http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010503IE5&pvm=20010503

Foreign - Thursday 3.5.2001

Finnish Prime Minister calls for serious discussion on EU future

Lipponen comments on Schröder initiative during visit to Czech Republic

Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen has welcomed an initiative on the European Union made by the German Social Democrats on Monday as a very important boost to discussion on the future of Europe.

"The statement is so important that now at the latest, it would be a good idea to take the EU debate on the future seriously", Lipponen said in Prague where he arrived for an official visit on Wednesday.

"Thoughts such as ‘this (the future debate) has nothing to do with us' belong mainly to the dark past of Europe. This is a reality for us as well."

The statement, drafted by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder calls for greater powers for the European Commission and for turning the Council of Ministers into a second chamber of the European Parliament. Currently the Council of Ministers makes al of the most important decisions of the EU.

The SPD draft calls for a "powerful executive body" of the kind that is usually called a government.

As Prime Minister Lipponen sees it, the body would not be a government in the sense of the governments of the member states. However, although he would not give any detailed comments on Schröder's proposals, he does seem to be in favour of strengthening the position of the Commission.

Lipponen is on record as supporting a strong Commission, as he sees that this would be in the interests of small EU member states. As he sees it, when decisions are made between governments, it is easy for large member states to roll over the small ones.

Lipponen also said that the views of the German Social Democrats are important, and not only because the party is currently in the German Government; he pointed out that very similar thoughts prevail within Germany's opposition.

German politicians have been very active in presenting visions concerning the future of Europe. Lipponen does not see this as a desire to become a leader of the EU.

"The largest member country is taking responsibility for the debate. The key issue is that Germany is choosing Europe."

European affairs are at the top of the agenda during Lipponen's visit to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which began on Wednesday.

On Thursday Lipponen is meeting with the two strong men of Czech politics: the Social Democratic Prime Minister Milos Zeman and the leader of the conservative ODS party, Parliamentary Speaker Vaclav Klaus.

In the evening Lipponen will move on to Brno, the second largest city of the Czech Republic, and from there he moves on to the Slovak capital Bratislava.

The issue of joining the European Union is heating up the closer the moment of truth comes. The Czech Republic is expected to get into the EU in the next round of enlargement. In practice, this means the year 2004 at the earliest.

From the Czech point of view the EU enlargement debate has acquired a new and somewhat irritating characteristic recently. Demands by Western European countries, and especially Germany for restrictions on the free movement of labour are poison to Czech politicians.

The EU is considering a number of different models for restricting access of citizens of Poland and the Czech Republic to the more prosperous EU countries. In the background is the fear of a flood of cheap labour onto the EU labour market once members of the former socialist block are allowed in.

Most of the models under consideration call for a seven-year transition period before the free movement of labour can be implemented. This is seen as far too long for the Czechs, who see the idea as a kind of second-class membership and an affront to their national dignity.

On the other hand, the Czech Republic has to work hard before it can afford to make any big demands to the EU.

In the early 1990s the Czech Republic was still seen as the undisputed star of the former socialist block. At the end of the decade, economic growth declined, and was even negative for a couple of years.

The privatisation process in telecommunications has also been experiencing difficulties. The country was shocked last autumn when an EU report on progress made by the applicant countries put the Czech Republic behind Poland in terms of health of the market economy.

The most acute problem in the country's foreign relations is the recently completed Temelin nuclear power plant, which is hurting relations mainly with its neighbour Austria.

The Austrians do not see the plant as a safe one, and would prefer the new facility to be shut down immediately.

Prime Minister Lipponen will return to Finland on Friday evening.

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