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Additional funding proposed for rescue training, increasing the refugee quota and EXIT activities

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — In the supplementary budget proposal for 2022, a total increase of EUR 20.4 million is proposed for the administrative branch of the Ministry of the Interior. Appropriations are proposed for the development of the national security authorities’ KEJO common information system (EUR 6.85 million), for the Emergency Response Centre Administration’s information system fees (EUR 1.3 million) and for the EU Home Affairs Fund item (EUR 8 million) A total of EUR 1.95 million is proposed for strengthening rescue training and an additional EUR 0.3 million for EXIT activities. An appropriation of EUR 1.1 million is proposed for increasing the refugee quota.Swedish-language rescue course and more rescue trainees to meet growing need for rescuersImproving the operational preparedness of rescue services and changes related to standby provision will create an additional need for around 1,000 rescue personnel during 2020–2030. A total of EUR 1.95 million is proposed to strengthen rescue training. The number of starting places for rescue trainees will be increased on a one-off basis by 24 students. To secure the number of Swedish-speaking rescue personnel, a Swedish-language rescue course with 30 study places will be established, starting in 2022. The Swedish-language course will be implemented as a regional course organised by the Emergency Services Academy Finland in Kuopio in cooperation with a regional rescue department. The increase in rescue training will ensure equal access and quality of services throughout the country.It is proposed that the level of appropriations for rescue services’ special expenditure be raised by approximately EUR 1 million to EUR 3 million.Refugee quota to increase to 1,500Due to the situation in Afghanistan, it is proposed that Finland’s refugee quota for 2022 be increased to 1,500. In accordance with an earlier decision, Finland had prepared to receive 1,050 quota refugees in 2022. An appropriation of EUR 1.1 million is proposed for increasing the refugee quota.Increase for EXIT activities and their developmentEXIT activities provide individually tailored support services to people who are already radicalised or are at risk of radicalisation. The activities has been developed since 2015, when the EU adopted a recommendation that, in addition to criminal justice measures, Member States should have services to help people break away from violent extremist activities and extremism. The goal of EXIT activities and their development is a permanent service organised by both public authorities and organisations.An increase of EUR 0.3 million is proposed for EXIT activities and their development in cooperation with the public sector and organisations. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Nearly 80.6 per cent of people aged 12 or over have been vaccinated twice — burden on specialised healthcare and case numbers are increasing

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — On 17 November, 86.2 per cent of the target population for COVID-19 vaccination in Finland, i.e. people who are 12 years of age or over, had received at least their first vaccine dose and 80.6 per cent also their second vaccine dose.Between 11 and 17 November, the uptake of the first vaccine dose grew by 0.2 percentage points and the uptake of the second dose by 0.6 percentage points. Altogether 154,629 people had received their third vaccine dose.Between 8 and 14 November, a total of 137 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to specialised healthcare, while in the preceding five-week period, the number varied between 110 and 135. Last week, 31 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to intensive care, while in the preceding week, the figure was 20. At the end of last week, the total number of patients in specialised healthcare was 147, of whom 110 were in inpatient care and 37 in intensive care. Between August and October, unvaccinated people were 19 times more likely to be admitted to specialised healthcare and 33 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care than vaccinated people. On 17 November 2021, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths reported to the communicable diseases register was 1,236.The incidence of new COVID-19 cases between 1 and 14 November was 199 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period (18–31 October), the figure was 142 per 100,000 inhabitants. Last week, about 5,900 new cases were reported in Finland, while in the preceding week, there were approximately 5,200 new cases.About 95,200 COVID-19 tests were taken last week. The proportion of positive cases of all these samples was 6.2 per cent. In mid-October, the weekly number of tests carried out was around 77,600, after which the number of tests has grown steadily. The proportion of positive cases of all samples taken in mid-October was 4.8 per cent, and even this figure has grown steadily since then. The following 12 areas meet the epidemiological characteristics for areas in the community transmission phase: the Hospital Districts of South Ostrobothnia, Helsinki and Uusimaa, Kanta-Häme, Central Ostrobothnia, Kymenlaakso, Länsi-Pohja, Pirkanmaa, North Ostrobothnia, Päijät-Häme, Satakunta, Vaasa and Southwest Finland.The epidemiological situation is monitored weekly. The situational picture is updated weekly on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare under ‘Situation update on coronavirus’. An extensive monitoring report is published on the Institute’s webpage ‘Monitoring reports on the hybrid strategy’ every other week on Thursday afternoons. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Minister Blomqvist to forum for cross-border regional cooperation

