Secretary of State Pertti Torstila’s speech at the Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission
In his opening speech delivered at the 2010 Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission on 23 August, Secretary of State Pertti Torstila focused on the finances of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and on issues pertaining to Finland’s network of diplomatic missions abroad.
Both last year and this year, the finances of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have remained balanced despite fluctuations in the global environment. However, difficult years lie ahead. The state of the public economy is not good, and this is reflected in the Ministry’s appropriations.
The budgetary framework decision cut the Ministry’s operating expenditure for 2011 by EUR 6.5 million through reallocation of the State’s funds, and our budget for 2012–2015 shows a declining trend. A declining trend together with other uncertainty factors requires strict budgetary discipline and the continuation of a separate savings programme. We will also have to make structural changes in the diplomatic mission network. It is not possible to maintain almost 100 contact points abroad with the known appropriations. Resources must be targeted at regions and countries whose importance for Finland is increasing.
Finland’s representation abroad has been the object of lively public debate during the current year. The debate has been spiced by expectations placed on the EU External Action Service and by the experiences gained of joint Nordic diplomatic missions. In the reforms carried out during the past few years, special weight has been put on issues pertaining to the network of diplomatic missions. At the proposal of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Programme of Prime Minister Vanhanen’s Second Cabinet in April 2007 included a requirement to review Finland’s international representation, taking into account the needs of citizens, business life and the state.
The review of the diplomatic mission network is now complete. The report received the attention it deserved among the Government, but no additional funds for maintaining the network were promised. The first development plan for the network of diplomatic missions extending up to 2012 has now been reviewed together with the President of the Republic; during the autumn it will be announced which missions and contact points will be closed down and which will be opened. Finland does not intend to close down its embassies in Europe during the current planning period.
In addition to embassies, the review also paid attention to other publicly funded contact points that operate abroad under various ministries and often do overlapping work. In their joint article published in the newspaper Aamulehti in March, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and Secretary of State Pertti Torstila underscored the importance of our network of diplomatic missions under the heading “A strong network abroad is in Finland’s interests”. Combining the foreign operations of various ministries into strong and diverse centres would bring savings and would improve efficiency and preparedness. In all, 71 contact points operate under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the Ministry of Education and Culture in various parts of the world.
The Foreign Minister drew media attention to the issue in his speech “FS2020”, where he said that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs would start to lead a new ‘House of Finland’ concept.
Overlapping functions in the foreign networks of publicly funded organizations must be dismantled and maximum efficiency must be built through joint effort. Spurred by the example given in the Government Programme of 2007, we intend to emphasize this theme even more in the Government Programme of 2011. The close partners of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs include the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of the Interior. Good work for finding a common ground has already been done and some results have been achieved.
Building of the EU External Action Service (EAS) is proceeding and recruitments have started. A successful External Action Service will make small Member States the biggest winners. The EU service will reach places that are beyond a small country’s resources or where they are not needed. However, it is not envisioned that the Union’s diplomatic missions would replace national missions. In future, too, Finland must retain the capacity to look after its own national interests in various countries around the world. A strong network of diplomatic missions is an important and indispensable instrument for Finland. The target set by the Foreign Minister is for 15–30 Finns to gain entry into the EAS. Our aim is also to have two Finns appointed as Heads of Delegation.
We are introducing more flexibility into our representation and operations. Outsourcing of visa application services in Russia, improved utilization of information technology, mobile service units for consular services, consular secondment in crisis situations, and other project-type activities are elements in our new toolbox. Issues that are being considered include added discretion in tasks included in services for citizens, limitation of services provided by the authorities, and the question of dividing representation abroad between places of shorter and longer posts.
On 15 June 2010, the Finnish Parliament adopted the Government’s Bill for amending the Act on compensation for representation abroad. The amendment will enter into force as of the beginning of 2011. The compensation system will be simplified. The first step towards supporting day care is an important reform. In addition, a number of smaller changes will be carried out, such as the right to one holiday trip per year to the home country from Europe as well, and support for meals at school.
Last winter, a working group consisting of representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health investigated the reconciliation of work and free time among public servants working in Finland’s diplomatic missions abroad, as well as issues pertaining to their social security. The working group’s final report is a positive step towards developing the status of assigned personnel and their family members. The points of departure defined in the report were that the Finnish Foreign Service staff abroad and their family members are covered by the Finnish social security system and that the Finnish staff working in Finland’s diplomatic missions abroad and their families both legally and factually constitute a group that cannot always be equated with other people sent from Finland to work abroad.
Secretary of State Torstila also paid attention to the quantity and quality of reports and other documents dispatched by diplomatic missions abroad. It is hoped that the heads of missions would present their personal assessments and stands more often and more courageously in their reports. This is the kind of reporting that our own ministers and other state leaders need and appreciate. The analytical data remains narrow in scope if the heads of missions do not themselves report on matters. The special expertise of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs must be reflected in the reports provided by the experienced professionals in international affairs: the ambassadors who follow the foreign policy and regional development in the countries of their posting.