Finland and the European Community: Changing Elite Bargains

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Abstract
The Finnish integration policy has been conditioned by the elite bargain struck in the European Community on the Single European Act which crystallized a compromise between market-oriented reforms and intergovernmental institutionalism. A similar political development has occurred in Finland where the elite bargain has included the application for EC membership. The move towards the EC has been facilitated by the changes in the Soviet and Russian policies, which have become less of a constraint on Finland's choices. The elite bargain in Finland has been rather loose and informal, partly because in the late 1980s the industry used the exit option by investing heavily in Western Europe. That is why it has needed little voice to convince the political leadership which has shifted to support the EC membership under internal and external influences.

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