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From Isolation to the Core: Finland's Position towards European Integration 55
scope of this trade from foreign competition. Finland exported to the Soviet Union
mainly manufactured goods and imported mainly raw materials, thus saving currencies.
The economic determinant of Finland's West European integration policies was,
however, the necessity to safeguard economic relations with the leading West European
countries with which the bulk of Finland's foreign trade was concluded (see figure 1). 3
Figure 1.
Distribution of Finnish exports and imports by groups of countries, 1950-98
Finland is usually characterised as belonging to the open economies of the small
Nordic countries, with an export share varying, in different times, usually between
about a fifth and a quarter of domestic production. Safeguarding the export interests
has been the main point of departure for the Finnish foreign economic policies.
When the question of larger West European market formations became topical during
the latter half of the 1950s, the principal Finnish anxiety was to avoid being left
alone behind tariff walls. Up to the 1960s this concern referred almost exclusively
to the export interests of wood-processing industries, but the argument suited also
other export sectors.
The endeavour to be identified as a Western country has no doubt been an important
driving force behind the country's pro-integration policies, even though it
3. Statistical note to the figures:
Imports by country of origin, exports by country of consumption/destination. The original Standard International
Trade Classification (SITC) is used for trade with individual countries and groups of countries
for the years 1960-61. The SITC Rev. (1) is used for the years 1962-75, while also the figures for
total trade in 1954-61 are re-classified according to SITC Rev. (1). SITC Rev. 2 is used for the years
1976-87 and SITC Rev. 3 from 1988 onwards. Sources: Suomen taloushistoria 3. Historiallinen tilasto
– The Economic History of Finland 3. Historical Statistics, Helsinki 1983, Table 5.13; Finnish Official
Statistics: Foreign Trade, 1950-98 (The Customs Board of Finland), Helsinki, various years.