EUROPEAN UNION: GIVING THE SMALLER COUNTRIES A VOICE.

Summary:When Finland takes over the Presidency, on July 1, one of the key concerns will be allowing the smaller Member States to have their say in European Union affairs. Unveiling his country's priorities for the next six months, the Finnish Prime Minister, Paavo Lipponen, said on June 24 that Europe is not being built solely for the benefit of the larger countries. All Europeans are equal, he said. This Finnish call for the smaller countries to be allowed a bigger presence on the European stage comes at an appropriate time, given that this northern Member State will be in charge of preparing for an Inter-Government Conference (IGC) seeking to initiate an institutional reform. This overhaul is likely to cause much soul-searching among the smaller nations. Taking over the Presidency for the first time since it joined the EU, in 1995, Finland also wants to step up the EU's economic and foreign policy roles. The introduction of the Euro over six months ago and the advent of the Amsterdam Treaty are looked upon as fortuitous events that will help the EU strengthen these roles. This enhancement of the EU's international profile is to be brought up to strength on the domestic front by the Presidency's aim of making a great deal more progress with justice/home affairs issues, particularly in the countdown to the EU Summit in Tampere, on October 15/16.

The preparations - at least determining the subject and launch date - for the next IGC designed to amend the Amsterdam Treaty represent one of the Finnish Presidency's main tasks.. The IGC is due to strengthen the decision-making process within the EU but not in smaller, more or less informal circles. "Decisions have to be taken jointly sitting around a table and not externally", warned Mr Lipponen. Finland fears that with the increased number Member States, one or two large countries could form a "management board" for the purpose of conducting EU affairs. The decisions at the EU Summit in Cologne to appoint Javier Solana to be the future General Secretary of the Council of Ministers and the representative of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, and to appoint Pierre de Boissieu as Assistant General Secretary have been cited by Finnish officials as examples of the type of things that disturb the smaller countries. They did not really take part in the decision-making, even though these decisions were presented to the outside world as non-confrontational in the EU Summit conclusions reached...