NordenBladet — On Thursday 8 July, the Government decided to appoint a new Director General.
The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Marja Liivala to serve as Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for a fixed term from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2025.
Liivala will transfer to the post of Director General from the position of Roving Ambassador for Central Asia, which she has held since 2018. Liivala’s career has focused on various tasks and responsibilities related to Russia in both the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Moscow. In 2017–2018, she worked as Senior Adviser in the Unit for North America of the Department for the Americas and Asia. In 2013–2016, she was Director in the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The bilateral relations between Finland and Russia have featured prominently among her responsibilities. In 2008–2012, Liivala worked as Head of the Economy and Trade Section at the Embassy of Finland in Moscow.
Liivala joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1997. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences.
NordenBladet — On Friday 9 July, the European Commission will hold a High-Level Forum on Resettlement & Refugee Protection to discuss the reception of quota refugees and ways to promote it. Finland will be represented by Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo.The European Commission’s objective is to increase the number of Member States where the resettlement of refugees, i.e. the reception of quota refugees, is an established practice. The United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR estimates that next year altogether 1.47 million refugees will be in need of resettlement.
Finland has received quota refugees since the 1970s, and has continued to do so even during the coronavirus pandemic. Globally, however, the pandemic has reduced the reception of quota refugees. Finland has been invited to report on its own best practices at the event.
“Despite COVID-19, we have been able to raise the refugee quota in accordance with the Government Programme. This is really important because the root causes of migration have not disappeared with coronavirus. Conflicts and the impacts of climate change, for example, are still forcing people to move away from the areas where they live. The quota refugee system has an important role in how we can do our part to help the world’s most vulnerable people,” Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo says.
“The pandemic has also had enormous socio-economic impacts. In practice, growing numbers of the world’s refugees are now in a more vulnerable position than before, as many people have lost their livelihoods and other sources of income,” she continues.
Finland has selected quota refugees through remote interviews
Under its refugee quota, Finland admits persons recognised as refugees by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. Quota refugees admitted to Finland are usually selected on missions attended not only by experts from the Finnish Immigration Service but also by employees of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment or local governments. During the pandemic, quota refugees have been selected on the basis of interviews conducted remotely. Selection has also been based on UNHCR documents.
“Selection missions will start again when the situation allows this. However, I hope that Finland’s experiences will serve as an encouraging example to other countries, indicating that quota refugees can be received flexibly and in alternative ways even in exceptional circumstances,” Minister Ohisalo says.
This year, Finland has also carried out a study on community sponsored integration of quota refugees where each quota refugee would be supported by a group of around five sponsors. According to a report published at the end of May, the community sponsorship model could complement the integration work carried out by the authorities and prevent exclusion. The European Commission and UNHCR encourage countries to engage in community sponsored integration.
Reception of quota refugees is an effective way to help The participants of the high-level discussion will include European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi from the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. In addition to the EU Member States, participating countries will also include the United States and Canada, which are among the key countries in the reception of quota refugees.
The reception of quota refugees is one of the main priorities of Finland’s immigration policy. The resettlement of quota refugees is an efficient and effective way of helping the most vulnerable refugees because their need for protection and other conditions for residence are assessed before they arrive in Finland. It is also a concrete way of showing international solidarity with countries hosting large refugee communities.
This year, Finland will receive 1,050 quota refugees, which is a record high number for our country. Together with the European Commission, Finland is also striving to root the practice of receiving quota refugees in as many Member States as possible.
NordenBladet — The European Commission has informed the Member States about the next application rounds of the EU Innovation Fund and the situation with respect to last year’s applications. In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has created an advisory service that will provide immediate assistance for the preparation of energy investments.
