US embassy cable - 05HELSINKI300

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HELSINKI 000300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/ERA AND EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2015 
TAGS: PREL, XF, RS, FI, EUN 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S CONVERSATION WITH NEW EU REP KEMPPINEN 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Earle I. Mack, for Reasons 1.4(B) and (D) 
 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
1. (C) Reijo Kemppinen, who until recently was European 
Commission spokesman, has been appointed the Commission's new 
Head of Representation in Finland.  In his introductory 
conversation with the Ambassador, discussion covered a wide 
range of topics, from the President's and Secretary's 
February 22 meetings in Brussels, to next steps in the Middle 
East, to the EU's relations with Russia, to Kemppinen's 
assessment of Barroso's leadership and priorities. 
 
2. (C) Over the past two years, the Commission's office in 
Finland has kept a rather low profile.  For much of that 
time, Timo Pesonen -- who moved from then-PM Lipponen's staff 
to be Deputy Head of the Representation in early 2003 -- was 
acting Head as well.  (Pesonen is now cabinet chief for 
Finnish EU Commissioner Rehn, in Brussels.)  With the arrival 
of Kemppinen and new Deputy Head Paavo Makinen, the 
Representation's front office is now fully staffed. 
Kemppinen indicated clearly that he intends to make his staff 
a more active participant in Finland's official relationship 
with the EU than has been the case in the recent past.  End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
The February 22 Meetings and the Middle East 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Reijo Kemppinen and Paavo Makinen, new Head and 
Deputy Head of the European Commission's Representation in 
Finland respectively, paid an introductory call on the 
Ambassador on March 2.  ECON and POL chiefs sat in as well. 
The conversation began with a discussion of the President's 
and Secretary's February 22 meetings with European Union 
leaders in Brussels.  Kemppinen said that the visit had 
special symbolic significance in that President Bush was the 
first U.S. President to visit European institutions such as 
the Commission.  There was also real substantive value to the 
visit, in bridging trans-Atlantic gaps.  The Europeans 
particularly valued the opportunity to consult on next steps 
in the Middle East. 
 
4. (C) The Ambassador said the U.S. strongly agrees on the 
importance of moving ahead in the Middle East Peace Process, 
and we are happy to see that the approach of spring has 
brought some very good signs in the region as a whole, 
including Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt.  We believe that the U.S. 
and European Union can cooperate on every level to help 
realize the President's vision of an Israeli state and a 
Palestinian state living side by side in harmony.  We also 
hope the EU will look to other areas of the Middle East where 
people have risked their lives to advance the cause of 
democracy. 
 
5. (C) Kemppinen said he hopes America understands the 
complexity of European foreign policymaking, and the reasons 
for that complexity.  "The system often prevents us from 
deciding things clearly," he remarked, and member nations 
have long memories of their individual ties to the Middle 
East, which further complicate the process.  The Ambassador 
replied that he understood, but that we should put the past 
behind us and look forward. 
 
The European Union as a Work in Progress 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) In discussing the EU and his own mission in Finland, 
Kemppinen said that the European Union continues to be a 
"project."  The main building blocks -- the internal market, 
the euro, the free movement of persons -- are in place, but 
the EU has yet to become a genuine political union.  European 
integration will continue to deepen in the years to come, but 
to do so the EU needs the competence that only the 
governments of member nations can grant.  This the 
governments can do only if there is public acceptance.  He 
therefore believes that an important part of the job of a 
Commission representative in a national capital is to 
generate more visibility for, and public trust in, the EU. 
The European Union is more sensitive to public opinion than 
ever before -- and publics see Union structures as 
complicated, far away from the people, and managed by 
bureaucrats and politicians unknown outside their own 
borders. 
 
