Finland and the case of a Northern dimension for the EU: inclusion by bargaining or arguing?

Abstract

In 1997, Finland presented a major foreign policy initiative labelled the ‘Northern Dimension’ (ND) that was quickly included as a part of the EU’s external relations. Many analysts seem to argue that the EU’s foreign policy is a big power concert where intergovernmental bargaining either results in a compromise, where none of the three big states get exactly what they want, or the negotiations break down because of conflicting interests. However, this paper suggests that the big states sometimes acquire new or change existing preferences as a result of “well” argued proposals from the small states, i.e. that learning takes place.