The European Commission is preparing the next application rounds of the Innovation Fund. The application, targeted to funding larger projects, should open on 26 October 2021 and will continue until spring 2022. The planned amount to be offered in total will be about EUR 1.3 to 1.5 billion. The next application round for smaller projects will open in March 2022. The planned amount available will be about EUR 100 million. The application rounds concerning larger projects have aroused particular interest, which is why the Commission’s resources will now be specifically targeted to these. The Commission also wishes to speed up the decision-making process so that the application starting in the autumn will be a one-stage process and the decisions will be made already in July 2022. The application requirements should be about the same as before. Decisions on applications opened last autumn expected soon The decisions on the first application rounds concerning larger and smaller projects opened in autumn 2020 should be ready within the next few weeks. The selected applicants will be invited to negotiate on the support decisions with the EU. The authorities of the Member States will also be informed about the projects prepared within their territories that will proceed to the negotiation phase.
Advisory service to assist in planning energy investments
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has created a new advisory service that will help plan energy investments so that they will be eligible for the funding. Customers are invited to seek the advisory service immediately. Using the service does not require that an application has been or will be submitted to the Innovation Fund. The number of companies to be selected should be about 60, and the advice to be provided to them will be free of charge. The contact person for the advisory service at the EIB is Catherine Bender (c.bender(at)eib.org). More information on the EU Innovation Fund and applications for large and small projects can be found on the Commission’s Innovation Fund website. For more information on fall application processes, visit the site later.
NordenBladet — Today, on 8 June 2021, the Finnish Government nominated Licentiate in Laws, Bachelor of Economics, Heikki Kanninen and Master of Laws Tuula Pynnä (trained on the bench) as Finland’s candidates to serve as judges at the General Court of the European Union for a six-year term beginning 1 September 2022. Both are being nominated for a renewed term. Once Finland has nominated its candidates, the judges will be appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States after consulting an EU-level panel responsible for issuing opinions on candidates’ suitability to perform their duties.
Both Kanninen and Pynnä have in-depth knowledge of EU law and national judicial systems. They have also served in significant positions of trust on various occasions and their expertise has been widely utilised.
Kanninen has served as a judge at the General Court of the European Union since 2009 and held the position of Vice President from 2013 to 2016. He has previously served as a judge at the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. In Finland, Kanninen has served as a member of the Supreme Administrative Court and as Senior Ministerial Adviser in Legislative Affairs at the Ministry of Justice.
Pynnä has served as a judge at the General Court of the European Union since 2019. She has previously served as Agent of the Finnish Government at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Pynnä has also served as a member of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, and as a district judge. She has completed two international postgraduate degrees in the field of law.
Along with the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the Court of Justice is one of the key institutions of the European Union. The Court has its seat in Luxembourg and it consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court. The General Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine actions brought by individuals and businesses against acts of EU institutions, among others. The cases may relate to matters such as competition law, state aid, intellectual property rights or EU staff regulations. The General Court is made up of two judges from each Member State. The judges perform their duties in a fully impartial and independent manner.
NordenBladet — In future, the Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office) of Uusimaa will give certain labour policy statements on the eligibility conditions for the unemployment benefit with respect to the territories of all TE Offices. The aim is to further harmonise the processing times and decision-making practices. Another aim is that statements on the eligibility conditions for the unemployment benefit will be processed without delay.
Moving these tasks to the Uusimaa TE Office is well justified because it has the ability and capacity to lead the operations of a large unit. In addition, the Uusimaa TE Office has strong expertise in the tasks concerned and established, well-functioning processes and practices.
The Uusimaa TE Office will be responsible for labour policy statements when it is a question of work other than that done in an employment relationship, employment as an entrepreneur and self-employment, study, obligation of young people to apply for a place to study as an eligibility condition for the unemployment benefit, and reprehensible conduct with respect to labour policy. All TE Offices will continue to give statements in their respective territories on eligibility conditions for the unemployment benefit related to job search status, seeking full-time employment and unemployment benefit paid when using services in support of finding employment.The transfer of these tasks will not cause any changes to how jobseekers use the TE Offices’ services.
The Government issued the decree on the matter on 8 July 2021. The decree will enter into force on 1 October 2021.
