HS Home 16.3.2004 - Our fair trade President

By Teemu Luukka

It is early on a Wednesday morning in the Presidential Palace. Tarja Halonen has invited around fifty influential figures to the palace, from the President of Nokia to the head of the Northern Karelia region. The purpose of the gathering is to discuss globalization.

Yes, exactly. That magical word that is used fluently by a whole lot of people, with few being able to define what it actually means. Nowadays there seems to be no problem or success story that cannot be tied to globalization. Everyday politics is even affected by the G-word: it is mentioned every time someone wants to cut taxes, or raise or lower wages.

The group at the Presidential Palace has received copies of the 168-page report prepared by a commission that was set up by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The commission, which worked for two years, has produced plenty of suggestions on how to make the world a fairer place. Halonen was the co-Chairman of the commission, together with Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.

The first speech of the morning

is delivered by the President herself. She recounts how much she learned travelling around the world, talking with very different types of people about their experiences in a rapidly-changing world.

Halonen says that the members of the commission disagreed on many issues, but they were unanimous about the fact that the current kind of globalization, and the uneven distribution of its benefits, are not morally acceptable or politically sustainable.

"From the point of view of people, the development is not fair", Halonen explains, confident that people can change the direction of the development if they choose to.

After Halonen, nearly everyone

who has been invited to the palace gets his or her say. Director Antti Hautamäki from the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (SITRA) relates how one third of key Finnish corporations have transferred their headquarters abroad. He believes Finland will not survive if the current old structures are maintained.

Nokia President Pekka Ala-Pietilä warns that a slow pace of change can be dangerous. He says that Nokia and Finland will succeed only if they are a little bit better than everyone else every day.

Every other speech praises democracy, human rights, and fair ground rules. Kone Chairman and CEO Antti Herlin believes that corporations can operate better in places where the people are happy with their lives.

A certain cautious agreement can be sensed in the room: the dangers are great and we must change the old ways, but we have got through tough times together before as well.

For Tarja Halonen, discussions like those of Wednesday morning are already commonplace. Even this group is gathered now for the second time.

After the three-hour discussions

and a quick lunch, the President is ready for her interview with Helsingin Sanomat. The topic of the interview is none other than globalization, along with how Finland will survive in the ever-tightening global competition.

She starts be saying that there is cause for concern, but Finland has every chance of meeting the challenges. She repeatedly emphasises that national, long-run cooperation is vital for competitiveness.

"This is why I have asked and encouraged both the government and labour market organisations to ponder Finland's strengths." According to Halonen, Finland is in the habit of thinking that all the basic structures in our society are in order because we are one of the Scandinavian countries. "We just have to make sure that we can withstand the pressures of changing competition."

"The saying that you need to run so that you would not go backwards fits globalization well."

Chairman Juha Rantanen

from the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers recently demanded that special wage arrangements for women and those in the lowest income brackets be abandoned. According to Rantanen, the employer side will not even negotiate with trade unions if the employee side demands better job security. He maintains that wages and other terms of employment be more flexible in this day and age because of globalization. Trade unions were dismayed by Rantanen's opinions.

Halonen declines to comment on the recent harsh debate between labour market organisations, "if there is any way to avoid it". "But if they take globalization into account in their discussions, that is a good thing."

However, Halonen does remark that there is still a clear need to discover wage systems that even out gaps between the wages of men and women.

"You need to separate two issues. One is the coming centralised wage negotiations, and the other is long-term planning. It would of course be beneficial if all negotiations were in line with long-term planning."

Halonen, a former lawyer

for the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), does not believe that the Finnish centralised bargaining system or the power of trade unions will disappear, even though corporations are growing larger, stronger, and more international.

"I truly hope that Finland's well-developed labour market system could become even stronger." She points out that according to international reports, those countries with an active and strong civic society will succeed in a globalizing world. "Labour market organisations form a very important part of this."

According to Halonen, it is extremely important for Finland's success to actively participate in building fair global ground rules. "Globalization must proceed through cooperation."

Halonen can definitely not be blamed for being cynical. She is not depressed by the powerlessness of the UN, the strained negotiations within the WTO, nor the other recent failures of international organisations. "I believe that people are sensible."

The President says that one of the most important messages of the globalization report is that people from very different types of backgrounds can agree on the need to change the course of globalization.

During the work of the World Commission

on the Social Dimension of Globalization, Halonen saw the atmosphere of international cooperation swing back and forth numerous times. A bad patch was brought about by the war in Iraq, but it has been followed by a better phase. "The willingness to cooperate is always the sum of very different parts."

"And we must remember that decisions can be made on many levels. Nation-states are extremely important as their leaders make decisions in their own countries, but also function in international organisations."

Nation-states have a prominent role in the commission's report as well, although many feel that the significance of nations will disappear as companies and people network around the world. The report points out that people still live their everyday lives in nation-states, no matter where the headquarters of their employers are located.

"All international comparisons show that in the long run what will succeed is a nation-state that is democratic, respects human rights, and is a constitutional state. In addition, there should be a good administration, decent economic growth, social fairness, well-functioning markets, and a civic society."

Halonen does not waver in her beliefs even though China, far from democratic, has met with excellent economic success over the past few years. She believes China will face internal and external pressures which will bring it to the same path with the rest.

Of the suggestions in the globalization report,

Halonen wishes to emphasise the mobility of labour from one country to the next. The commission called for rules to govern this mobility, taking into account the mover, his or her country of origin, as well as the country of destination. "There are no universal, global-level agreements on the mobility of labour."

According to Halonen, the mobility of labour must be controlled, but we must proceed cautiously in the matter. With the accession of new EU member states approaching, Finland and many other current members have chosen to limit the free movement of citizens of the new EU nations. Halonen does not believe that this conflicts with long-term goals.

Halonen wants Finns to discard their old attitudes towards immigrants, and says that Finland needs new members for the labour force. "But having the doors wide open is no solution either."

Halonen maintains that international organisations have received the commission's report well. The ILO will decide about further measures later in the spring. The "godfather" of the report, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has been positive towards the idea that various UN organs consider the suggestions of the report.

Professor of International Relations Heikki Patomäki

believes that the opinions of the commission chaired by Halonen are more critical than those of Finland. Patomäki says that according to the current foreign policy, globalization is vital to Finland, and therefore it should not be criticised too much.

Halonen is not familiar with Patomäki's views but stresses that the members of the commission were not official representatives of any instance. The President also sees no reason why moral globalization could not be a part of Finland's foreign policy.

Halonen says that she will still participate in the process of change in globalization according to her resources, but at the moment she will not have any other international assignments. "I will focus on making the report well known and on Finland doing its share."

Tarja Halonen has been the President of Finland for four years now. Globalization has been one of the most common themes in her speeches and comments during this entire period.

This past fall and winter, she has spoken about the subject in London, New York, Davos, Brussels, Brazil, Chile, Geneva, and numerous other locations.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 14.3.2004