Summary:
At the moment there are bilaterial, trilateral and multilateral defence collaboration projects in Europe. This has an impact on Finland due to the more difficult security policy situation in the Baltic Sea region.

Ilkka Kanerva, Chair of the Finnish Parliament’s Defence Committee, told Verkkouutiset that Finland should not be too enthusiastic about defence issues. Finland needs to make its own decisions based on its own views, he added.

According to Mr Kanerva, it is very difficult to decide which defence collaboration projects would be Finland’s priorities. He emphasised that Finland systematically improves its defence ability and starts new collaboration projects with partners.

Summary:
The number of Finns supporting Finland’s Nato membership is declining, shows a survey by the Advisory Board For Defence Information (ABDI). 22% of the respondents said they see Nato membership positively. It seems that the EU crises have not affected Finns’ trust in the Union’s future: 58% say their trust in EU’s future has not changed. Furthermore, Finns’ trust in the EU as a security institution has slightly grown. Issues that concern Finns the most include the refugee crisis, international terrorism and climate change. The most important threat that Finland should be prepared for in the next decade is terrorism in Finland, the respondents found.

Summary:
Verkkouutiset writes that according to Finland’s Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo, worries over the weakened security situation in Europe and the US demands of more fair burden sharing have made it clear that Europe must take responsibility for its own defence. Orpo says that tightening the European defence cooperation is the long-term goal of Finland in the EU. However, the EU will not become a defence union. Nato and EU will be complementary structures, and tightening EU cooperation does not contradict Nato. For Finland, both cooperating with Nato and developing EU defence is very important.

Summary:
Helsingin Sanomat writes that according to the Prime Minister of Finland Juha Sipilä, Finland is actively influencing the development of the EU and Finland’s middle-way approach towards EU integration has become the dominant view within the EU. Finland is willing to deepen integration quickly in some issues, while in other issues it is more reluctant. The government is excited about the development of EU defence cooperation, but Finland does not want to deepen the integration in the financial union too much. Sipilä rejects increasing the common responsibility within the monetary union. The integration must also be kept uniform.

Summary:
Aamulehti reports that the discussion of the Finnish Presidential candidates discussed issues of EU defence among other things. MEP Nils Torvalds finds that during a difficult crisis the EU common defence does not work. President of Finland Sauli Niinistö sees progress in common defence and says that the EU is more efficient in case of hybrid threats and intelligence issues. MEP Merja Kyllönen reminds that the EU’s rapid response troops never got in motion.

Media:  Aamulehti (E-edition, PDF)
Date: 14.11.2017
Journalist: Hannamari Ahonen
Main source: n/a

Summary:
Finland has been elected in Unesco’s executive board, which has a total of 58 members. Finland’s term in the board continues until 2021. Minister of Education Sanni Grahn-Laasonen found that the result was a recognition to Finland’s strong knowhow in educational and world heritage issues. Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini was also satisfied. According to Mr Soini, Finland now has a good seat in an organisation which carries out important work to prevent radicalisation.

Media:  Karjalainen
Date: 9.11.2017
Journalist: STT
Main source: –

Summary:
Talouselämä writes that Finland’s Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo assures that EU is doing all it can to root out tax evasion. He says that several tax proposals aiming to eradicate tax evasions are under work in the EU. There are several proposals being processed in the EU which are aimed to block aggressive tax planning measures and remove loopholes in taxation. Finland is not excited by a separate European solution, and Orpo stressed importance of global cooperation. EU Ministers of Finance will discuss financial supervision today. Finland is opposed to almost all measures proposed by the Commission.

Summary:
Chairman Juha Marttila of MTK, says that EU needs more information on Nordic forestry. Common EU forest policy could contribute to this, or increase regulations. Until now, MTK and Finland have not wanted EU to have a common forest policy, but now EU seems to bring regulations to forestry through climate policy, Mr Marttila says. The problem is that decisions, which also affect forests, are prepared without forest experts. EU’s institutions do not know the sustainable forestry of Nordic countries. Mr Marttila particularly hopes that the EU would understand the significance of sustainable logging, Maaseudun Tulevaisuus reports.