VZCZCXYZ0008
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHHE #0885 3481333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141333Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3962
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0043
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 5521
RUEHDL/AMEMBASSY DUBLIN 0072
RUEHLE/AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG 0415
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 0263
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0196
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1404
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000885 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM KJUS CJAN KTIA EUN FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND: STATUS OF EXTRADITION AND MLAT AGREEMENTS 
 
REF: A. THOME-PROPP E-MAILS JUNE 2007 
 
     ¶B. SCHLAEFER-PROPP-NARDI E-MAILS FEBRUARY 2007 
     ¶C. STATE 163864 
 
¶1. (U) On Dec. 11, the Finnish Parliament ratified the US-EU 
Agreements on Extradition and Mutual legal Assistance between 
the United States and the European Union, which had been 
signed in Washington on June 25, 2003.  Parliament also 
approved the implementing bilateral instruments.  Tuomo 
Antila, senior counsel to the Parliament's Legal Affairs (LA) 
committee, told PolChief that, technically, "Parliament has 
given its consent to ratification," and that the next steps 
now occur in Brussels.  However, he confirmed that the 
"Finnish portion" of the ratification process for both the 
agreements themselves and for the implementing bilateral 
instruments is now complete. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Finnish ratification had been held up since late 
2005 largely because of some MPs' concerns over US use of the 
death penalty; alleged CIA renditions in Europe; and the 
perceived impact these US-EU agreements might have on these 
two issues.  The Embassy has engaged in nearly a year of 
outreach with concerned MPs, including the chairs of the LA 
and Constitutional Law committees, in an attempt to allay 
their fears (reftels).  We are pleased to now be able to 
report the results of these positive efforts. 
 
HYATT