- While the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) has only noted a few glimpses of light on the horizon, it believes that rock bottom has been reached. The outlook for small and medium-sized companies suggests that a gradual recovery is under way, comments Leif Lindberg, trade journalist with extensive experience of the Finnish forestry sector, to Nordic Paper Journal.Nevertheless, the economic trend in Europe is a source of concern for the Finnish forest industry. According to UPM’s President Jussi Pesonen, there are no signs that Europe’s competitiveness or economy are improving. Stora Enso’s President Jouko Karvinen also laments the decline in demand for paper in Europe and believes that industry forecasts have been too optimistic.Finnish companies are not immune to an economic slump and have been unsuccessful in attempts to create the economic dynamic necessary to reverse the European trend of falling newspaper circulation,” says Jouko Karvinen, who also believes that some of the ground lost due to cyclical factors will remain in the form of a permanent structural shift. Once the media has made the transition to digitalization, there is no going back.- When consumer demand wanes, cutbacks are always aimed at production capacity representing the highest costs and the lowest profit margins. This capacity is then transferred to machines with better margins, regardless of the country, and we can see this happening as we speak,” remarks Leif Lindberg.Meanwhile, there is dissatisfaction in Finland with the amount of EU red tape. Aside from the economic turbulence in Europe, Metsä Group President Kari Jordan also points to the EU regulatory framework, which he says is becoming more and more complex as each year passes. - The company has studied all of the regulations governing taxation, competition and the environment and has established that these are covered by 4 000 different rules from Brussels. The sulfur directive is just the tip of the iceberg, concludes Leif Lindberg.