(Translation)
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC MARTTI
AHTISAARI
AT A SEMINAR MARKING
THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAPLAND
PROVINCIAL STATE OFFICE IN ROVANIEMI
ON 5.10.1998
The Nordic Dimension - Tomorrows Challenge or Todays
Opportunity?
For six decades, the Lapland Provincial State Office has borne
responsibility for meeting the needs of this province and of its
inhabitants in challenging circumstances that have included harsh
natural conditions, a large geographical area, the destruction of
war and the flight from the land in the 1970s. The richly-varied
nature of Lapland and the spaciousness of life here are likewise
a unique wealth. Lapland is known in the world as a strongly
distinctive and fascinating region.
Lapland became a province in its own right only in 1938. When a
restructuring of the provincial system was being debated
recently, it was considered natural that the Province of Lapland
would be retained, and indeed it was. Development efforts in the
regions are organised under the umbrella of Regional Councils
comprising representatives of the municipalities in each region.
Lapland has its own Employment and Economic Development Centre.
Decision making has been decentralised to the regions and the
position of Sami cultural autonomy and of the Sami language has
been strengthened. The state authorities have put their trust in
local expertise where decision making is concerned. Thus the
future is now in the hands of Laplands own people to a
greater degree that it has been in the past
The reform of regional administration made the Provincial State
Office a stronger, more capable, modern regional authority. Its
special strength is the diversity of its expertise, because it
has been entrusted with the regional tasks of seven sectors of
administration. Provincial State Offices, court districts and
municipalities form an efficient public services network, within
which the new task of the Provincial State Offices is envisaged
as being to assess the availability and quality in their
respective territories of the basic services that come within
their remit. In accordance with the Governments
decision-in-principle on administrative policy, devolution of
responsibilities to the regions is continuing. In my perception,
the restructured Provincial State Offices will be capable of
accepting the new tasks transferred to them from the central
administration.
How sustainable the new system of provincial administration is
and what the future of the Provincial State Offices will be are
still the subjects of a public discourse. And indeed they should
be. My view is, however, that the Provincial State Offices are
now part of the regional administrative structure of the country
and that they are performing tasks that will continue to require
the State to maintain a regional organisation.
It has given me pleasure to note on my trips to Lapland that the
people of this province are vigorously responding to the
challenges that membership of the European Union and
internationalisation are bringing. When drafting development
plans for its own territory Lapland has very effectively made use
of its location at the core of an Arctic region spanning four
sovereign states. Although unemployment remains at far too high a
level, you have done a lot of work to create new jobs. And in
this work you have also achieved good results. Without
independent work and initiative there can be no success.
The limiting effect of distance is diminishing. Modern technology
makes it possible to maintain real-time contact with anywhere in
the world. Geographical location is no longer a primary
consideration from the perspective of a manufacturer of advanced
technology products. By contrast, the availability of a competent
labour force and the possibility of training one can be a quite
decisive success factor.
Education and competence are, in fact, important - if not among
the most important - success factors that Lapland possesses. The
establishment of the University of Lapland was a milestone in the
development of the province. A seat of higher learning radiates
know-how into every part of its environment. A university
strengthens the role of its location as a regional growth centre.
Now, under new legislation, universities and other third-level
institutions hold the keys to their own and their regions
success more firmly in their hands than they have done in the
past. Also the University of Lapland must avail itself of those
keys. The key to northern Finlands success lies in using
its own strengths rather than relying on external help
The province of Lapland and its inhabitants have undergone many
trials and tribulations in the course of the past six decades,
but especially during the fighting here in 1944-45. The war swept
totally across Lapland. This experience is a concrete
demonstration of the importance of peace, stable conditions and
good cooperation. Through the combined strength of four
neighbouring states, the entire region can be efficiently
developed. Good examples of the potential of cross-border
regional cooperation are being created here.
The people of Lapland attach great value to the security,
stability and peaceful development that has been characteristic
of our international position for over fifty years now. Both
threats and opportunities are always inherent in development. We
must deal with the threats and avail ourselves carefully of the
opportunities. The Northern Dimension - an initiative presented
by Finland in the EU - converts this endeavour into a functioning
totality of actions.
The initiative elevates northern regions to a position of
prominence in decision making within the European Union. The EU
now examines the entire northern region as a coherent entity.
Last December, the European Council asked the Commission to draft
a report on the Northern Dimension in time for it to be presented
to the Council at its meeting in December this year. We hope the
Council will decide to request preparation of a concrete action
plan.
Merely drawing attention to them is not in itself sufficient to
make a policy in northern regions. The ultimate goal that the
Northern Dimension is intended to achieve is the development of
cooperation in relation to European stability and security, the
fundamental values that Europeans share - such as human rights,
democracy, the rule of law and a market economy - as well as in
efforts to promote prosperity, employment, trade and economic
development. Naturally, all this must be achieved in an
economically, ecologically and socially sustainable manner. This
goal also includes narrowing standard-of-living gaps, solving the
problems of regions adjacent to Finland and preventing those
problems from worsening to the point where they give rise to
crises.
In Murmansk in October 1987 General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev
of the Soviet Communist Party proposed the commencement of
environmental cooperation in Arctic regions. The proposal was a
significant opening for new cooperation. Until then, the Arctic
regions had been mainly theatres of the Cold War.
