Finland should never have signed up to the single currency union, according to its foreign minister.

With the northernmost euro member now set to become the bloc’s weakest economy, the question of currency regime continues to resurface as Finland looks for explanations for its lost competitiveness. Time Soini, who is also the leader of one of three members of the ruling coalition, the anti-immigration The Finns party, says the country could have resorted to devaluations had it not been for its euro membership.

The comments come as a former foreign minister gathers signatures in an effort to force the government to hold a referendum on euro membership. While polls still show most Finns don’t want to go through the process of exiting the currency bloc, there are signs that a plurality of voters think they would be better off outside the euro.

Debate on the subject “will gather steam,” Soini, who rose to power on a platform of euro-skepticism, said in Helsinki on Tuesday. But he also warned that a referendum “wouldn’t provide solutions,” here and now, to Finland’s economic woes. “The fact is that Finland is a member of the euro area.”

The country has seen its economy sink following the decline of a consumer electronics business once led by Nokia Oyj and a faltering paper industry, with political efforts to create new growth motors so far failing.

David Fuller's view

Is the Euro popular within any EU country?  I have not seen a regional poll on this topic but I doubt it.  Sure, people like the freedom of travel within the EU without having to use a different currency in the countries visited.  That is a good argument for retaining the Euro as a financial or commercial currency, as I have mentioned before.  However, I suspect that most EU citizens feel that their own countries would be better off they reintroduced their previous currencies, while remaining members of the former European Free Trade Association.

National currencies would inevitably range in value against the Euro in line with domestic circumstances.  For instance, a reintroduced Finnish Markka would depreciate against the Euro to help Finland’s economy regain its economic momentum.  The former German Deutschmark would most likely appreciate against the Euro, particularly when inflationary pressures next increase. 

I do not expect a reintroduction of former national currencies within the EU, at least not anytime soon, because it does not fit the zeitgeist of the region’s unelected bureaucrats.  Moreover, elected politicians within the EU appear resigned to masochistically running their losses.  Nevertheless, criticisms of the EU by its member states, once unheard of, are now commonplace.  Similarly, rebellion against EU policies is increasing within member countries, as we recently saw with France abandoning deficit constraints in addressing terrorist attacks in Paris.  Many EU countries are now making up their own rules regarding the mishandled migrant crisis.  Governments which ignore their electorates in following EU regulations are punished in the polls.    

We are witnessing the beginning of a potentially lengthy breakup of the EU, perhaps before it even reaches its federal stages which few people support.