European Parliament elections: public services key issue for Finnish voters

Finnish voters see the maintenance of social benefits and public services as a key concern in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. Preserving social services was seen as the most important issue by respondents to a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by the polling agency Suomen Gallup. Other important issues were the rights and possibilities of Finns in the future EU, the promotion of Finnish interests, fundamental rights in the EU, the costs of EU membership, unemployment, the balance of power between the EU and Finland, and the clarification of the ground rules of how the EU operates. According to Juhani Pehkonen, head of research at Suomen Gallup, the responses indicate a concern over issues that affect the everyday lives of the people. There was considerably less concern over questions such as Finland's position in a changing EU. There is a fear among voters that the EU could be used to change the welfare state. Most problematic for EU politicians and for parties drafting their election campaign themes could be the fact that decisions on social services are largely an internal issue for Finland, making it somewhat difficult to use the question as a major election theme.