Nicotine bags, cars and alcohol – Is EU membership still incomplete for us?

Finland joined the European Union in 1995. Next year it will be 30 years. I have a strong feeling that this is still not fully accepted in all Finnish ministries. On the other hand, at the same time, miracles are being done in the Ministry of Defense.

EU citizens can live, travel, work, spend their retirement days and shop freely in the EU area. The EU ensures the free movement of goods, services, capital and people without visas in the internal market. By removing technical, legal and bureaucratic barriers, the EU makes it possible to trade freely. This should be a great opportunity for Finland, Finns and Finnish companies.

If we look at Finland, we notice that we have several things that politicians and officials consider outside of the EU. Such things include, for example, cars, nicotine pouches, alcohol and betting.

Would support for the EU be stronger among citizens if they had been offered all the good sides of the EU already 30 years ago? Would there be more companies in Finland if the state did not try to limit the purpose of the EU in certain sectors?

DCA was born quickly

The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Finland and the United States entered into force on September 1, 2024. There was no public debate about the agreement, and no politician or official tried to block it.

In the last decade, intelligence laws were hammered out for more than six years, while each fundamental right was carefully weighed. The DCA agreement was approved in just over a year. Under the agreement, American planes and ships can operate in Finnish airspace and territorial waters as if they were at home, and no Finnish authority is allowed to set foot on them. The DCA agreement wipes the table with our intelligence laws.

I don’t know how it feels to be Finland’s intelligence commissioner when the Ministry of Defense drilled such a hole in our intelligence legislation. Do I think this is wrong? Not really, because our common security requires action, not bureaucracy.

It is absolutely incredible that we joined NATO and signed the DCA in a few years without public debate or much opposition. On the other hand, we joined the EU almost 30 years ago, and we still have parties that seek to undermine our EU membership.

The planned economy has not disappeared

Total security is about more than guns. It is the well-being and prosperity brought by competition, which help us survive even difficult times and with which we acquire weapons.

Finland has had all the tools of the internal market and the competition rulebook in use for almost 30 years. Despite this, the ministries and some of the legislators want to keep Finnish business activity in the potato cellars of the bipolar world, waiting for the government’s permission to make a wood-flavored pusska or sell a bottle of artisanal beer.

The planned economy has not disappeared from Finland, even though our eastern neighbor has not demanded it from us for 33 years. Could we finally join the European Union once and for all?

The author is a lawyer and a partner of the law firm Dottir.