NordenBladet — The Government has decided to continue internal border control until 25 July to ensure the introduction of health security measures at borders. After this short transitional period, internal border control and entry restrictions at internal borders will be lifted. Internal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. Changes will be made to external border control as well.
Internal border control will be restored for the period between 12 and 25 July to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus varieties in traffic between Finland and Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. However, leisure boating from these countries is still allowed.
Certificate of a negative COVID-19 test result or one dose of vaccine not enough to allow entry to the country
As announced by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Tuesday 6 July, with respect to health security measures a certificate of a negative COVID-19 test prior to the entry or of the first dose of vaccine at least 14 days prior to the entry will be enough to allow a person to enter Finland. However, persons travelling to Finland should remember that, with respect to countries that continue to be subject to internal border control and entry restrictions, such a certificate will not be enough to allow entry during the transitional period 12-25 July.
Validity of the decision on external border traffic extended
The decision on external border traffic will be extended until 22 August 2021 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus varieties. External border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and non-Schengen third countries.
NordenBladet — Internal border control by the border control authorities that will continue until 25 July will give the municipalities and joint municipal authorities time to prepare for the implementation of health security measures under the Communicable Diseases Act. Internal border control will end after that.
According to the Government decision of 8 July, internal border control will continue between 12 and 25 July. During this time, both the entry restrictions to be complied with at Finland’s internal and external borders and requirements of the Communicable Diseases Act will be applied. The purpose of the decision is to ensure a smooth transition from the travel restrictions applied in spring 2021 to health security measures at border crossing points and to prevent cross-border COVID-19 infections during this short transitional period. In practice the continuation of internal border control means that between 12 and 25 July the border control authorities will first assess whether a person is entitled to travel to Finland. If a person is entitled to enter the country, the health authorities will then assess which health security measures under the Communicable Diseases Act apply to the person.
NordenBladet — Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka has sent a letter to European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans concerning emissions trading in maritime transport. Minister Harakka stresses that the special circumstances related to winter navigation should be taken into account in the Commission’s proposal for emissions trading, and the proposal should also include an assessment of its impacts on the relative competitiveness of Member States.
The proposal of the European Commission to be published on 14 July 2021 will extend emissions trading to maritime transport as part of the Fit for 55 climate package. Finland has made efforts to influence the upcoming proposal in such a way that emission reductions will be achieved while also taking into account the relative competitiveness between countries and special circumstances related to winter navigation. At the moment it seems that the Commission will not take Finland’s perspectives into account.
“Due account for the special characteristics of winter navigation is an absolute necessity to ensure both the safety of transport operations and relative competitiveness. We are demanding this special attention because our distances and climate conditions are facts that cannot be changed by any regulatory frameworks,” Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka says.
“If the special characteristics of winter navigation are not taken into account in emissions trading for maritime transport, the costs for Finland will be huge, and the competitiveness of our export sectors will also be seriously weakened,” Minister Harakka says.
By ignoring winter navigation and ice-classed ships the EU would deviate from international regulation. The safety aspects of winter navigation and equitable operating conditions relative to other maritime transport have been taken into account, for example, in the energy efficiency rules of the International Maritime Organization IMO.Maritime transport is vital for Finland: about 85% of our total foreign trade and 95% of our goods trade with other EU countries rely on maritime transport.
Ice-classed ships combine environmentally safe and logistically efficient maritime transportUnder the EU’s emissions trading scheme the operators must, on an annual basis, acquire and return emission allowances corresponding to the volume of their emissions. Emission allowances can also be bought and sold. The operators are driven to reducing their emissions by gradually decreasing the total quantity of emission allowances.
What Finland is worried about in the Commission’s proposals is that it will guide the shipping companies to using weaker vessels just because they are more energy-efficient and produce less emissions. Such vessels are not intended for harsh icy conditions and they need more icebreaker assistance. This will not decrease emissions on the transport system level, and the likelihood of oil and chemical spills in wintertime would increase. About 70-80% of visits of ships to Finnish ports from foreign ports are made by vessels in the best ice classes. Heavy ice-strengthened vessels inevitably consume more fuel and produce more emissions even when sailing in open water. These vessels obviously need more power when navigating in ice.
