From national protection to global market economy Finnish foreign-trade policies and integration policies since World War II

From the early years of Independence up to the beginning of the 1960s Finland practised foreign-trade policies which were conspicuously protectionist for a small West European and Nordic country highly dependent on foreign trade. Finnish import duties corresponded to those of industrial countries with large domestic market, while war-time import regulations were extended largely for protectionist purposes. Free-trade integration consisted of free trade in industrial goods within Western Europe. In 1961, Finland concluded a separate agreement with the member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), becoming a “full member” of the EFTA in 1986, and, in 1973, a free trade agreement with the European Communities (EC). Large-scale trade with the Soviet Union complemented the Finnish foreign trade. Integration solutions with regard to Western Europe included special arrangements to safeguard the Eastern trade. From the mid-1980s on, Finland oriented herself towards the emerging European Economic Space (EES), later on renamed the European Economic Area (EEA), between the Community and the EFTA...