It was on a Finnish initiative that the Arctic environmental
cooperation known as the Rovaniemi Process began. It was the
first form of inter-governmental Arctic cooperation and involved
eight states: the Nordic countries, Russia, Canada and the USA.
Today, this cooperation together with sustainable development
forms the remit of the Arctic Council, which was founded in
Ottawa in 1996. Our knowledge of the state of the Arctic
environment is nowadays in a completely different category
compared with what we knew ten years ago.
The form of Arctic cooperation with which the Finns are most
familiar - the Barents Euro-Arctic Council - came into being with
the Kirkenes Declaration in January 1993. The history of
interaction between the peoples of the northern region was
centuries-old even then. Cooperation in the Barents Sea area
sprang from these long roots when the Russians became partners in
the traditional North Calotte cooperation. The EU Commission was
a participant in Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation from the very
beginning. With the accession of Finland and Sweden, the coverage
of the EUs own programmes was likewise extended into the
Barents Sea region.
In the short period of only five years since it began and despite
the difficulties encountered in the initial period, Barents
cooperation has already demonstrated its vitality.
The Northern Dimension of the EU was strengthened when Finland
and Sweden joined. Now, the territory of the Union extends across
the Baltic and to within the Arctic Circle. The Union has a
common border, over 1,300 kilometres long, with Russia and has
become an important actor in northern regions. The ongoing
enlargement process further underscores the importance of the
Northern Dimension in the Unions external relations.
Russias centre of gravity has shifted towards the European
heartland. The Russian Federation is more dependent on foreign
trade and geographically a more northern state than the Soviet
Union was. The EUs share of Russias foreign trade is
already over 40 per cent. In addition to that, the Union is the
biggest provider of economic aid to Russia. The Baltic Sea has
become Russias main artery of trade. Economic
interdependence has increased in northern Europe. EU enlargement
will increase interaction between the Union and Russia.
Northern Europe is endowed with considerable natural riches.
Globally significant reserves of oil and gas lie under the
Barents and Kara seas. The EU depends on outside sources of
energy. Thus an opportunity to gain mutual benefits exists. This
emphasises the importance of north-west Russia over the long
term. The EU is already the biggest buyer of Russian energy and
raw materials.
The northern regions contain abundant mineral deposits and
possibilities of exploiting them are being examined. The Kola
Peninsula is exceptionally rich in minerals. It also has
processing plants that use very old technology and badly pollute
the environment. Modernising them would be in the interests of
everyone involved. One project that has been in the pipeline for
a long time is the nickel mine in Petsamo.
The forest reserves in the European part of Russia are 6 - 7
billion cubic metres, a third of the European total. Management
of northern forests in accordance with principles of
sustainability is essential, and would also create new
opportunities for exploiting them.
Within the Nordic Dimension framework, with the EU examining the
entire North as a single entity, the Unions relationship
with Russia will be central.
The Nordic Dimension is not a regional initiative. It places no
limit on the number of states that can participate in it. The
initiative highlights the advantages of developing the northern
regions of Europe and the importance of cooperation for all of
the Unions work.
The initiative is not based on new structures. Existing forms of
cooperation can be used as appropriate
instruments. The Union was a well-functioning Baltic Sea
programme, which should be developed in such a way that it takes
adequate account of the long-term interests of an enlarging Union
in the Baltic Sea region. It lies in the interests of the Union
to add effectiveness to its Barents Sea cooperation and other
activities in Arctic regions. Bilateral cooperation programmes
and pan-Nordic cooperation between adjacent regions on both sides
of borders are important concrete inputs within the framework of
the Northern Dimension.
Hundreds of projects have been financed within the
framework of cooperation between adjacent areas of Finland and
Russia. Funding for projects in Russia has also been provided
under European Union programmes.
The initiative will increase the efficiency with which existing
resources are used and enable them to be focused with greater
precision. The potential that the Northern Dimension offers can
be allowed for in revising the Tacis Decree. Developing the
EUs funding instruments and cooperation between
international and Nordic financial institutions has a central
position in this context.
The Russian economy is in great difficulties at the moment.
Nevertheless the need and opportunity to develop cooperation
remains. Finding a common way of thinking and operational policy
for Europe and Russia will increase Russias prospects of
reforming her economy. The interdependence of the economies in
the Baltic Sea region is obvious to us.
The Northern Dimension idea can not live unless it is felt in the
everyday life of the ordinary person. A central goal is to
guarantee the safety of citizens. This has to do with countering
crime and environmental threats, but above all it means security
in the social sense. It must extend not only to cooperation
between the business world and the administrative sector, but
also to the level of civic organisations and the individual.
Agreements between states do not have the desired effect unless
they are based on the aspirations and wishes of citizens.
The North Calotte is a natural entity which international
frontiers divide. For that reason one of the great resources on
which cooperation in the North is based, social interaction, has
always taken place across the borderlines between states. The
strongest foundation underlying contacts and cooperation across
the borders between the various parts of the North Calotte has
always been a commonality of interests.
A policy for the North should be founded on northern solutions.
It must spring from the Norths own circumstances and
strengths. It can be implementation of the finest values and
goals of democracy. Interaction between EU citizens and Russians
is useful also for other reasons than those relating to economic
prosperity. Cooperation increases the stability and security of
the region; it creates a better future.
The Northern Dimension is a goal for tomorrow, one that will be
realised when we grasp todays opportunities. I extend my
warmest greetings and wishes for success to the Lapland
Provincial State Office and all of the people of Lapland.