Aland Islands could reject Lisbon Treaty

Published: Tuesday 19 August 2008

The parliament of Finland's autonomous Aland Islands is currently weighing up whether to vote for or against the EU's Reform Treaty, which has already been ratified by Helsinki. Rejection would put Finland in the awkward situation of not being able guarantee the implementation of the treaty throughout the whole of its territory.

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The issue is being dealt with by the Aland Parliament 's law and autonomy committees, which are set to hold expert hearings in late August and early September, Parliament Vice-President Susanne Eriksson told EurActiv. The parliament will only decide on the schedule for taking a decision after this, she added.

Furthermore, the Alands' answer "will depend on what happens to the Treaty overall". The islands rejected the previous Constitutional Treaty because it was politically dead, she noted, adding that following the Irish 'no', the Alands could also consider the Lisbon Treaty to be dead already and decide to reject it for that reason.

Eriksson also pointed to "some wishes" that the Aland Islands hope to see fulfilled concerning its future relationship with the EU and which could impact on the decision. These are four-fold:

As the Lisbon Treaty would guarantee more involvement by national parliaments in the EU legislative process by allocating two votes to each parliament in evaluating different Commission initiatives, the Alands would like to have one of Finland's votes.
The islands' government would like to be able to defend itself in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) when there is a case against it. Currently, Finland is brought to the ECJ to speak for the Alands (the European Commission recently took Finland to the ECJ because the Alands had not forbidden the sale of snuss, a form of chewing tobacco, and imposed a €2 million fine on the islands. However, health in the Alands is not controlled by Finnish laws, but the islands' own).
The Alands would like the right to name one of Finland's 14 members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
The islands also want clearer rules on how their government can influence Finland's position in the Council of Ministers.

The Aland Parliament's decision will not affect Finnish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, as the text was approved by the Finnish Parliament on 11 June 2008. But it would mean that "Finland cannot fulfil the treaty in full on its territory," according to Eriksson. The Aland Parliament has 30 members and eleven votes against the text would be required for it to be rejected.