Finnish expert urges Iceland to prepare seriously for EU talks

Finnish agriculture and European affairs expert Esa Härmälä has urged Iceland to prepare thoroughly and negotiate seriously if it decides to reopen membership talks with the European Union. He made the remarks at a conference organised by the Farmers Association of Iceland, according to mbl.is.

“If you decide to negotiate, be well prepared and negotiate seriously,” Härmälä said. “If your country does not negotiate seriously, the EU will not take its possibilities for flexibility seriously. It is as simple as that.”

Härmälä discussed Finland’s experience of EU membership negotiations, particularly the talks on agriculture, ahead of Iceland’s referendum on whether to resume membership negotiations with the bloc.

He played a key role in Finland’s negotiations and was one of the main architects of the country’s northern support for agriculture. He said the agricultural sector had been in an extremely difficult position when the process began.

“From the very beginning, it seemed impossible to find a positive solution for agriculture. It was clear that Finland did not apply for membership because of agriculture and its interests, but in spite of them,” he said.

Härmälä said farmers could not decide whether Finland would join the EU. The rest of the population would make that decision, he said, and joining without adequate preparation would have had devastating consequences for agriculture.

30,000 pages of legislation

He placed strong emphasis on the scale of the preparations. Finland’s agriculture ministry, which had previously been one of the country’s most nationally focused and least international ministries, suddenly found itself at the forefront of international negotiations.

“We had to go through 30,000 pages of EU agricultural legislation. At the time, large parts of it were available only in French,” Härmälä said, stressing that this was something Icelanders needed to consider carefully.

Opponents took part in preparations

Härmälä said it was particularly important that people who opposed membership had fully participated in preparing the negotiations and setting their objectives.

The Farmers Association considered it too risky to leave the process solely to the government, he said. This created broad cooperation and allowed resources to be combined.

“We are a small country with limited resources, but those resources could be brought together,” he said.

Talks were not between equals

Härmälä also warned that negotiations with the EU were not talks between equal parties. He recalled how Finland was reminded during difficult moments which side was seeking membership.

“Excuse me, do you really think that the European Union wants to join Iceland?” Härmälä said the attitude could be. A new applicant to the club would have to accept its rules, he said.

At times, Finland managed to reach compromises with representatives of the European Commission. Those compromises were later rejected by others within the Commission or by member states, he said.

Agriculture was decisive

Härmälä said agriculture was one of the most difficult issues in Finland’s membership negotiations, and an agreement was not reached until the final stages in 1994.

The outcome included what was known as Nordic support.