or the major elements of the Community Method. However, the future institutional balance will greatly depend also on the persons occupying the posts and the President of the European Council will surely bring more visibility and continuity.
These important reforms and many others that we have agreed will give the EU instruments to conduct its global role. Let me stress that the working of the institutional balance, implementation of the reforms, still requires some thinking and Finland will contribute to this work.
First and foremost, however, the EU is emerging as a real global actor and at the correct moment. Changes under way in international relations call for all the capability that can be generated from the reforms introduced in the new treaty. Above all, the EU needs our firm commitment to advancing our common goals on the world stage. Having a single voice is what the EU needs urgently, but it is also a matter of having a common policy culture. I believe that with the reforms in place, correctly implemented, the EU will develop a genuinely common strategic insight into external affairs. I would like to take up three issues that need more attention from the EU.
First, the EU should now engage in even deeper and closer dialogue with other global actors, especially with Russia, China, India and Brazil. The EU should involve them in cooperation in international forums, on issues such as climate change, energy security, epidemics, and poverty. At the same time we should not forget the growing importance of regions and inter-regional cooperation.
The European Union sees global actors as strategic partners. Promoting the Union's common values and interests in those partnerships is becoming an increasingly demanding task. The EU strategy is to make these partnerships serve the goal of effective multilateralism. This multipolarity must not harm multilateralism.
The importance of Russia as a partner is acknowledged by all in the European Union. Economic and energy relations have intensified. The environment and climate change are pressing issues. Security governance in Europe is back as a priority issue. To establish together with Russia a framework for future EU-Russian relations is a political test that will need political leadership from both sides. The task will be concluded, as it is clearly in the interest of both sides. The framework needs to promote cooperation in both practical issues as well as in the political dialogue on values and principles.
Secondly, strategic partnership with the United States should also be given due relevance, in order to develop policies and innovations to prevent global security threats. An effective strategic dialogue between the EU and the United States is becoming increasingly important, not to mention, as a further political challenge, an effective response to climate change. The EU, NATO and the US are also jointly shouldering their responsibilities in Afghanistan. In Kosovo they will work jointly for a peaceful solution, whilst the Middle East on a wider scale is a continuing priority.
And thirdly, the EU should engage civil society and the private business sector in discussions on global challenges. We need to make the multilateral system work effectively. We need political will and leadership to reform the existing multilateral institutions and at the same time consider whether all the new global issues are sufficiently tackled within these institutions. The EU has to reflect on its own policy of effective multilateralism and enhance cooperation with the emerging countries to find solutions to global problems.
Finland and Hungary as strategic partners
The connecting factor between Finland and Hungary is our EU membership. We have ample opportunities to find connecting factors that could deepen our cooperation into a strategic partnership and make Hungary a key partner in realizing our EU -policies and objectives.
A continuing exchange of ideas and discussion, also in the form of high-level visits, are becoming more important to Hungary and Finland in an enlarging Union. Partnerships are born frequently on the basis of single questions that are of crucial national interest.
I believe Finland has a very good reputation in Hungary and I am extremely happy that Hungary is continuously looking for cooperation with Finland when pursuing common objectives in the EU, in seeking how to implement economic and administrative reforms, and in enhancing competitiveness by strengthening research and development and innovation policy.
Other possible areas for cooperation lie in the sphere of the common internal market, the competitiveness of the EU, the budget reviews of the EU and in supporting the preconditions for Hungary to join the euro zone. We also have good possibilities to look for common positions in the relationship between the EU and Russia as well as in using the expertise of our countries in the Union's external relations, security policy and military and civil crisis management, by taking into account especially our countries' experiences in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Finland and Hungary have a long history of good cooperation. This year is actually the 70th anniversary of our first formal cultural exchange agreement. Our first twin city agreement, between the cities of Lahti and Pecs, is over 50 years old and the Finnish-Hungarian Association has already reached its 57th anniversary. The basis of our cooperation is fit and strong. Now we have to fine-tune this cooperation into a strategic partnership between two equal EU members. I would like to finish with a quotation from a former actor and current successful politician in the USA who said in one of his most successful films: I'll be back! And I am sure I will also be back here to continue discussions to the benefit of both our nations.
Ladies and gentleman,
Thank you for listening and for your interest and I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.
