On Friday, the Finnish Parliament held a fourth day of debate on the EU budget and the stimulus package, as the Finns continued and the parliamentary authorities began to address procedural obstacles.
The start of the day’s sitting was delayed twice when the President and Vice-Presidents met to decide on the vote: the Finnish Party’s proposal to postpone the debate to June or the Finnish Party’s proposal for a decision of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
In the end, the decision postponing until June was rejected by 68 votes to 38. At the same time chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs Antti Rinne (SDP) said the committee is considering whether the speaker will act properly at the end of Thursday’s debate.
It followed a wide back-and-forth speaker action, allowing a change in Parliament’s rules so that the bill could be postponed only once.
Finnish party games have included spreading the debate to avoid votes, while another vice president Juho Eerola (Finns) have been relieved of their duties in leading the debate after he said he opposed the package and sought to prevent its adoption.
This break is traditionally the role of a neutral deputy speaker with the left speaker Anu Vehviläinen (Cen) and Deputy Speaker Tarja Filatov (SDP) led an hour-long debate when Finnish MPs were queuing to read their speeches.
"He [Anu Vehviläinen] knows that I am against the package and apparently supports it and wants to see the package go by," Eerola said.
Referring to Eerola’s decision to join the Finnish Party’s blocking tactics, Seppo TiitinenThe former Secretary-General of Parliament said that it was unprecedented for the President of Parliament to take part in the debate.
"This is the first time the speaker has shifted his role to the opposition," he told Yle.
Since Tuesday, the Finnish party has sought to delay or prevent the vote on the EUR 750 billion EU stimulus package in several plenary sessions of the marathon, which have sometimes included reading hymns and excerpts from fairy tales.
The debate continued on the resurrection holiday and over the long weekend, forcing members of the government and parliamentary staff to remain on the ground if voted.
All Member States must ratify the recovery plan, a mix of EU grants and loans, in order for the investment plan to move forward.
Source: The Nordic Page