Finnish MPs tell what they have achieved – “Representatives of any other country do not worry about this” – 2024-05-09 06:17:33

The five-year-long struggle of 14 Finnish MEPs in the European Parliament will end this spring. Iltalehti made a tour of some of the Finnish MEPs and asked what was their biggest personal achievement in the past term.

The greens Heidi Hautala in the last plenary session of the Parliament, the corporate responsibility directive, which he had been pushing for a long time, was finished, the purpose of which is to make large companies operating in the EU area bear responsibility for human rights and environmental violations.

“Unfortunately, the Finnish government managed to weaken the legal protection of victims of human rights violations in the legislation at the very last minute,” says Hautala.

The Corporate Responsibility Directive was debated in the Finnish Parliament in February. Petteri Orpon (kok) government opposed it. Hautala still considers the passing of the directive “a turning point”.

Demarien Eero Heinäluoma on the other hand, has led the negotiations of the anti-money laundering regulation in the parliament. According to Heinäluoma, the project he is running would stop “the dark money transfers and real estate purchases of Russian oligarchs”.

The center Elsi Katainen and the convention Henna Virkkunen highlight, among other things, the conditions for winter shipping that are important for Finnish companies. In transport matters, Virkkunen says that he has influenced the fact that, for example, Finland’s long distances and winter conditions are taken into account.

– They are where personal contribution is particularly important, because the representatives of no other country take care of these issues.

Answers were requested from some of us by e-mail. You can read the answers below.

Heidi Hautala, Greens (Greens group)

– My biggest achievement is the corporate responsibility directive approved in April, which obliges large companies to take care of human rights and the environment in their production chains. The legislation prevents the exploitation of child labor, forced labor and environmental damage related to business activities.

– The directive also gets companies better involved in combating the climate crisis.

– I represented the green group in the negotiations on the content of the corporate responsibility directive, and we got many improvements to the law. For my part, the work started already in 2017, when I founded a working group promoting responsible business operations in the European Parliament.

– Unfortunately, the Finnish government managed to weaken the legal protection of victims of human rights violations in the very last few meters. The Corporate Responsibility Directive is still a game-changing piece of legislation that has effects worldwide.

Eero Heinäluoma, SDP (European Parliament Group of Socialists and Democrats S&D)

– The reform of the EU’s money laundering legislation, where I was the chief negotiator of the Parliament. Stricter rules will bring money movements into the light of day and stop the dark transfers of funds and real estate purchases by Russian oligarchs. Taxpayers win.

Elsi Katainen, city center (Renew group)

– In the FuelEU Maritime shipping regulation, I negotiated compensation for winter shipping, which is vital for Finland’s exports, into legislation in the final negotiations of the trilogy, which stretched into the morning. Savings for the export industry can be up to tens of millions of euros and this has been remembered as a very tangible success.

– I acted as the chief negotiator in the CAP transitional legal package, which ensures the legal protection of farmers and the continuity of legislation.

– In the restoration regulation, I was able to rationalize many of the unrealistic measures proposed by the commission.

Henna Virkkunen, coalition (EPP group)

– It’s really hard to say personal achievements, because everything is based on getting the majority behind the decisions. But in general, the fact that we have pushed forward the green transition, and it has been possible to take into account the issues important to Finland.

– We have been able to take care of the prerequisites for sustainable forestry and take into account Finland’s long distances, sparse population and cold climate in many transport legislation.

– They are where personal contribution is particularly important, because the representatives of no other country take care of these issues.

– Winter shipping and winter shipping conditions are taken into account in emissions trading and fuel legislation. Otherwise, the Finns would have received big bills.

Sirpa Pietikäinen, coalition (EPP group)

– Sustainable financing package. How do we know that our investments are not in oil and problematic and harmful sites, but that they are environmentally friendly. How do we get pension funds, private investments, etc. directed to more sustainable investments.

– I was involved in reforming the environmental crime legislation.

– For many women, the disabled and those who otherwise experience discrimination, the latest legislation on strengthening the working conditions of equality commissioners was probably significant. For example, independence and sufficient funding and also a voluntary mediation mechanism.

– Often, for example, women do not want to start an argument if they feel or know that they will receive a lower salary, because it gives them a bad reputation if they have won a court case, but still cannot advance in the workplace. In mediation, it can be resolved a little more gently. But yes, the equality commissioner has the opportunity to take the matter to court as well.

Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner, Basic Finns (European conservatives and reformists group ECR)

– Mep’s most important job is voting. Among the Finnish MEPs, I have most actively participated in the plenary sessions and their votes, and defended Finland’s national interest in them against harmful reforms and over-regulation. Defending the right of national self-determination against the growing lust for power of the EU institutions is central to my activities.

– I have fought against corruption and promoted the transparency of decision-making and election financing in my committee work and in many plenary debates.

Silvia Modig, Left Alliance (Left group)

– My biggest achievement is influencing the climate policy line. I am the coordinator of my group in the ENVI committee (environmental committee) and my group’s negotiator in almost all big climate-related proposals, including the climate law, emissions trading (ETS), burden sharing sector (ESR), aviation emissions trading (ETS Aviation).

– The Climate Act is the single most important law passed in this period, because it sets the entire EU’s climate goal and climate policy and makes the carbon neutrality goal by 2050 binding.

– I knew that MEPs have great potential for influence, but I was still surprised by how much influence you can really have. The Climate Act, for example, has text directly from my pen.

– I hope people will vote actively now. The EU is the level at which cross-border challenges can be met.

Nils Torvalds, RKP (Renew Group)

– My long-term work as a bridge builder within the Renew group and the environmental committee has led to the fact that I have been able to play a very influential role during this period, especially in environmental legislation negotiations.

– It is difficult to mention one individual piece of legislation, but I would say that the favorable results that we have managed to achieve after hard work in several legal packages for the green transition (including the Climate Act, the Renewable Energy Directive, the Restoration Ordinance and the Packaging Waste Ordinance) are a whole that I would raise as the most important achievement.

– When I have gained the trust of my colleagues as the coordinator of the environmental committee, it has been much easier to be more strongly critical when there has been a need and an opportunity to do so.

Many leave

In Parliament, MEPs work as part of groups that also include representatives from other countries. The largest group in the Parliament in the past term was the EPP group of the European People’s Party, which is led by a German Manfred Weber and which includes the Finnish parliament. The compositions of the groups are presented in more detail at the end of the story.

Many of the current MEPs will leave the parliament and will no longer be candidates in the upcoming European elections. Heidi Hautala has announced her departure from Parliament, Alviina Alametsä (green), Mauri Pekkarinen (kesk), Nils Torvalds, Silvia Modig, Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (sd) me Petri Sarvamaa (kok). Teuvo Hakkarainen did not make it to the candidate list of basic Finns, but is a non-committal candidate.

The European elections will be held in Finland in exactly one month, on June 9.