“The Centre Group wants the Nordic Council to play a relevant role in the EU, acting as an engine to promote matters of joint Nordic importance in EU contexts,” says Bente Dahl, who chairs the Group.

A 2009 Centre Group report about co-operation on EU issues ”Together or apart” generated a great deal of debate. It proposed working more closely together with the European Parliament, placing greater emphasis on EU questions at meetings of Nordic ministers and following up more closely on EU matters. The Group would now like to take its EU commitment a step further by drafting tangible proposals. Dahl mentioned the Environment Committee’s seminar on reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, which involved both the European Parliament and the Nordic Council, as a prime example of the type of initiative envisaged by the group.

“The balloon we sent up with our EU report needs to be kept afloat. What is needed, first and foremost, is a change in thinking. The Nordic Council must no longer be considered something separate from co-operation between the Nordic countries on EU issues. The changes may not be possible without amending the Nordic treaties,” said Dahl, a Danish Radical MP.

Several members of the Centre Group have previously intimated that the time is ripe to revamp the Helsinki Treaty, e.g. to pave the way for closer Nordic co-operation on EU work. The Swedish Delegation to the Nordic Council has now presented a proposal to that effect, a proposal the Centre Group welcomes with open arms.

“We would like to contribute with tangible proposals about how to implement change,” Dahl says.

The Centre Group was meeting in conjunction with the Nordic Council meetings in Copenhagen, 26-27 January.

Terhi Tikkala
Phone +358 9 432 2559
Email terhi.tikkala@eduskunta.fi