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will speak in a forum on the state and future of cross-border regional cooperation (Gränsregionalt Forum) in Oulu on 18 November. He will also meet local actors, including representatives of the Bothnian Arc collaboration and the City of Oulu, BusinessOulu and the University of Oulu.Minister Blomqvist will speak about the state and future of border cooperation at the Gränsregionalt Forum on 18 November. The restrictions on border traffic due to COVID-19 have posed a particular challenge to cooperation in the border regions.According to Minister Blomqvist, cross-border regional cooperation is an important part of Nordic cooperation: “The work supports in a concrete way our common goal of becoming a more sustainable and integrated region in the world. Nordic cooperation has traditionally aimed at facilitating everyday life across borders. Cross-border cooperation and the border regions can be considered frontrunners. Cross-border cooperation promotes integration in the Nordic region, which is a cornerstone of the Nordic Prime Ministers’ common vision.”The Minister will also meet representatives of the Bothnian Arc. Oulu is currently chairing the Bothnian Arc collaboration with Luleå as vice-chair. As its name suggests, the Bothnian Arc includes the coastal areas of the Bay of Bothnia in Finland and Sweden. The Bothnian Arc is one of the thirteen Nordic cross-border cooperation organisations whose activities are funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.The Minister will also meet representatives of the City of Oulu, BusinessOulu and the University of Oulu and discuss the future prospects of the region and the promotion of exports in the northern regions.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Conference on 9 December to highlight Nordic experiences on social economy, social enterprises, intermediate labour market and employment of people with impaired capacity to work

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The low employment rate of people with impaired capacity to work is a common problem in the Nordic countries. However, a new kind of intermediate labour market, a social economy and social entrepreneurship can offer solutions that improve the employment of people with impaired capacity to work.These issues will be explored at Promoting Employment for People with Disabilities, a virtual Nordic conference to be held on Thursday 9 December at 10.00–16.30.The event will provide an opportunity to hear inspiring examples, experiences, new perspectives and practical solutions to the employment problems of people with impaired capacity to work. Representatives from business and industry, public administration and organisations from Finland and the other Nordic countries will speak at the event. Other topics on the agenda include the European Commission’s new Social Economy Action Plan and the Swedish Samhall company, which employs people with impaired capacity to work. Samhall has served as a model for the Finnish Työkanava Oy, on which Parliament is currently debating a legislative proposal.The event will be opened by Hanna Sarkkinen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health, and the closing words will be given by Ville Kopra, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.The conference is one of the working life events organised during Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have organised the conference. The event will be held in English. Speech-to-text interpretation will be available. The hashtags for the event on social media are #Norden2021 and #TheNordicsTogetherRead more about the conference and register for it: Promoting Employment for People with Disabilities (sourcehub.fi)

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

The Riigikogu discusses achieving of European Union’s and Estonia’s climate targets

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet —

Today, the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) will discuss the matter of significant national importance “European Union’s and Estonia’s climate targets by 2030 – achieving ‘Fit for 55’”, initiated by the European Union Affairs Committee.

Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Siim Kallas, as well as Member of Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans Helena Braun, Director of Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre Lauri Tammiste, and Professor of the University of Tartu and Science and Development Director of Milrem Robotics Mart Noorma will deliver reports at the sitting of the Riigikogu.

Kallas said that the green transition package ‘Fit for 55’ was a collection of very big and complicated initiatives that aimed to reduce climate warming. “Climate warming has already caused extreme heat, floods, drought, shortage of water, rise of sea levels, melting of glaciers, forest fires, windbreakages and damage to agriculture,” he noted. “In the future, these phenomena will have a great impact on ecosystems, people and economy.”

The chairman said that now it was the time we had to decide what to do to achieve climate neutrality.

The reports will be followed by questions to the speakers and comments by the representatives of political groups and members of the Riigikogu.

