Less bureaucracy, more tangible partnership

Anne Berner doubles as Minister for Transport and Communications and Minister for Nordic Co-operation – and she’s keen to get started.

“In purely administrative terms, it’s a bit awkward that the Minister for Nordic Co-operation isn’t part of the Foreign Ministry. On the other hand, it allows you to experiment a little within your own ministry, and explore ways in which we could work more closely together,” says Berner, during a break between events at SuomiAreena, a week of political debate.

“When reviewing projects in my ministry, I haven’t noticed a great deal of interest in Nordic co-operation in the transport and communications sector. Rather, the focus is on the EU.” She also identifies one of the reasons for the lack of interest.

“People talk about the lack of anything tangible. They simply don’t know what Nordic co-operation means in practice.”

The minister sees plenty of potential for partnerships in her own area of responsibility, e.g. infrastructure, transport and logistics, shared digital networks and the potential for working together on the development of 5G.

“I will try to interest my colleagues in the other Nordic countries in working more closely together at sectoral level, too.”

However, despite her enthusiasm, the minister also has concerns. “Co-operation is far too complicated and bureaucratic,” she points out.
“To make it more open, outward-looking and interesting, both politically and for business, the third sector and national institutions, we need to ‘de-bureaucratise’ the actual work. Bureaucracy generates introversion, which makes Nordic co-operation less inclusive than it should be. And that’s a problem.”

“Nordic co-operation is highly important for Finland”, the newly appointed minister stresses. “We are constantly extending our partnerships with the Baltic countries, and there’s huge potential there. But language is what makes Nordic co-operation so special,” she says.

“Swedish has been a crucial factor in Finland being part of the Nordic Region and working so well with its neighbours. So it’s important that we don’t cut Swedish classes in schools or in higher education, and that there’s plenty of access to cultural activities in Swedish. But the future of the Swedish language in Finland isn’t just a matter for society and the state. It’s a question of attitudes – each and every one of us has to work on our own and other people’s,” the minister adds.

More tangible co-operation during Presidency

Finland will hold the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2016.

“Both before and during our Presidency, I want us to think about how we can make co-operation more tangible, improve processes and work together even more effectively,” says Anne Berner. “It would be good to rejuvenate co-operation so that it is more widely known and a bigger part of everyday life. I’ve already discussed this with the Prime Minister,” she notes.

“I want everyone in Finland to be proud of the fact that we are part of the Nordic Region. And this should always be the case, not just when the security situation necessitates working more closely together on defence,” the minister underlines. “We should see the Council of Ministers as the basis for more active political partnerships in a wider range of sectors than we do at present. I hope that the current focus on defence and security will infuse other policy areas with new energy. The business and cultural communities have much to gain, too.”

“In Finland, we have a tendency to take Nordic co-operation for granted and not treat it as something in which we need to make any form of investment. But when small and medium-sized enterprises are looking at doing business abroad, for most of them it’s only logical to begin with Sweden – and they need just as much help and support as they would if they were starting with, say, the United States,” the minister says.

“We should concentrate more on the opportunities that the Nordic Region has to offer, and pluck the so-called low-hanging fruit. That would establish real partnerships and create real results faster.”

“Together we are stronger,” stated the ministers for Nordic co-operation in their joint vision in autumn 2014. Berner concurs with her colleagues.

“This could apply in relation to the EU, for example” she says.

“If we think about where in the EU might present opportunities to create a de facto open inner market, the Nordic Region obviously springs to mind.

The EU is currently working on a major package for the digital internal market. If we in the Nordic Region were to agree on a joint model, it would be much easier for us to argue jointly later on for what works, give good advice and come up with proposals for change at European level,” Anne Berner concludes.