Røða á enskum, sum Bjørt Samuelsen, landsstýriskvinna við Vinnumálum helt, tá Estland tilnevndi heiðurskonsul í Føroyum.
Dear Sir
Mrs. Ambassador
Mr. Jóhan Páll Joensen
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am happy and proud to welcome you all to this very special event at restaurant Gourmet which is a good example of the ambitions we have in the field of developing a Faroese gourmet business as a complementary to our tourist industry.
For many years there has been cultural cooperation between our two countries. I could mention visiting choirs, mostly on a voluntary basis, and you have inspired a lot of Faroese and given them a love and admiration for your country and your people. I might add that we were happy to see you win the Eurovision Song Contest and feel that your promotion of Estonia leading up to the contest in Tallinn is a most worthy example to follow. The Faroe Islands may not win the Eurovision Song Contest, but we are proud to see Faroese songwriters, bands and orchestras performing with reasonable success in Europe.
Together with your island Saarema we meet and we compete in the Islands Games.
I feel honoured and very pleased to have this opportunity to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to Estonia. Even during the long period, when Estonia was unfree, the Faroes had good cooperation with Estonia within fisheries to the benefit of both parties. But to us it was a breakthrough internationally when we were able to sign at free trade agreement with Estonia in 1997. This was our first trade agreement with a country outside the European Common Market and the EFTA-states. Estonia made this possible even if it at that time was criticized in Brussels.
Nothing has changed dramatically since we signed our trade agreement in 1997, but please allow me to brief you about the relationship between the Faroe Islands and the EU.
The Faroes are at a crossroads concerning our future cooperation and relationship with the EU. We are in the process of finding solutions to broaden our scope of cooperation with the EU.
When Denmark joined the EEC in 1973, the Faroe Islands opted out. The main reason was fisheries, but also the delicate issue of independence from Denmark – joining the EEC together with Denmark would complicate matters even further!
In 1977 the Faroes and the EU concluded a bilateral fisheries agreement, and in 1996 the parties concluded the current Free Trade Agreement. The Free Trade Agreement has since then been subject to several changes, both concerning market access, and by the extension of the cooperation into other fields, among others veterinary issues and the Pan-Euro-Med Cumulation of Origin.
Formally the relationship today between the Faroes and the EU is regulated by those two agreements. We in the Faroes believe that the time has come to broaden and deepen this relationship to cover the four freedoms as well as other policy areas, such as research, education and so on.
This issue will probably at some point be on the agenda in the EU’s EFTA group. We would appreciate the support of Estonia in this matter.
Our road to Europe - we are still a third country - is thus a road full of principal questions but also a road to find pragmatical solutions, enabling us not to lag too far behind in the globalization of today and in the future
But tonight is a time for celebration and happiness and for expressing good wishes and finding new contacts of importance in the future.
Let me express my thanks for this first step, together with my best wishes for mutual benefits from the Estonian consulate in the Faroes. I am convinced it will enhance modern and international competitive trade and industry in all their aspects, as it will also enhance tourism and cultural interaction between our two countries.
Ours is a small country, situated in the vast North Atlantic, while your country is far larger and placed on the brink of an even larger and more dominant country. But we are all small countries in a sense, and through your freedom you have been able to choose a closer relationship with the European Union, while we are still in the process of finding our own road to international cooperation within Europe.
Concerning your choice of person for the position of Consul I can only say that we in the Faroes know Mr. Jóhan Páll Joensen as one of our best and most industrious members of our business and industry community - a respected personality in all aspects of life.
And to you, Jóhan Páll, I would like personally to congratulate you with the assignment of being Honorary Consul of Estonia in the Faroe Islands!
To the successful future cooperation between Estonia and the Faroe Islands I would like to propose a toast!
Bjørt Samuelsen
Minister of Trade and Industry