prime minister Sanna MarinThe SDP government won a parliamentary vote on Wednesday calling for an EU coronavirus recovery package.
The government won the vote by 99 votes to 78, with 22 abstentions.
The Christian Democrats, Movement Now and the Finnish party, who submitted the proposal, stated that it was not in Finland’s interest to participate in the EU’s EUR 750 billion Covid recovery plan. Opposition parties also suggested that the package should not be a one-off agreement.
Director of the Finnish Party’s parliamentary group Ville Tavio said in a debate on Tuesday "the debtors ’prison, marketed as a Covid incentive, will not solve Southern Europe’s financial problems".
Prime Minister Marin had denied that the stimulus package would make some countries liable for the debts of others. The government’s position is that the package is a one-off impetus to accelerate the recovery of the pandemic.
Finland is expected to see less of a direct benefit than expected from the package, as it has survived the pandemic better than some other EU countries.
Last July, EU countries agreed on a Covid grant package to be distributed to Member States in the form of grants and loans. The package is to be financed with debts issued by the EU, which some Finns believe is contrary to the EU treaties.
Source: The Nordic Page