Parliamentary perceptions of security and defence policy decision–making in the Finnish parliamentary session of 2019–23

Finland’s decision to seek membership of NATO in 2022 provides an opportunity to examine the parliamentary role in decision making and to reflect on the key features of the 2019–23 parliamentary session. This article draws on interviews with 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) from that session to qualitatively explore perceptions of security and defence policy decision making and its main parliamentary dimensions: decision making opportunities for MPs, with a focus on the Finnish Government’s report processes; debating possibilities, particularly the opportunity to debate differing viewpoints; and access to information to enable informed decision making. The study contributes to the oral history of security and defence policymaking and offers Finland as a case study, while also engaging with broader debates concerning the parliamentary role in security and defence policy decision making. The findings indicate that parliament held a strong role and that MPs generally considered their rights to debate and to access information sufficient, although the latter partly depended on their position within the key committees related to security and defence – namely the Defence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Furthermore, the study shows that consensus seeking tendencies may limit debate on security and defence matters.