7. (SBU) Kemppinen went on to say that in Finland he will 
seek to combat this perception in partnership with the GoF 
and with EU embassies, through networking, and by building 
different forms of cooperation.  He wants, inter alia, to 
organize discussions of broad issues of Finland's 
relationship to the European Union, bringing together GoF 
officials, business figures, NGOs, and others. 
Barroso a Pragmatic Leader Who Will Concentrate on 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Economic Issues 
--------------- 
 
8. (C) The Ambassador asked Kemppinen and Makinen for their 
assessment of the Barroso leadership.  Kemppinen said that 
the Commission's new President has a very pragmatic style, 
and it is a promising sign that he was able to define his 
core objectives so rapidly.  Barroso's main priorities will 
be economic stability, growth, and employment.  "The other 
factors are window dressing."  The path will not be easy, 
however.  Many within the Union believe that a common 
currency and monetary policy won't be enough -- but the 
difference between what should be done and what can be done 
is formidable.  For example, corporate taxation policy needs 
to be harmonized, but the British find the word "taxation" 
anathema, and instinctively believe that any sentence that 
combines that word with "harmonization" must be negative. 
 
9. (C) The Ambassador noted that competitiveness is a major 
trans-Atlantic issue, and requires transparency and a level 
playing field.  Kemppinen agreed but said that the same is 
true within the EU itself.  Germany and France have been less 
than happy with the Commission in recent years, "and it all 
had to do with state subsidies."  For that matter, the Finns 
have their own reason to feel aggrieved: the GoF scrapped 
subsidies to the shipbuilding industry on the understanding 
that, via multilateral agreements, other nations around the 
globe would follow suit -- but this never happened. 
 
Finland's EU Presidency 
----------------------- 
 
10. (C) The Ambassador remarked that the Finns are already 
well into preparing for their July-December 2006 European 
Union presidency, and asked whether this will impact 
Luxembourg.  Kemppinen said it seems that over the years the 
small nations have been successful in their presidencies, and 
the large ones not.  For the Finns, much will depend on 
whether and how well Luxembourg succeeds, especially whether 
agreement is achieved by June 30 on financing for 2007-2013. 
If it is not, then the realities of national elections 
probably mean that the question will be postponed for a full 
year, and wind up on the Finns' plate. 
 
11. (C) The Ambassador, noting that the Constitution Treaty 
is due to take effect during the Finnish presidency, asked 
how European Union foreign policy will change under the new 
structure.  Kemppinen said there will be no "EU embassies" as 
such, but he expects a more unified foreign policy line.  In 
most areas of foreign policy member nations will retain their 
national rights, and the consensus rule will remain.  The new 
EU foreign minister's chief advantage will be the permanency 
of the office, coupled with his/her own powers of persuasion. 
 
Finland, the EU, and Russia 
--------------------------- 
 
12. (C) The Ambassador noted that Russian FM Lavrov had met 
with the EU Troika, and asked for Kemppinen's thoughts on the 
Russia-EU relationship.  Kemppinen said there is no denying 
there has been a deterioration in relations in recent years, 
partly because of Putin's "regressive policies" and partly 
because of the difficulty over building the common spaces. 
 
13. (C) Asked about Finland's own role in the European 
Union's relationship with Russia, Makinen remarked that the 
May 2004 enlargement brought in a number of new members "who 
know Russia much better than we do."  Kemppinen added that 
these nations had "very acrimonious past relations" with 
Russia, leaving feelings that will not go away soon.  On the 
other hand, there are new members who have had little or no 
relationship with Russia, either historic or commercial. 
Finland lies in the middle, and might serve as a model of how 
to live with this big neighbor.  In the next decade, the 
European Union could expend to include the Balkans, Turkey, 
and even Ukraine, which will transform the relationship 
again. 
 
14. (C) Kemppinen said, "I'm not convinced Finns ever were 
experts on Russian culture -- on the Soviet system of 
government, maybe, but not Russian culture."  Makinen 
lamented that although the Finns have business ties with 
Russia, they are doing too little to build up the 
relationship in other areas, such as education.  For example, 
the lack of Russian language instruction in Finnish schools 
ultimately will be a handicap for Finland, he said. 
 
Bio note 
-------- 
15. (U) Kemppinen, 47, is a journalist by profession, and has 
worked in Finland's print and electronic media, and as a 
director of television documentaries and commercials.  Before 
joining the Finnish Foreign Ministry in 1992, he was EC 
correspondent for the "Uusi Suomi" newspaper.  While at MFA 
he was spokesman for the Finnish EU presidency in 1999.  He 
joined the European Commission in 2000, and served as deputy 
spokesman (2002-2003), then spokesman (2003-2004), for the 
Commission. 
MACK