Finland gives qualified support to UK reform of EU

Finland has given tentative backing to David Cameron’s efforts to renegotiate with the European Union and to hold a referendum.

Finland’s new foreign minister, eurosceptic Timo Soini, said the plan was an “absolutely a great idea” but added that Finland would not be a “100% supporter at every stage”.

Mr Soini has been an unrestrained critic of the EU and of bailouts to Portugal, Greece and Spain. But when he came to office in May, he said “we don’t regard renegotiation of the treaties as a priority at this time”.

He said on Friday that he gives his personal support to Mr Cameron’s agenda, calling it “useful” and “important”. “But I’m now one of the cabinet ministers in the Finnish government,” he said, adding he could only speak on behalf of the whole government.

Finland’s new Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has misgivings about altering European treaties, and this is something Mr Cameron believes to be essential. Mr Soini said that opening up treaties could go the “wrong direction”, resulting in deepening cooperation, something he opposes.

But he indicated that Finland would support “sensible approaches and suggestions”. He said that Finland was likely to support reforms to how quickly EU citizens moving between countries become eligible for benefits, arguing that it should be possible to agree “some kind of arrangement where, prior to getting benefits, you should have worked a few years or a few months”.

He said that Britain’s initiative could benefit the whole EU.

“This process can be useful from everybody’s viewpoint, because if you look at the results that the EU is producing, you don’t have to be the helot in the cave to say that it hasn’t worked out very well,” he said. “

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