Finland and the « Nordic Dimension Initiative »

The Northern dimension, introduced during the European Council in Helsinki in 1999, holds now a choice position in the European Union’s exterior relations. This initiative illustrates in a previously unseen way the importance of this regional area for the European Union that is due to be enlarged. Thus the « initiative of the Nordic dimension » contributes more than any other initiative to the evolution of the role of the European Union on the international scene. What Finland mostly achieved by adding a new dimension to its exterior politics, and by attracting Member States’ attention on a little-known region, was to transmit its European partners a « method » for maximizing the use of the European Union’s multilateral cooperation tools.

 Summary AFRI-2002