NordenBladet — The purpose of the conference is to hear the views of citizens on the future challenges and opportunities of the EU. The conference focuses on the perspectives of young people, and therefore the Prime Minister’s Office requested the Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi to appoint a citizen representative to the plenary session. Ninni Norra, who is 20 years old and from Helsinki, was selected as representative.Norra has served in the local council of the European Youth Parliament both as chairperson and representative in Finland and abroad. She currently holds a position of trust in the Allianssi’s international youth policy group. As part of this group, Norra has participated in the European Youth Conference and the EU Youth Dialogue.“The Future of Europe conference is not only an excellent opportunity to bring our ideas to the attention of decision-makers, but also to consider the EU policies we want to pursue in the future. To me as a citizen representative, it is important to raise interest in the debate about the EU, because every decision made in the Union has an impact on our everyday lives, indirectly at least. If we develop our cooperation when times are stable, we will also be able to cope with setbacks better,” Norra says.The first plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe will be held in Strasbourg and partly via remote connections on 18–19 June 2021. Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen will represent the Finnish Government. In addition, another minister will participate in the conference based on the themes under discussion.“When we discuss the future of Europe, it is important that the voice of young Europeans – the voice of the future – is heard strongly. We have wanted to emphasise this when we decided on a citizen representative. I wish Ninni Norra every success in this important task,” Tuppurainen said.The aim is for civil society to participate actively in the conference and to organise various events. Information on conference events will be collected on the Commission’s multilingual digital platform. Citizens can also use the digital platform to share their thoughts and submit their proposals. The conference launch event took place on Europe Day, 9 May, in Strasbourg. Due to the pandemic, it was held partially online. The conference is expected to present its conclusions by spring 2022. The European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission are all committed to listening to Europeans and to following up on the conclusions reached, within their spheres of competence and within the framework of EU Treaties.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen and Spanish State Secretary for the European Union Juan González-Barba Pera will meet in Oulu on Monday 14 June. The meeting will focus on current European Union affairs, such as economic recovery, the rule of law and EU-Russia relations.The meeting will also highlight regional development of sparsely populated areas, the 6G flagship focusing on developing wireless network technologies, the importance of innovation, and the selection of Oulu as a European Capital of Culture for 2026. In addition to discussions, the programme will include a visit to Oulu Museum of Art, the University of Oulu, and the Nokia 5G test laboratory.“It is a pleasure to present the wide-ranging expertise of my home city of Oulu while taking this valuable opportunity to set out the challenges faced in the sparsely populated areas of Eastern and Northern Finland, and the importance of recognition in the EU accession treaty of Finland of criteria for special support of sparsely populated northern territories,” Minister Tuppurainen explains.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On the day of the municipal elections, 13 June 2021, voters may only vote at the polling station mentioned in the notice of right to vote sent to them.Information on the election day polling station can be found in the notice of right to vote and in the Polling station service at www.aanestyspaikat.fi. Voters may also contact the free service number 0800 9 4770 to ask about their polling station. The notices of right to vote in the municipal elections have been sent by post. The notice was sent in electronic format to those eligible voters who have activated the Suomi.fi Messages service and given their consent for all official notifications to be sent to them electronically. Around 580,000 people have already activated the service. The voting register for the 2021 municipal elections was compiled based on the data contained in the Population Information System on 23 April 2021. If a person has moved after 23 April, the polling station is determined in accordance with the previous municipality of residence. Polling stations on the mapInformation about municipal elections and votingElectionsfinland.fi: Voting on election day Instructions for voters during COVID-19 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — In this year’s municipal elections, 2,684 persons voted in Finland’s missions abroad. The number is higher than in the municipal elections of 2017, when the total number of voters abroad was 9,500.Advance voting was arranged in 71 countries and at a total of 102 polling stations. In addition, advance voting was made possible for crew on some twenty Finnish vessels. A bit more than a hundred Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board. Advance voting was also arranged at the bases of the Finnish crisis management forces in Erbil, Iraq, and in Lebanon.The busiest advance polling stations abroad were in Spain with 318 voters, of which 198 in Fuengirola. The second highest voter turnout was recorded in Brussels where 282 persons cast their votes. Estonia with 158 advance voters came in third place. In Lebanon, the number of advance voters was 136 and in Russia 138. Eligible voters staying abroad during the elections could also vote by post. Postal voting was recommended because the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to guarantee advance voting in all the planned polling stations. For that reason, voters were advised to order postal voting documents in advance. Advance voting could not be organised, for example, in New Delhi and Kathmandu. The number of the cast postal votes is not yet available. