Finland Times

 

Finance Minister Alexander Stubb (left.), British Finance Minister George Osborne and Foreign Minister Timo Soini (right) at the inaugural session of the meeting of the Finnish Heads of Mission in Helsinki on Monday. Photo – Lehtikuva.

Britain wishes to be part of a renewed European Union, said British Finance Minister George Osborne during his visit to Finland on Monday. 

 

Osborne discussed the subject in Helsinki with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and the Foreign Affairs Minister Timo Soini.

 

The visit to Finland is part of a large tour, during which the British minister seeks to drive reform among the EU's leadership. The country will again vote on whether to retain its EU membership in 2017.

 

“I would recommend to the British people that we remain in a revised European Union, but it will require changes, changes that benefit the EU as a whole,” Osborne said to reporters in Helsinki.

 

Osborne visited the Ambassador Days and the dental technology firm Planmeca. 

 

The EU has, according to the British minister, worked well enough, but the Union must become more competitive. According to him, it would also benefit countries that are not in the eurozone. “We want an EU where people are free to travel to work, but not only to increase social security benefits.”

 

According to Stubb, keeping Britain as a member of the EU is one of the biggest issues of the next few years. Finland may, in his view, support the British hopes of improving competitiveness and economic reform, but there are also positions where Finland differs.

 

“Immigration and related social security benefits are another question. It's the big question of this decade, not only in Britain, but throughout the EU,” Stubb said.