Controlling non-EU investments hard to accept: PM

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said Finland has difficulty in accepting a system where the European Commission would control non-European Union (EU) investments in Finland.

Talking to Finnish media late Friday, Sipilä commented on the ideas promoted by France that the Commission would be able to "x-ray" investments from non-EU countries.

"This kind of linkage is futile," Sipilä said, especially in the bioproduct sector. There are currently several major Chinese investment plans pending in the bioproduct sector in Finland.

However, Sipilä added that he would understand the "x-raying" of investments in the branches that are critically important to security.

In the EU summer summit convened this week in Brussels, the EU leaders were split on the issue. In the end, the summit agreed that the Commission will evaluate the need for a system to look into ways of "recognizing unfair situations in trade."

Besides Finland, the French idea was criticised mostly by the other Nordic countries, Britain and the Netherlands.