Tiny island that's ready to stop Europe in its tracks

Daily Telegraph ^ | February 15, 2006 | David Rennie

[RWR8189]

In the decade since they voted to join the European Union the islanders of the Aland archipelago in the Baltic Sea have been outvoted and overruled by Brussels, time and again.

Now Aland, a unique, autonomous region of Finland, is about to teach Brussels a lesson in democracy it may never forget.

Shopkeeper Alf-Erik, in Aland, a revolt by islanders has been brewing for some time

Thanks to a quirk of early 20th-century history, Aland's 26,000 people are essentially sovereign co-rulers of their home nation of Finland. As such, they can veto any international treaty that Finland wants to enter, including EU treaties.

And the islanders are threatening to do just that when the European Commission attempts to revive the moribund EU constitution later this year.

But last week the archipelago's head of EU affairs, Britt Lundberg, travelled to Brussels - a day-long trek - to deliver a warning that dismally low public opinion on Europe could mean Alanders prevent Finland from ratifying the constitution.

The islanders' revolt has been brewing for some time. First, this community of Swedish-speaking Finns lost the right to fish at sea with traditional nets.

Then Alanders saw their beloved spring duck hunting virtually abolished. To the Alanders' final outrage, local laws on consuming "snus" or Swedish chewing tobacco, are about to be quashed by the European Court of Justice.

Finland, which takes over the rotating EU presidency later this year, is committed to reviving the constitution after No votes in France and Holland last year.

Parliament in Helsinki is poised to adopt a positive "position" on the treaty, as part of a plan co-ordinated with powers that include Germany and Austria.

So Mrs Lundberg's warning made the Commission take notice.

Brussels is trapped in a "Catch 22" situation of the EU's own making. Snus, a form of chewing tobacco, has been outlawed by EU fiat in every nation except Sweden, which secured a -special opt-out as a condition of its joining the EU, and in every region - except Aland.

The Commission recently took Finland to court to quash Aland's snus law. But Finland has no power to change that law. Finland does not control laws covering health in Aland; Aland does.

Aland is not allowed to defend its law before the justices in Luxembourg because the court recognises only nations. So the court is set to convict and fine Aland, without allowing the island's government to plead its case.

A ban on snus threatens serious financial harm to the capital, Mariehamn.

Mrs Lundberg said: "Every Alander is very, very upset. It's the principle of the thing that we can be judged, made to pay a fine, but have no chance to tell the court in Luxembourg why we made our law, and that we have the sole right to make this law."

The head of the Aland government, Roger Norlund, admitted that he did not even like snus. To him, the row is philosophical. "Aland finds small-scale solutions to its problems. But the EU model is one of large-scale solutions, and harmonisation."

Tomas Grunér, a navigator on the big boats, uses snus "24 hours a day". "It keeps me relaxed," he said. "I thought the EU was a good idea, but now I think it sucks."

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I don't think there's any doubt. Finns are a bit independent.

[COBOL2Java]

[arthurus]

Because the EU has decreed that everyone must like the same things and everything must be uniform. EU bureaucrats don't like snus and don't want to have to use it.

[lesser_satan]

That was always my impression, too. I didn't know it was a real word.

[arthurus]

That is probably a little bit more than I needed to know about snus.

[longtermmemmory]

Voting vill continue untile zee correct results are achieved.

[arthurus]

Looks like an outdoor sports store. Those are hunting and filleting knives on the board.

[MeanWestTexan]

I just figured there were people like me who didn't know what it was.

My first guess was some sort of pickled fish.

[JOAT]

Warms the bones to read an EU-bash like this.

< Homer Simpson voice> Ummmn...snus. < /Homer Simpson voice>

[Proud_USA_Republican]

They kind of store that makes the socialists at the EU go nuts.

[NicknamedBob]

"... Aland's 26,000 people are essentially sovereign co-rulers of their home nation of Finland."

They could easily build their population base by offering "guest" citizenships.

I rather like the sound of being a "sovereign co-ruler." A nominal tax stipend to cover the costs of processing my citizenship, and they could have a sizable external population.

[rmlew]

Ping to the Swedish Ping List.

Any Finns here?.

[7MMmag]

Aah, those pesky Finlanders!

Here's a joke:

How does a barber charge a Norwegian for a haircut?

$2 a corner...

How would the same barber charge a Finn?

$8 a point...

[itsahoot]

"I thought the EU was a good idea, but now I think it sucks."

UN Light

[ChildOfThe60s]

Rather interesting site on the product.

http://www.swedish-snus.com/index.html

[fdsa2]

Thanks for the snus ping!

On this issue, I think Åland has 9 Million Swedes on their side.

[schwing_wifey]

Which line runs it? Is it one of the Vaxholm Ferries or one of the major cruise lines? (Cinderella, Viking, Tallink, etc????)

We took the 1000 Islands tour last summer through the Archipeligo stopping in Sandhamn... what a gorgeous area. Hopefully this summer, we'll make an overnight cruise on Tallink to see Tallinn.

[the_Watchman]

I am pretty sure it was Viking. We booked it downtown in the same complex as the train station. The line had one ship that left from Stockholm, but had less than a 30 minute stop on the island. We took a ship which required a 30 minute bus trip [supplied by the shipping line] north of Stockholm. It provided several hours on the island and came back late afternoon. The bus left and returned to the downtown train station with several stops out in the burbs. It was a VERY inexpensive day trip. Make sure you book the smorgasbords when you get your tickets.

We would also recommend the double deck hop-on-hop-off buses in Stockholm.

BTW: The train information office has an Internet kiosk where you can send canned photos of Stockholm to your friends. If they have not fixed it yet, you can "escape" out to the Internet from the page where you send the photo. I was able to check my Yahoo mail and visit FreeRepublic from there for free! :)

[schwing_wifey]

Thanks. I think I heard of this trip. I was amazed that they just went out and back.

The double deckers are cool but Stockholm is so small I think I've hiked almost every street to date.

I also recommend the Sunday Brunch at the Grand Hotel. Thats a must when we have company... a taste of Sweden with instructions on how its to be done....

(Beer and Aquavit!)