The sitting begins at 10 a.m., and will be streamed live on the Riigikogu home page and Facebook page.

The video recording of the sitting can be viewed on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Security situation was discussed at Question Time of the Riigikogu

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet —

At today’s Question Time, members of the Riigikogu asked Prime Minister Kaja Kallas about Estonia’s readiness for a potential hybrid attack.

In his question, Member of the Riigikogu Rene Kokk referred to the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. He wanted to know how Estonia was prepared for a similar hybrid attack and if additional procurements were planned for the protection of borders.

The Prime Minister admitted that the security situation was dangerous and tense, but she assured that there was no direct threat to the borders of Estonia. She remarked that, taking into account the changed security situation, the Government had decided to hold an additional reservist training exercise and to put up temporary border barriers without delay in places where the border fence has not been constructed. “Starting today, the reservists will be called up, and in eight days, the Defence Forces will erect the barriers there,” she said. Kallas added that the Government was also looking for solutions for speeding up the construction of the whole border.

The Prime Minister pointed out that lots of work had been done to get financing from the European funds for the construction of the external borders of Europe. “The European Commission has been strongly against it,” Kallas said. “Today, I am happy to note that, for example, President of the European Council Charles Michel has already said that financing for the construction of the border fences should also come from the budget of the European Union,” she added.

Kallas also emphasised that Europe should demonstrate unity in the ongoing security crisis. “Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are doing what is their duty: they are protecting the border of Europe. We should never go along with, I would say, the provocations calling for softer attitude. I think that the right attitude so far has been forceful and strong, and dictator Lukashenka did not expect that,” the Head of Government said.

Member of the Riigikogu Helir-Valdor Seeder wanted to know if in the Prime Minister considered it necessary to amend also the national legislation so that it would be possible to deal flexibly with the possible illegal immigrants. Kallas replied that the Minister of the Interior was reviewing the relevant legislation, and remarked that the Riigikogu could also initiate bills for solving these issues.

The Prime Minister also replied to Kalle Grünthal’s question about managing the coronavirus crisis, Kert Kingo’s question about the rule of law and Mart Helme’s question about the migration crisis.

Minister of Culture Tiit Terik replied to Helle-Moonika Helme’s question about the incidents in the area of administration of the Ministry of Culture, and to Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits’s question about investments in the field of culture.

Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt replied to Priit Sibul’s question about subsidies to businesses and employment, and to Merry Aart’s question about the time schedule for consolidation of information technology.

The verbatim record of Question Time (in Estonian)

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Source: Parliament of Estonia

General Affairs Council to discuss cohesion policy

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The EU General Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on 18 November to discuss cohesion policy. Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen will represent Finland at the meeting.At the meeting, the ministers in charge of cohesion policy will discuss the contribution of cohesion policy programmes to recovery, competitive sustainability, the green and digital transition, and economic, social and territorial cohesion. The ministers will also discuss how cohesion policy can be combined with other EU instruments to better meet the different needs of individual regions, further reduce development disparities and improve the vitality of regions.The General Affairs Council will also approve conclusions on the inclusion of San Marino in the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Government opposes adopting proposed delegated act on climate under EU Taxonomy Regulation

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — On Wednesday 17 November, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs outlined the Government’s position on the Climate Delegated Act under the EU classification system for sustainable activities, also known as the EU taxonomy. The matter will be submitted to Parliament as a Europe communication.In Finland’s view, the objective of the delegated act – to facilitate the financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation – is important. The technical screening criteria for the many economic activities in the delegated act can mainly be considered successful and in line with climate goals. 
 
However, the Government does not support the adoption of the delegated act in the current form proposed by the European Commission. In the Government’s view, some aspects of the technical criteria for forest management are difficult to understand and open to interpretation. Verifying compliance with the criteria would be difficult, and they cannot be considered appropriate in all respects. The ambiguity of the criteria could lead to a situation where forestry would be excluded from the taxonomy, which would make it more difficult to access funding for forestry investments.  
 
Finland also believes that detailed regulation of forestry should remain within the competence of the Member States. The Commission’s proposal requires the technical screening criteria to be examined at the level of the forest holding or procurement area, whereas up until now the sustainability of forest use has, as a rule, been examined at the Member State level.
 
