Abstract
The Åland Islands are a Swedish-speaking autonomous territory of Finland. The broad autonomy granted by the League of Nations’ decision of 1921 allowed the Isles to make an independent decision on the integration of the Baltic archipelago into the European Communities in the early 1990s. The article presents the process of the Åland Islands obtaining EC membership, and focuses on the special status awarded to the archipelago. Thanks to the joint involvement of the autonomous authorities of the Islands and central authorities of Finland and the favorable attitude of the EC, derogations were successfully developed which, in essence, concern the basic principles of the EC. By this token, the citizens of the Åland Islands managed to secure not only the Swedish-speaking nature of their territory (retaining rights of domicile), but also the protection of their own economy (being excluded from the EU tax law regulations).References
Act on the Autonomy of Åland (1999), http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/1991/en19911144.pdf, 22.06.2017.
Åland in the European Union (2013), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Jyväskylä.
Åland statistic- och utredningsbyrå, Val – Riksdags-, president- och EU-parlamentsval, http://www.asub.ax/sv/val-riksdags-president-och-eu-parlamentsval, 7.07.2017.
Bonusiak G. (2009), Statut Wysp Alandzkich, Rzeszów.
Case-law of the Court of Justice, C-343/05 Commission v. Finland, judgment of 18 May 2006.
Commission refers Finland to the European Court of Justice a second time over tobacco for oral use (2007), IP/07/1592, http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-07-1592_en.htm?locale=en, 12.06.2016.
Eriksson S. (1995), Åland – a Demilitarized, Neutralized Region, w: The Åland Islands Demilitarized Region, Mariehamn.
Fagerlund N. (1997), Autonomous European Island Regions Enjoying a Special Relationship with the European Union, w: Constitutional and Economic Space of the Small Nordic Jurisdiction, red. L. Lyck, NordREFO, Stockholm.
Fagerlund N. (1997a), The Special Status of th ,e Åland Islands in the European Union, w: Autonomy and Demilitarization in International Law: the Åland Islands in a Changing Europe, red. L. Hannikainen, F. Horn, The Hague–London–Boston.
Finland ratifies the treaty of Lisbon (2008), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, http://www.finland.lt/public/default.aspx?contentid=136309&nodeid=38417&contentlan=2&culture=en-US, 11.09.2008.
Grzybowski M. (2007), Finlandia. Zarys systemu ustrojowego, Kraków.
Hannikainen L. (1992), Cultural, Linguistic and Educational Rights in the Åland Islands. An Analysis in International Law, Helsinki.
Hannus B. (2017), Åland vill diskutera EU-parlamentsplats i samband med Brexit, https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2017/04/28/aland-vill-diskutera-euparlamentsplats-i-samband-med-brexit, 28.04.2017.
Hepburn E. (2014), Forging autonomy in a unitary state: the Åland Islands in Finland, “Comparative European Politics”, vol. 12, Issue 4–5.
Interreg V-A – Finland-Estonia-Latvia-Sweden (Central Baltic), http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/pl/atlas/programmes/2014-2020/finland/2014tc16rfcb014, 22.06.2017.
Karlsson T. (1999), A tax paradise in the making? Alcohol regulations in the Åland Islands, “Contemporary Drug Problems”, vol. 26, Issue 1.
Konstytucja Finlandii z 11 czerwca 1999 r., http://libr.sejm.gov.pl/tek01/txt/konst/finlandia.html, 18.06.2017.
Laeken Declaration (2001), Presidency Conclusions 15 December 2001, European Union.
Lindholm G. (1997), Recent Developments in the Evolution of the Aaland Autonomy, w: Constitutional and Economic Space of the Small Nordic Jurisdiction, red. L. Lyck, NordREFO, Stockholm.
Nordregio, (2006) http://www.nordregio.se/Files/r0601.pdf#search=%22%22Interreg%20III%20A%20Archipelago%22%22, 4 września 2006.
Protocol No 2 on the AAland islands, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A11994N%2FPRO%2F02, 20.06.2017.
Report completed on the importance for the Province of Åland of work on the future of Europe (2003), Government Information Unit, http:///www.vnk.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/en.jsp?oid=96922, 21 sierpnia 2006.
Scarpulla C. (2002), The Constitutional Framework for the Autonomy of Åland. A Survey of the Status of an Autonomous Region in the throes of European Integration, Mariehamn.
Silverström S. (2008), The Competence of Autonomous Entities in the International Arena – With Special Reference to the Åland Islands in the European Union, “International Journal on Minority and Group Rights”, vol. 15.
Statistical Yearbook of Åland 2016, http://www.asub.ax/sites/www.asub.ax/files/attachments/page/statistisk_arsbok_for_aland_2016_0.pdf, 25.04.2017.
Stephan S. (2010), Regional voices in the European Union – regions with legislative power and multi-level governance. Perspectives for the Åland Islands, Mariahamn.
Suksi M. (1995), Frames of Autonomy and the Åland Islands, Åbo Univeristy, Åbo.
Suksi M. (2011), The Åland Islands as a Continued Asymmetrical Feature of Finish Governance: with Some Convoluted Tendencies of Resymmetrisation, w: F. Requejo, K. J. Nagel, Federalism beyond Federations. Asymmetry and Processes of Resymmetrisation in Europe, Aldershot.
The Legislative Assembly of Aland – Åland Lagting, http://www.lagtinget.ax, 29 maja 2005.
License
Articles published in "Central European Political Studies" are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. License (CC BY 4.0). They may be copied, redistributed and shared only if appropriate credit is given.