civil and military operations. It also provides troops to the roster of EU Battle Groups. These have not been used since their creation in 2006, however.
The EU’s mutual defence clause (TEU, Art. 42.7) has had important consequences for Finland’s policies and legislation. The adoption of the clause led to the abandonment of non-alignment as Finland’s security policy. The corresponding legislative changes are currently being discussed, which would provide the legal framework for the reception and provision of international assistance, above and beyond the current legislation on crisis management and its provisions concerning the enlarged use of force. The mutual defence clause has been the driving force for these changes but their scope is of a much broader nature, since they also apply to non-EU contingencies as long as they are in conformity with the principles of the UN Charter. They would be of direct relevance to Finland’s Bündnisfähigkeit, its ability to play its full role as an ally, if the country were to join NATO.
Nordic cooperation in security and defence policy: how much can it achieve? Nordic defence cooperation has had a pragmatic image since the Cold War. Differing positions towards the EU and NATO create obvious constraints for deeper security and defence policy cooperation between the Nordic states. Cooperation, therefore, has focused on crisis management, training and exercises, and armaments cooperation.
The Finnish and Swedish partnerships with NATO, and the Norwegian engagement in the EU’s crisis management policy, have provided larger frameworks for Nordic defence cooperation and platforms for the use of joint Nordic capabilities.
A couple of recent efforts have been made that go beyond the pragmatic character of cooperation, however. First came the so-called Swedish solidarity declaration of 2009. Confirming its commitment to the EU’s military assistance and solidarity clauses, Sweden extended its scope to the two Nordic states (Iceland and Norway) outside the EU. Later on, a similar declaration between the Nordic states was adopted in a ministerial meeting in 2011, focusing on cybersecurity, terrorist attacks and natural or manmade disasters. This Nordic Declaration stated that the intensified cooperation would be undertaken wholly in line with each country’s security and defence policy, and would complement existing European and Euro-Atlantic cooperation.
