Browsing by Author "Vuorikivi, Timo"

This master s dissertation examines the policy formation of the Finnish Center Party towards the Nordek plan. Nordek was a common Nordic economic integration plan, negotiated in 1968-1970. The aim of the plan was to solve the problems that the Nordic countries faced in European integration politics by creating an economic union consisting of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. How did the Center Party form its policies towards the Nordek plan? is the leading research question of the dissertation. The answer to the research question is given on the basis of study on relevant archival sources and printed sources. The focus in the source material is placed on the notes of the party s board meetings, the correspondence of the leaders of the party, diaries of important political figures of the era, and on the official documents of the government and the foreign ministry of Finland. The Nordek plan was initiated during a Nordic Council meeting in February 1968. At the time the expansion of the European Economic Area was at a standstill after French president Charles De Gaulle had prevented the membership of Britain in the community for the second time. For Nordic countries Nordek acted as a tool for expanding trade figures without applying for EEC-membership. For Finland in particular Nordek offered a possibility to emphasize the country s neutral status by strengthening its international reputation as a Nordic country and counterbalancing the alignments made with the Soviet Union. Soon after De Gaulle resigned from office in April 1969 Denmark and Norway started to prepare their membership application for the EEC. It seems that for Denmark and Norway Nordek had acted as a bridge to the EEC rather than a genuine Nordic integration project. Nordek offered a possibility to develop trade standards and economic structure closer to that of the EEC. Despise this transition in Nordic integration politics the Nordek negotiations continued. However, referring to their neutral status in international politics, Sweden and Finland started to become hesitant about the membership in Nordek which now had a clear link with the EEC, a organisation considered by the Soviet Union as a strong western economic bloc. In March 1970 the government of Finland announced that it wouldn t sign the already negotiated treaty on extended Nordic economic cooperation. The Finnish government justified the withdrawal from the negotiations by referring to the perplexing political situation in Finland after the parliamentary elections held earlier in March. The Center party s policy formation towards the Nordek plan was based on domestic and foreign political factors. The determinative foreign political factor in the policy formation was the Paasikivi-Kekkonen line, which emphasised the neutral status of Finland. Just as important were the hints and comments from the Soviet leadership suggesting that Finland should withdraw from the Nordek negotiations. The long lasting tradition for supporting Nodic cooperation within the Central Party acted as a counterbalance for the arguments based on the policy of neutrality. Especially the chairman of the party, Johannes Virolainen, supported the further development of Nordic cooperation. The leading factors in the domestic political arguments were the confrontation between the Social Democratic party and the Center party and the difference of opinion among the political leadership of Finland. Based on the sources, the conclusion of the dissertation suggests that the Center Party placed the continuity of the Paasikivi-Kekkonen line as the prior foreign political goal in the parliamentary elections of 1970. The Nordek plan was seen at this point as a conflicting project with the policy of neutrality and was thus considered impossible to execute. However the development of Nordic cooperation was still considered as an important goal within the Center Party and was pursued with other projects.