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Finland Western Europe
Finland had to adjust its foreign policy after World
War II
to the changed international environment; however, it
continued
to enjoy good relations with West European countries,
particularly in the field of economic cooperation. The
country
joined economic projects such as GATT and the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF--see Glossary),
but, wary of arousing Soviet
apprehensions about potential political ties to the West,
did not
seek membership in the Organisation for European Economic
Co-operation (OEEC). Through a clever device, however,
Finland did
manage to participate in the trade benefits provided by
the
OEEC's European Payments Union: in 1957 Finland formed its
own
body, the Helsinki Club, which was subsequently joined by
all
OEEC countries. In 1961, for imperative economic reasons,
Finland
worked out a special relationship with EFTA after complex
negotiations. Finland's relationship, an associate
membership in
the body, became feasible after the Soviet Union agreed
that it
was compatible with the Finnish policy of neutrality and
after
tariff arrangements ensured the continuity of
Finnish-Soviet
economic cooperation. A more stable world meant that in
1969
Finland was able to join the OEEC's successor, the
Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 1973
Helsinki, in a balancing effort, signed agreements with
both the
EEC and Comecon and was given a special status with both
organizations.
Another subtle act of diplomatic balancing was Finnish
treatment of the thorny question of what kind of relations
it
should have with the two German states. To recognize
either would
antagonize one of the superpowers. The Finnish solution
was to
establish two separate trade missions, one in each of the
Germanies. This arrangement allowed diplomatic relations
and
alienated no one. Once the two German states recognized
each
other in 1972, Finland was able to establish normal
diplomatic
relations with each of them.
The years since the early 1970s have seen a steady
normalization of Finland's relations with Western Europe.
In the
1980s, Finnish trade with the region accounted for about
60
percent of its exports; the country participated in
European
economic and research endeavors like Eureka and the
European
Space Agency (ESA); and 1986 saw full Finnish membership
in EFTA.
In addition, by the end of 1988 all obstacles appeared
cleared
for Finland's membership in the
Council of Europe (see Glossary)
the following year.
The increasing integration of the EC, however,
presented
problems for Finland and for EFTA's other neutral states.
The
supranational character of the EC, which was always
incompatible
with Finnish neutrality, became even more so with the
signing in
1985 of the EC's Single European Act. The act aimed at
foreign
policy cooperation among members, and it therefore made
Finnish
membership in the EC inconceivable. Exclusion from the EC,
however, could threaten Finland's export-based economy if
the
"internal market" that the EC hoped to have in place by
1992 led
to trade barriers directed against nations outside the
Community.
The late 1980s and the early 1990s were certain to be a
time of
intensive Finnish dicussion on how this challenge was to
be met.
Data as of December 1988
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