Troubled Advance – Finland, Sweden and the European ‘Relaunch' 1983–1989

The victorious story of the end of the Cold War is supported by a parallel, and equally cherished, narrative - that of European integration. The political process that unexpectedly accelerated in the mid-1980s and eventually led to the Maastricht treaty in 1992, has commonly been pictured as a major European achievement. With the lingering euro crisis, however, this storyline is becoming harder and harder to sustain. In the end, the headlong rush to find a solution to the resurfaced German question at the end of the Cold War, was largely responsible for the EU’s, an in particular the euro’s, destructive shortcomings.

This paper suggests a more critical reading of the pre-1992 events by showing how differently the rapid advance of European integration after the mid-1980s was perceived in Sweden and Finland, two countries outside the European Community. Based on newly released archival documents, the paper demonstrates that instead of enthusiasm in both countries, the progress of the EC was observed with great concern. Plans for a single market and political union stood in contradiction with the traditional neutrality policy, while there seemed to be a great economic risk in staying outside the increasingly dynamic Community. How did the Finnish and Swedish governments react to this uncertain situation? How did they see the future of the EC and their place in Europe, caught in a fast transformation?