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The Åland Islands Meet European Integration

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The Åland Islands Meet European Integration The Åland Islands Meet European Integration: Politics of History and the EU referendums on Åland Hasan Akintug University of Helsinki Faculty of Social Sciences European and Nordic Studies Master’s Thesis June 2020 Tiedekunta – Fakultet – Faculty Koulutusohjelma – Utbildingsprogram – Degree Programme Faculty of Social Sciences European and Nordic Studies Tekijä – Författare – Author Hasan Akintug Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title The Åland Islands Meet European Integration: Politics of History and the EU referendums on Åland. Oppiaine/Opintosuunta – Läroämne/Studieinriktning – Subject/Study track Social Sciences Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä – Sidoantal – Number of pages Master’s thesis June 2020 93 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract This thesis aims to provide an analysis of the decision of the Parliament of Åland to join the European Union in 1994. The chosen time frame is the period between the Korfu Summit on 24 June 1994 and the decision of the Parliament to join on 2 December 1994. While the EU process has its roots at the end of the Cold War and Finland’s membership to the Council of Europe in 1989, this timeline is chosen to emphasize the deliberative process in which Åland decided to join the European Union. The theoretical approach is discourse analysis as foreign policy analysis by Ole Waever. This rests on the post structuralist understandings of language which due to its constitutive power can be used to explain the foreign policy choices which lie upon historical and identarian legacies. This is done by analysing the relationship between the “core concepts” such as “state” and “nation” with “Europe” in which the national identity is constructed upon. This thesis aims to analyse the Ålandic decision to join the EU by using 7 parliamentary debates as primary data alongside newspaper articles to construct a chronology of the referendum process while at the same time adjusting Waever’s framework to suit the regional context of Åland. This study shows that the Ålandic EU debate took place in a context in which the Regional Parliament had to consider the choices of its immediate environment and the lack of enthusiasm of the Ålandic voter. On the pro EU camp, the prospect of EU membership was understood as new field for Åland’s external relations, an economic opportunity and further recognition of Åland’s status according to international law. The anti-EU camp drew arguments from a fear of centralisation, transferring legislative authority and concern regarding the competences of the EU in agriculture and fisheries. This study also shows that the choice of certain arguments was structured by the regional parties’ conceptualisation of Europe and the relationship between that and their conceptualisation of “autonomy” and the “people” which are in turn constructed by the two main cleavages on Åland: the autonomy policy cleavage and the urban-rural cleavage. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords European Integration, Åland, Autonomy, Paradiplomacy, Discourse Analysis. Ohjaaja tai ohjaajat – Handledare – Supervisor or supervisors Peter Stadius Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe – Where deposited E-Thesis. Muita tietoja – Övriga uppgifter – Additional information Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Relevance of the Research ......................................................................................................... 3 1.4 The Structure of the Thesis ........................................................................................................ 4 2. Theory, Method and Data ............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 International Relations Theory and Constructivism ................................................................... 5 2.2. The Concept of Paradiplomacy ................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Discourse Analysis as Foreign Policy Analysis ....................................................................... 12 2.4 The Layered Framework of Analysis ....................................................................................... 13 2.5 Data .......................................................................................................................................... 15 2.6 Conceptual and Methodological Considerations ...................................................................... 16 3. Historical Background ................................................................................................................. 18 3.1 The Rise of the Åland Movement 1917-1921 .......................................................................... 20 3.2. Autonomy Despite the People 1922-1945............................................................................... 27 3.3 Acceptance and Expansion of Autonomy 1945-1989 .............................................................. 30 3.4 Summary of the Political and Economic Cleavages on Åland in the Beginning of the 1990’s ........................................................................................................................................................ 42 3.5 Continuity and Change in Ålandic External Relations ............................................................ 45 4. Autonomy and European Integration 1989-1994 ...................................................................... 46 5. The EU Debates and the Referendum Process. ......................................................................... 53 5.1 The First Debate Before the Finnish Referendum (14.09) ....................................................... 53 5.2. The Second Debate Before the Finnish Referendum (21.09) ................................................. 56 5.3 Third Debate Before the Finnish Referendum (26.09)............................................................. 57 5.4 Reactions to the Results of the Finnish Referendum on 16 October 1994............................... 59 5.5 Debate Before the Swedish Referendum (11.11) ..................................................................... 64 5.6 Debate Before the Ålandic Referendum (17.11) ...................................................................... 67 5.7 Debate After the Ålandic Referendum (28.11) ........................................................................ 70 5.8 The Final Debate Before the Decision on EU-Membership (02.12) ........................................ 73 5.9 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 76 6. Discussion: Åland and the EU in 1994. ...................................................................................... 78 6.1 Arguments Regarding the Telos of the EU .............................................................................. 79 6.2. Discourses regarding the Nordic Region................................................................................. 81 6.3 Discourses on the Sweden-Åland-Finland Axis ....................................................................... 84 6.4 Methodological Reflections ..................................................................................................... 86 7. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 87 7.1 The Referendum Process and Historical Cleavages ................................................................. 87 7.2 Avenues for Further Research .................................................................................................. 89 7.3 Final Remarks........................................................................................................................... 90 8. Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 91 8.1 Primary Sources ....................................................................................................................... 91 8.1.1 Parlimentary Debates ......................................................................................................... 91 8.1.2 Ålandstidningen ................................................................................................................. 91 8.1.3 Nya Åland .......................................................................................................................... 92 8.2 Legal Documents ...................................................................................................................... 92 8.3 Books and Articles ................................................................................................................... 93 1 “EU membership is the most revolutionary process since the creation of autonomy in 1921”1 -Harry Jansson “The time that Ålandic politics could be limited exclusively to what is happening in Åland is gone”2 -Barbro Sundback 1. Introduction The Åland Islands with their population of nearly 30,000
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