Petteri Orpo’s policy speech sparked a fierce debate in Strasbourg – Danish MP: “I am disappointed, sad and angry”

Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo (kok) held the “This is Europe” keynote speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

In this series of speeches, the leaders of the EU member states take turns to present their European line and future visions to the parliament. Former Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin (sd) gave his own policy speech in the fall of 2022.

In his speech, Orpo highlighted continuing to support Ukraine, strengthening the EU’s strategic competitiveness and improving the EU’s overall security.

He also spoke about Finland’s border situation, the easing of regulations and the restoration of state aid rules.

“Europe is falling behind in productivity development. Our standard of living is deteriorating compared to others,” Orpo said.

He also stated that preparing for crises is one of the cornerstones of security. According to him, the EU must be better prepared for increasingly complex crises.

“For this reason, we ask the Commission to draw up and publish the EU’s first preparedness union strategy.”

According to Orpo, the EU must change its climate policy in the upcoming election period and move from “unnecessarily detailed” regulation to promoting innovation.

“We need carrots and incentives, not sticks and bureaucracy.”

Severe criticism of Orpo’s board

Orpo’s speech was met with mixed reactions in the parliament. Chairman of the EPP Group of the European Parliament Manfred Weber praised Orpo and Finland. The EPP is the European umbrella party of the coalition.

“Finland is a European leader in equality, climate policy and education. Maybe it has something to do with guts,” Weber painted.

With the chairman of the parliamentary group of socialists and democrats Go to García Pérezilla there was another sound on the clock. In his speech, he criticized the working life and social security reforms of the Orpo government.

“Dear Mr. Orpo, do you believe that the best way to improve workers’ rights is to weaken social dialogue and limit the right to strike?” García Pérez asked.

The speech of the Greens and the European Free Alliance group was given by meppi Philippe Lamberts was disappointed that Orpo did not talk much about the climate in his speech.

He also stated that although he does not always agree with the chairmen of other groups in the Parliament, he feels that they all share the same understanding of people.

“None of us think that some people are inferior to others. People like us should never ally ourselves with people who in fact (practically) think that some people are worse than others. You did that in Finland,” he said, referring to forming a government with basic Finns.

Co-chairman of the left-wing group, a Danish MP Nikolaj Villumsen stated that he is disappointed, sad and angry that he has to welcome a Nordic prime minister who opposes social rights and the rights of the ay movement.

“The name of this speech series is This is Europe. The Europe you represent, Mr. Orpo, is not the Europe I want. What you are doing is clearly wrong. You are weakening what makes the Nordic welfare state strong. You are trying to make it easier to fire employees.”

Member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group Pirkko Ruohonen-Lehner (ps) pointed out in his speech that there is no far-right party in the government in Finland. This was what García Pérez of the Socialists had implied.

“We have a patriotic government that is doing its best to fix the catastrophic legacy and enormous debt burden left by the previous socialist government.”

The Greens’ German flag Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg said in his speech that Finland’s forests have become a source of climate emissions instead of carbon sinks.

“I ask you, what is your plan to improve the condition of Finland’s forests? When will the large-scale clearing of Finnish forests finally be stopped?”

Great European debate

After his speech, Orpo told reporters that it was great to be representing Finland and talking about the government’s European vision.

“A great, very European debate, flavored with a domestic debate,” characterized Orpo.

He stated that the discussion was in the same direction as in the Finnish parliament.

In your speech, you brought up the establishment of a contingency union. What could it concretely mean?

“That would mean bringing Finland’s extensive security model to the European level. We can be proud of Finnish preparedness. The whole society is prepared for all kinds of crises,” Orpo answered.

He stated that when Europe is better prepared for crises together, each country does not have to do everything by itself.

According to Orpo, the idea has been well received. He has discussed the matter with the chairman of the commission Ursula von der Leyenin and with several principals.

According to the government program, the EU budget should not be increased and completely new financial instruments at the EU level are not needed. The exception to this is supporting Ukraine, which is supported by the government.

In Europe, the idea of ​​a common defense fund, the size of which could be managed by the Internal Market Commissioner, has been in the air recently Thierry Bretonin by to be 100 billion euros.

How would Finland react to a proposal for such a fund, if one were to come up?

“Finland is very critical of the joint debt. At the same time, we believe that Ukraine must be supported. The government is serious about the fact that we must be able to raise the European defense industry at a fast pace. We don’t have time to wait, because the Russian threat is real,” Orpo stated.

He said that funding is needed for this.

“We need to think carefully about what kind of financing models could be used.”

According to Orpo, the government has proposed that the lending rules of the European Investment Bank should be changed in a direction where the bank could finance investments in the defense industry.