- Parliament to consider €750bn package this autumn.
- Finland, whose economy has so far weathered the storm better than most in the EU, is responsible for 6.6 billion euros of the grants.
- The recovery package is once again changing the perception of the treaties that exist so far intended to prevent joint borrowing by the Union.
Citizens’ initiative demanding referendum on EU stimulus gains enough signatures to proceed to Parliament
The petition, launched by the Finns Party’s youth wing, has collected over 50,000 names.
https://www.kansalaisaloite.fi/fi/aloite/7224
A citizens’ initiative calling for a national referendum on last summer’s EU stimulus package has garnered enough signatures to send it to by Parliament.
The petition, launched by the youth group of the opposition Finns Party, reached 50,000 signatories late on Saturday evening.
Since 2012, any citizens’ initiative that collects at least 50,000 certified signatures from Finnish citizens must be considered by the legislature.
The Finns Party has been sharply critical of the government’s approval of the EU stimulus package in July. The deal is aimed at helping member states’ economies recover from the corona crisis.
The initiative gathered the necessary names in just five days, as it was launched on Tuesday. It remains open for signatures for six months, until late March.
While the petition acknowledges that the recovery fund is justified due to the economic collapse, it argues that its “effects reach significantly further and more broadly than warranted by the corona crisis,” adding that the package is a “highly significant entity from a national standpoint, whose economic and societal impacts require broad approval from the people.”
Parliament to consider €750bn package this autumn
The 750-billion-euro package will be financed by the European Commission taking out loans on the financial market. The package consists of 390 billion euros in outright grants and 360 billion in loans, to be made available early next year. The Finnish government had argued that a larger share should be loans rather than grants to the countries worst hit by the pandemic.
Finland, whose economy has so far weathered the storm better than most in the EU, is responsible for 6.6 billion euros of the grants. Meanwhile the country is expected to receive some billion euros in support. Altogether Finland’s total liabilities for the package total about 13 billion euros, including loan guarantees.
The package must still be approved by all EU countries' parliaments.
The Finnish government is expected to present the package to Parliament this autumn. The Finns Party, the second largest group in the legislature, says it will try to block approval of the plan.
Only two initiatives approved so far
So far 36 citizens' initiatives have gained enough certified signatures to move to Parliament, but so far only two have led to new laws: legal recognition of same-sex marriage, which took effect in 2017 after gathering a record 166,851 names, and the Maternity Act, which became law a year later, ensuring that both women in a same-sex couple are legally recognised as mothers from the moment of a child's birth.
Fifty thousand people is equivalent to about 1.2 percent of eligible voters.
Eleven initiatives are still under consideration by the legislature.
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Information on the citizens' initiative
Title of the citizens' initiative: Hold a referendum on the EU recovery package
Date of initiative: 9/22/2020Form of the initiative: Legislative proposal
Content of the initiative
In July 2020, the European Council reached an agreement with the EU
recovery package of EUR 750 billion.
Finland the government's line at the meeting was represented by Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Finland's participation legality still requires parliamentary consideration and approval.
The need for a recovery package has been justified as a remedy for the economic clotting caused by the corona as an emergency solution.
However, the effects of the recovery package extend far beyond the corona crisis
longer and wider than required. The recovery package is well from a national perspective significant entity required by its economic and social impact
widespread popular acceptance. Therefore, the citizens' initiative proposes that the recovery package referendum must be held on the whole.
Reasoning
If the decision on Finland's participation in the recovery package is confirmed, the current one will be confirmed by a majority of the government, will at the same time be limited by numerous the importance of the forthcoming elections in Finland. Many future governments would be bound to the conditions set by the proposed aid package. Citizens will therefore not have a chance with the help of future voting decisions and election results to change the direction of Finland, if the current one
the government arbitrarily decides on Finland's accession to the recovery package.
There was no information on either the corona crisis or the subsequent recovery package during the 2019 parliamentary elections, the outcome of which is justified by the current government was formed. Therefore, it would be of paramount importance for Finnish democracy, that such a significant decision on the direction of Finland and the EU will not be made without empowerment of citizens.
By holding a referendum on the issue also current the government would be given a clear mandate to include Finland's decision in the recovery package
participation could be made with respect for democracy.
The economic effects of the recovery package for Finland will be significant.
Only estimates of Finland's final contributions can be presented, but it is clear
is that Finland will be a net contributor. Finland's overall responsibilities are planned
to € 13 billion, including both loans and direct grants
shares. With regard to income transfers to Finland distributed only as direct grants, there is net loss of EUR 3.4 billion. The repayment of the loans, in turn, is expected
stretching up to 2058.
The large size of the recovery instrument and the associated uncertainty are thus reflected in dozens of future ones state budgets, so it is clear that it has significant restrictive effects domestic policy and Finnish public finances now and in the future.
What makes the multi-billion package particularly significant is the fact that the public finances are in the midst of huge sustainability problems and are facing record budget deficits brought about by the interest rate crisis.
Income transfers to EU member states and a recovery package uncertainties related to repayment can be identified as jeopardizing public finances
future space and thus the well-being of citizens.
In the autumn of 1994, a consultative referendum was held in Finland
As a result, Finland joined the European Union at the beginning of 1995. The European Union is has undergone many changes since the decision to join and that referendum. The new Member States and the decision of the British people to leave the EU have helped to change the structure of the Union.
In addition, the EU treaties on the basis of which Finns voted for EU membership have faced as a result of crises and integration developments applicable interpretations that should not have been awaited in the 1994 referendum
by.
The recovery package is once again changing the perception of the treaties that exist so far intended to prevent joint borrowing by the Union. Contrary to the spirit of the Treaties however, its application cannot be considered to be from the point of view of Finnish democracy acceptable, even if justified at EU level. The recovery package will change the EU nature irrevocably towards debt union and ever closer integration.
Because Finland's participation in the recovery package therefore requires that citizens receive these decide in what kind of community Finland wants to participate in. Because A referendum must be held in Finland, where the people have the opportunity to show whether they will Finland to join the presented joint EU recovery package.
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