“The tasks of political assistants have become more and more significant Mr. or Mrs. elevators.”
Exceptional, but a legitimate choice. This is how the professors interviewed by STT assessed the person with a communist background Jori Arvonen nominated as head of Finland's EU mission over candidates with more experience in diplomatic careers.
Arvonen's selection has been criticized in particular by the Association of Officials of the Foreign Affairs Administration, because he does not meet the eligibility requirements for the position. He lacks the international affairs training course (kavaku) and the required language skills.
The professors tell STT that the appointments of high officials decided by the Government are often political, no matter which party is in power. It becomes a problem if political merits are blatantly overridden official merits.
In addition to Arvonen, six people with experience in various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applied for the position.
Public law professor Tomi Voutilainen The University of Eastern Finland says that the legality of Arvonen's appointment has been verified in advance. Matters to be decided in the general session of the Government go through a preliminary inspection by the chancellor of justice, and it would have come up if there had been anything to point out in the eligibility requirements.
“At the Office of the Chancellor of Justice, we also look at the criteria and how the applicants have been compared, to ensure that the criteria withstand legality criticism. His own business is political criticism, the chancellor of justice does not take a stand on that,” says Voutilainen.
Professor of Political Science Ilkka Ruostetsaari The University of Tampere considers Arvonen's appointment to be exceptional among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' appointments. In his opinion, it seems that political merits were probably overridden official merits.
“In that sense, I think we can talk about a political appointment here. I am not able to assess whether Arvonen is qualified enough for the position in terms of substantive knowledge, but in any case, in terms of diplomatic experience, he was probably less experienced than the other applicants.”
Rust Tsar and Voutilainen both remember the political side recruitments made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the past, such as the coalition Pertti Salolainenwho was appointed ambassador to London after his political career, Rkp Be Norrbackinwho after his political career was ambassador to Norway and Greece, and the coalition Jari Vilén'swho, after his MP and short ministerial career, was, among other things, ambassador to Hungary and Poland.
“Arvonen's case is unusual in the sense that he was appointed ambassador and head of the EU delegation directly from a career as a political assistant without having a traditional ministerial background. As a minister, you gain significant management experience, which is often important in high-ranking positions,” says Ruostetsaari.
In Ruostetsaari's opinion, it is also worth noting that the EU representation is exceptionally important in terms of monitoring Finland's interests and that the appointment to its leadership is more significant than many ordinary ambassadorial appointments.
“The head of the EU delegation represents Finland in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), which prepares matters to be discussed at the meetings of the Council of Ministers, that is, it is a very important place in terms of monitoring Finland's interests, and as I understand it, it is a delegation with a large number of personnel.”
Neither the professor does not deny that Arvonen is familiar with EU affairs, but they understand the shock of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' personnel organization. According to Ruostetsaari, you are usually promoted to the head of the representative office only after a long career.
“Of course, the trade association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raises the issue, because it represents civil servants who have progressed step by step in their diplomatic careers for years. The fact that someone bypasses the so-called feeding order and gets to a certain task through different freedoms can cause others to take a detour in their career before they can move forward,” Voutilainen also says.
Voutilainen thinks it would be interesting to know how the Government evaluated the applicants. It has wide discretion in how it emphasizes different criteria in the selection.
“Arvosel also has a clear EU background, so the appointment has not been made without a foundation, but the use of discretion will of course come up against limits at some point. If the person had no background, then the appointment could be somewhat problematic,” says Voutilainen.
Jori Arvonen has worked, among other things, as a special assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Under-Secretary of State for EU Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office, Deputy Head of the EU Secretariat and Under-Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office.
According to the nomination memorandum of the Government, he has thus achieved the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position of foreign affairs adviser.
Half of the world's representatives of the governing parties have been appointed to high positions, although in the opposition, each party in turn opposes them.
“Governments want to ensure and strengthen the political guidance of ministries, because officials in high positions exercise significant preparatory and executive power,” says Ruostetsaari.
The next official appointment to receive criticism for politics may be that of the basic Finnish interior minister Mari Rantanen the appointment of the political secretary of state as the chief of the protection police.
It is often the case that political merits may have an impact along with other official merits. It's very rare that there are very blatant appointments in such a way that other applicants with much stronger official merits are bypassed on the basis of political merits.
“Wearing political appointments has proven to be difficult, and there has been
no desire to do so. From the point of view of equality, however, it is a negative thing if working in politics becomes a passing lane for high positions and official merit weighs less in the appointment,” Ruostetsaari says.
Arvonen's appointment in part shows that the positions of political assistants, i.e. political secretaries of state and special assistants, have become more and more significant Mr. or Mrs. elevators, through which one rises to significant social positions.
Voutilainen says, that the eligibility requirements of the foreign affairs administration are stipulated in the decree, in which case the general session of the Government can grant exemption from the prescribed requirements in such a case.
In his opinion, it might be worth reassessing the entire Foreign Affairs Administration Decree from the point of view of whether eligibility requirements in this form are even necessary.
“In itself, different freedoms are a pointless bureaucracy, if they are mainly granted anyway. Perhaps the qualification requirements should be reformulated so that qualification can be acquired in other ways than by going through a training program.”
In Ruostetsaari's opinion, it is difficult to say whether the kavaku training program should be removed from the eligibility requirements. He does not believe that we are ready to give it up.
“As I understand it, it is a significant professional education pipeline that leads to a diplomatic career. In general, eligibility requirements have gone in a broader direction. Today, almost every position requires a higher education degree, even just a higher education degree, whereas in previous years there were more specific requirements for each ministry.”
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