Finland also regrets that the technical screening criteria treat hydropower and bioenergy differently from other low-emission forms of energy.
 
Moreover, Finland regrets that the Commission has not included technical screening criteria for nuclear energy in the Climate Delegated Act and considers it important that the Commission adopt a complementary delegated act for nuclear energy as soon as possible.
 
The Taxonomy Regulation aims to accelerate the attainment of emissions reduction goals by creating a classification system for sustainable financing and investment targets. In line with the regulation, the climate resilience of a project may affect the amount of funding it receives.
 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Joensuu’s Draft Program receives a special mention in promoting European entrepreneurship

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The Draft Program – an entrepreneurship programme by the Karelia University of Applied Sciences – was given a special mention in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA). The Joensuu-based project was recognised for its innovation and creativity in disseminating local good practices to other entrepreneurs starting in the area.The Draft Program is a small but innovative joint entrepreneurship programme of five educational institutions in eastern Finland. The programme provides microfinance and coaching to students, staff and alumni teams. The programme has developed an operating model for experimental entrepreneurship, where each client team is considered a research expedition that produces locally relevant information on the sector. The entrepreneurial coaches, i.e. the developers of experimental entrepreneurship, will transform the lessons learned from team work into so-called useful publications. These publications are practical blogs, videos, podcasts and guides that disseminate local sector-specific practices to other new businesses in the region. About a dozen companies have been born out of the programme in recent years. This year, a total of 47 projects from 28 countries took part in the EEPA competition in six series. The purpose of the competition is to present the best practices and approaches to promoting entrepreneurship. Another aim is to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs. This is the 15th time that the European Commission will award the annual EEPA prize.The competition finalists and projects receiving a special mention were displayed at the SME Assembly, which was held in Slovenia on 15–17 November.The social media hashtag of the competition is #EEPA2021.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

Ministers Skinnari and Lintilä to meet Governor of Minnesota

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Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, will visit Finland on 17–19 November. This is the Governor’s first visit abroad since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.The visit is related to extensive cooperation between Finland and Minnesota in the fields of clean energy, sustainable bioeconomy and digital technology. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari signed a Letter of Understanding between Finland and the State of Minnesota during his visit to the United States in October. The cooperation opens up new commercial opportunities for Finnish businesses. It will also promote Finland’s climate objectives and international cooperation to combat climate change.Governor Walz will be accompanied by a delegation of about 60 people, representing a large number of US companies. This tells about interest in Finland. “Finland is well known in Minnesota. We have many common and complementary strengths from research to international trade and from sport to culture. State-level cooperation with the United States is now the right way for Finland to proceed and achieve concrete results. In future, we will engage in systematic cooperation with other US States, too,” Minister Skinnari says. “Minnesota is a great place to do business. Our goal is to share that message with the world, strengthening trade with our partners in Europe while expanding economic opportunity for businesses and families here in Minnesota,” says Governor Walz. “I’ll be joined by business leaders from across the state as we build on our existing relationships and encourage European businesses to start or grow their operations in Minnesota.”During his visit, Governor Walz will meet President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö, Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, Minister of Science and Culture Antti Kurvinen and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä. During the visit, the Minnesotan delegation will meet representatives of Finnish companies, research institutes, universities and cities. “Finland’s strengths lie in solutions to clean energy, sustainable bioeconomy and digital technologies, for which there is demand in Minnesota. It is a good idea to respond to this demand. These State-level partnerships will promote cooperation between the two countries and the creation of new innovation and business ecosystems,” Minister Lintilä says. The United States is one of Finland’s most important trading partners. Cooperation with Minnesota is part of a new, more extensive State-level cooperation in the USA. So far, Finland has signed a Letter of Understanding with Minnesota and Memorandums of Understanding with the States of Maine, Michigan and Washington. The principal areas of cooperation with the States include green economy, digitalisation and activities in the forest sector. The aim is to promote joint innovation ecosystems between Finnish and US actors. In the longer term, the cooperation is expected to strengthen trade and investments as well as academic and cultural ties.In Finland, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is responsible for the Letter of Understanding signed with Minnesota. In the United States, the cooperation between Finland and US States is promoted by Finland’s diplomatic missions and Business Finland.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

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