The EU debates in the Åland Parliament during autumn 1994 were complex. Hasan Akintug, PhD candidate at the University of Helsinki, shows this clearly in his report “The referendums on Åland: An overview of the EU debates in the Åland parliament during autumn 1994”.
Not much has been written about thetwo referendums of 1994 on the Ålands Islands prior to the entry into the European Union. A new report by Hasan Akintug analyses the parliamentary debates during the period between the Corfu summit on 24 of June 1994, in which Finland’s and Åland’s membership application was confirmed by the EU member states, and the final decision by the Åland parliament on 2 December 1994.
What if it would have been a no
“It is interesting that all political parties that finally voted for EU membership also expressed reservations during the process”, Akintug writes in his report.
He was suprised that there was no negotiation or discussion about what would have happened if the result of the EU referendum had been a no.
25 years of EU membership
Hasan Akintug’s report is published as the first of the outcomes of a yearlong study entitled “25 years of EU membership – Åland experiences” a project commissioned by the Åland Goverment and conducted by the Åland Islands Peace Institute in cooperation with Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB).
Several other reports will be published, in Swedish to start with, until summer 2021.
Do you want a better understanding of the Åland concerns regarding EU during its quarter-century as a part of the EU? Here you can read Hasan Akintug’s report.
All reports from the Åland Island Peace Institute are avalible online free of charge.
