Speaking at the end of the talks, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said the joint meeting between government and opposition was internationally unprecedented, and claimed that all the participating parties found the discussions valuable.
”We had a good discussion, a good Finnish discussion, in which we covered the future of the economy. There is plenty of work to be done to reduce the national debt both now and by future administrations,” he said.
Katainen admitted that no actual decisions were made at the talks, but a consensus was reached about the current state of affairs, and that the economic austerity measures must be extended over a number of years.
”No decisions were reached on how to set out the savings, or other issues – these are things for the government to decide. The opposition did not give answers to the question of how many billions should be cut and which year, and the government didn’t ask. We weren’t looking for support for the government, but to establish a common way forward for Finland,” Katainen said.
”The long legacy of this debt forces both the current and future governments to get down to business,” he said.
Other party leaders said the talks underlined the fact that compromises would be needed regardless of which parties are in government and which in opposition.
”It was a good debate. We cannot continue to live on credit,” the leader of the Social Democrats and Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen said. “Finland will continue to address this issue,” she said.
Lack of substance
However, opposition parties criticised the lack of substance at the discussions.
“The Centre Party has always believed in reducing the national debt. The Prime Minister didn’t need to convene talks in order to find that out,” said Centre Party deputy leader Annika Saarikko
She complained that the discussion didn’t touch on other matters such as the reforms of the social care system and local government.
”This three billion of savings that’s being talked about isn’t unfortunately the full sum Finland needs to find its way out of the current situation,” Saarikko said.
A key sticking point was the issue of whether painful austerity measures should be introduced within this parliamentary term, or deferred until after the next election in 2015. The opposition parties were opposed to decisions being made now regarding tax rises or budgetary cuts that would happen during the next legislative term.
Finns Party leader Timo Soini insisted that the parties not currently in government cannot take responsibility for the austerity measures, but conceded that they will be an issue for the next administration.
”Taking care of the national debt and these structural issues are pressing concerns for whoever is in government,” Soini said.
In March the government will hold a budget negotiation, after which it will make financial decisions covering the end of this parliamentary term.
Katainen refused to give a mark out of 10 for how successful the talks were, but did say, "I like it when Finns pull together.”