Next steps
The EU’s emission reduction target by 2030 has been tightened from 40% to 55%, compared to the level in 1990. To achieve this target, the Commission has drawn up a Fit for 55 climate package that is to be published on 14 July 2021. The package will include a proposal for emissions trading in maritime transport and several other proposals concerning the transport sector. The current estimate is that the earliest time when emissions trading could be started is in 2025-2026.
NordenBladet — More information will be added to the EU Digital COVID Certificate on 14 July, when COVID-19 test results and certificates of recovery from COVID-19 are made available in the My Kanta Pages. The EU COVID-19 vaccination certificate has been available in the My Kanta Pages since 22 June.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate can be used when crossing borders within the EU. The aim is to facilitate safe and free movement. Each EU Member State can decide for itself on other uses of the certificate.
Before travelling, it is important to find out which EU Digital COVID Certificate is needed to cross the border of your destination country. An EU COVID-19 vaccination certificate may be sufficient. The EU COVID-19 vaccination certificate will be visible in your My Kanta Pages once you have been vaccinated. The certificate shows the name of your last vaccine, the date it was administered and the number of vaccine doses you have received. If you have received two doses, only the name of the second vaccine dose received will appear on the certificate.
The EU COVID-19 test certificate will be visible in your My Kanta Pages once you have undergone a COVID-19 test and it has come back negative. The certificate in the My Kanta Pages is based on the results of your most recent test.The EU certificate of recovery from COVID-19 will be visible in the My Kanta Pages once you have recovered from the disease and your COVID-19 infection has been confirmed with a positive PCR test result. There are two types of COVID-19 tests: PCR tests and rapid diagnostic test (antigen tests).
A rapid test result is not sufficient proof of recovery from COVID-19.COVID-19 tests for travel are administered by private healthcare providers
In line with the Finland’s national COVID-19 testing strategy, COVID-19 tests carried out for the purpose of travelling abroad are mainly administered by private healthcare providers. These COVID-19 tests are subject to a fee.
However, tests undergone upon return to Finland are administered by public healthcare services and are free of charge. Please book your return test in advance using the FINENTRY service, for example.
Kela will not reimburse you for a test carried out by a private healthcare provider for the purpose of travel. Under the Health Insurance Act, Kela only reimburses COVID-19 tests for symptomatic persons and for those asymptomatic persons who are ordered by a doctor to undergo a test due to possible exposure as defined in the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
All EU certificates are free of charge. The EU COVID-19 test certificate will appear in the My Kanta Pages regardless of whether your test was carried out by a private or public healthcare provider. Exercise special caution when travelling in general. Before travelling, you should always check the COVID-19 situation in your destination and, before returning home, you should check the situation in Finland and take care to follow the latest recommendations. The COVID-19 situation in different countries and regions may change abruptly.
Travellers are responsible for determining the criteria for the validity of COVID-19 test results in their destination countryThe validity of the test result begins at the time of sampling or at the beginning of the day on which the sample was taken.According to the recommendation in the EU Regulation, people who have received a negative test result may travel 48 hours after sampling in the case of a rapid test and 72 hours after sampling for a PCR test.
The recommendation states that a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 may be valid 11 days at the earliest and 180 days at the latest after the person has received a positive COVID-19 test result.The COVID-19 vaccination certificate is valid for 12 months.
There are restrictions on the validity of test certificates and certificates of recovery from COVID-19. Travellers are responsible for determining the latest border crossing criteria in their destination country with regard to testing methods and the period of validity of the results. The Re-Open Europe website compiles information on travel instructions and restrictions in place in the EU Member States.
Travellers must download the certificate from the My Kanta Pages before travelling. If a person is unable to download the certificate, they must contact the healthcare provider that issued the certificate and request a certificate in printed form. The printed certificate must contain the same information as the EU Digital COVID Certificate.
