At the EU level, the most important lobbyists are the member states themselves. The most active member states mould EU legislation before regulation even begins to properly take shape. This is why Finland must not hover on the sidelines but instead try to influence the Commission’s decisions substantially and proactively.
Finland’s EU decision-making is highly democratic. Our ministers attend to their mandate conscientiously and seek backup from the Finnish Parliament for their EU ministerial meetings. While it is important to cultivate parliamentarianism, in practice this approach leads to us mostly just reacting to Commission proposals.
It would be much more useful to be proactive rather than reactive, as influencing yields the best results when ideas are just being hatched. It is at this early stage that Finland should be boldly underlining our national specificities. As long as we let our lack of confidence hold us back, we will remain in the spectator seats.
Nobody understands the best interests of Finland better than Finns. The harsh truth is that if we will not push our case, nobody will. The Finnish financial sector has often had to pay dearly for poorly prepared regulation. The regulation crafted in the EU applies not just to the Finnish financial sector, but also to the Dutch, Bulgarian and Italian financial sectors. It is no wonder that we are sometimes left puzzled by regulation that seems illogical and ill-suited from the Finnish perspective.
Finland must actively ensure that the functioning of the single market improves and that the member states have a level playing field. A flood of excessive and poorly planned regulation is threatening to wash away private sector and household investments and water down the transition to carbon neutrality. This is the opposite of what we need: regulation must support growth, not shackle it.
Still have questions?
|Contact the columnist
Looking for more?
Other articles on the topic
You can’t get what you don’t ask for – Finland must step up and push our case at the European Commission
Finance Finland’s CEO Arno Ahosniemi pleased with the number of Finnish MEPs elected to the ECON Committee
It’s better to ask than go astray, but too much information can paralyse investors
Saving is on a strong rise in the EU – why is Finland pushing the brakes?