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the organisation of postal voting.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government has amended the decree restricting the activities of restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses due to the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, the region of Uusimaa will move to acceleration phase restrictions.The more lenient restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in Uusimaa will enter into force on 11 June at 18.00. The restrictions in place in other areas will remain unchanged.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in baseline areas in the regions of Åland, South Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, North Karelia, Central Finland, South Savo, Ostrobothnia, Satakunta, South Karelia, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso and Lapland from 11 JuneFood and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 1.00 and be open to customers between 5.00 and 2.00.Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may seat 75 per cent of their normal number of customers inside their establishments.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in areas in the acceleration phase in the regions of Uusimaa, Southwest Finland and Central Ostrobothnia from 11 JuneFood and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 22.00 and be open between 5.00 and 23.00. Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may seat 75 per cent of their normal number of customers inside their establishments.On outdoor terraces, each customer must have a seat, and everyone must take care of safe distances. The customer seating restrictions do not apply to outdoor terraces.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in areas in the community transmission phase in the regions of Päijät-Häme and Kanta-Häme from 9 JuneRestaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may serve alcohol between 7.00 and 18.00 and be open to customers between 5.00 and 19.00. They may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 20.00 and be open between 5.00 and 21.00. They may have in use 75 per cent of their normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. In these areas, restaurants must instruct customers to stay seated in indoor premises. This means that dancing and karaoke, for example, are prohibited.On outdoor terraces, each customer must have a seat, and everyone must take care of safe distances. The above-mentioned customer seating restrictions and dance ban do not apply to outdoor terraces.Exceptions to restrictions remain unchangedThe restrictions laid down in the decree do not apply to the activities of staff restaurants or to takeaway sales of food to customers.The restrictions on opening hours do not apply to food and beverage service businesses on vessels and aircraft that operate between Finland and other countries or abroad or to food and beverage service businesses that operate at distribution stations for liquid fuels.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 14 June, EU development ministers will discuss the EU’s cooperation with middle income countries and exchange views on human development. On Finland’s proposal, the ministers will receive an overview of promoting school meals in the partner countries for development cooperation. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland in the informal video conference.With middle income countries, the EU aims to move away from traditional development cooperation to new forms of cooperation. A new financial instrument for EU’s external action, NDICI-Global Europe, enables more versatile cooperation with partner countries.“Finland emphasises that the EU need to make greater use of the opportunities presented by investments and trade policy and the efforts to promote good governance when cooperating with middle income countries. We need to strengthen the partner countries’ own taxation capacity so that they can use the increased tax revenue to reinforce their economic foundations and generate better public services for all,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.The EU development ministers will have an extensive exchange of views on human development from the viewpoints of better education, stronger healthcare systems and better sharing of COVID-19 vaccines. The aim is to provide an overview of future education summits.“Support for school systems must be targeted at increasing the participation of girls and children with disabilities, improving learning outcomes, developing teacher training and adopting digital solutions available to all. The EU Vaccine Sharing Mechanism plays an important role in improving vaccine solidarity,” says Minister Skinnari. Finland hopes that the cooperation ministers will discuss ways to promote school meals in the EU’s development cooperation. It is important for Finland that more EU Member States join the coalition the World Food Programme (WFP) is building to support school feeding worldwide. Minister Skinnari started as the WFP School Meals Ambassador in March. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland will support the World Trade Organisation’s trade-related technical assistance (TRTA) activities by slightly more than EUR one million in 2021–2022. The support is aimed to strengthen least-developed countries’ trading capacity. The agreement on the support was signed on 10 June 2021 in Geneva.Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari says that developing countries’ participation in the rules-based trade system and their capacity to fully engage in international trade benefits Finland, too.“The significance of trade for poverty reduction and economic development is indisputable, and its importance will grow when the pandemic is over. Finland’s support will be used to strengthen developing countries’ capacity to make use of the global rules-based system and their participation in international trade,” Minister Skinnari says. Finland supports three funds. The Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) supports training of politicians and public officials specialising on trade matters. The aim is to strengthen developing countries’ opportunities to negotiate and implement WTO agreements and to benefit from them. The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), for its part, supports developing countries in building their knowledge of international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and helps them in improving the safety and quality of export products. The LDC Ministerial Conference Trust Fund (LDC-MC12) supports least-developed countries’ opportunities to participate in the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the WTO.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Kimmo Peltonen will continue as Director General of the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026. The Government decided on the appointment on 10 June 2021.The Director General directs the Agency’s operations and is responsible for their development and effectiveness as well as the achievement of the Agency’s objectives.Peltonen holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He has served as Director General of Tukes since 2014. Prior to that, he worked as Head of Department, Professor and Head of Research Unit at the Finnish Food Safety Authority (Evira) in 2006–2014. He was previously Head of Department and Professor at the National Veterinary and Food Research Institute (EELA) in 2002–2006. In addition, Peltonen has significant research experience from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.Tukes monitors and promotes the safety, conformity and reliability of products, services and production systems, as well as consumer and chemical safety. In addition to safety, Tukes promotes energy efficiency and technical harmonisation and ensures the free movement of goods and services that meet the standards. Other core activities of the Agency include safety communications, research and development, and influencing the national and EU regulations in the sector.  The position became available following the end of the current office holder’s seven-year term on 30 June 2021. Six applications were received for the position.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government has amended the decree restricting the activities of restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses due to the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, Pirkanmaa and Kymenlaakso will move to baseline restrictions. The restrictions in place in other areas will remain unchanged. The decree will enter into force on 11 June at 00.00.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in baseline areas in the regions of Åland, South Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, North Karelia, Central Finland, South Savo, Ostrobothnia, Satakunta, South Karelia, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso and Lapland from 11 JuneFood and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 1.00 and be open to customers between 5.00 and 2.00.Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may seat 75 per cent of their normal number of customers inside their establishments.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in areas in the acceleration phase in the regions of Southwest Finland and Central Ostrobothnia from 9 JuneFood and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 22.00 and be open between 5.00 and 23.00. Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may seat 75 per cent of their normal number of customers inside their establishments.On outdoor terraces, each customer must have a seat, and everyone must take care of safe distances. The customer seating restrictions do not apply to outdoor terraces.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in areas in the community transmission phase in the regions of Päijät-Häme, Uusimaa and Kanta-Häme from 9 JuneRestaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may serve alcohol between 7.00 and 18.00 and be open to customers between 5.00 and 19.00. They may have in use half the normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. Other restaurants may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 20.00 and be open between 5.00 and 21.00. They may have in use 75 per cent of their normal number of customer seats in indoor premises. In these areas, restaurants must instruct customers to stay seated in indoor premises. This means that dancing and karaoke, for example, are prohibited.On outdoor terraces, each customer must have a seat, and everyone must take care of safe distances. The above-mentioned customer seating restrictions and dance ban do not apply to outdoor terraces.Exceptions to restrictions remain unchangedThe restrictions laid down in the decree do not apply to the activities of staff restaurants or to takeaway sales of food to customers.The restrictions on opening hours do not apply to food and beverage service businesses on vessels and aircraft that operate between Finland and other countries or abroad or to food and beverage service businesses that operate at distribution stations for liquid fuels.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi