NordenBladet — The deadline for the joint application procedure for education after comprehensive school has been extended due to the coronavirus situation. This spring’s deadline for applying for vocational education and training, general upper secondary education as well as for preparatory education after comprehensive school and vocational education and training organised in the form of intensive special needs support, ends at 15.00 on 7 April 2021.

“This joint application procedure is a historic one. Now that compulsory education has been restructured, for the first time ever every young person leaving comprehensive school will be applying in the joint application procedure. All students in year 9 will go from comprehensive school to vocational education and training, or to general upper secondary school or to year 10 of comprehensive school, for example,” said Minister of Education Jussi Saramo.

NordenBladet — On Tuesday 2 March, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the United States. It is positive to see that the United States is committed to multilateral cooperation and support for the rules-based international system and is highlighting the importance of climate issues, among others.

The President and the Ministerial Committee also discussed topical issues related to China. In addition, the President and the Ministerial Committee discussed the preparation of the Government’s Defence Report.

NordenBladet — At the end of January, a total of 332,800 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices. This is 81,200 more than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 24,500 from the previous month. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.At the end of January, the number of people laid off was 75,100 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 50,700. The number of people fully laid off totalled 57,800, representing an increase of 39,400 from January the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 20,000 from December.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 93,400, up 30,000 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 120,900, representing an increase of 26,500 on the year before.The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 40,200, representing an increase of 9,500 from January last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months in 51.7 percent of cases in January; down by 12.8 percentage points from the previous year.

Decrease in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during January totalled 83,600, or 9,200 less than in January the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in January amounted to 129,900, showing a decrease of 16,400 from last year.

At the end of January, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 112,300, down 3,600 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 8.7%According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in January the number of people in employment was 61,000 less than on the previous year. The employment rate was 69.9%, which was 2.0 percentage points lower than in January the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 235,000, which is 41,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.7%, or 1.6 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Press release on the revision of the Labour Force Survey: https://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2020-12-22_uut_001_en.html
Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force SurveyThis information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.In the Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.Further information on the differences in the statistics http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2016-08-23_men_001_en.html

NordenBladet — On 1 March, the management of Metsä Group and leaders of key trade unions met under the leadership of Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen to discuss the start of construction of the bioproduct plant in Kemi. Metsä Group has stated that it will require companies operating at the construction site to comply with Finnish legislation and collective agreements throughout the subcontracting chain. In addition, the company will immediately address any shortcomings discovered. Such measures will proactively combat the grey economy.

“Metsä Group has already had discussions with trade unions in order to ensure that the working conditions throughout the chain are appropriate, that proactive measures are taken to combat the shadow economy, and that occupational safety and health are taken into account comprehensively. I am very pleased with this constructive and active approach. Occupational safety and health issues are naturally more important than ever because of the ongoing coronavirus situation,” Minister Haatainen said.

“The employment impact of the plant construction is estimated to be 10,000 person-years and more than half of the work will take place in Kemi. The project’s domestic content will rise to a very high level. We expect our partners to commit to the objectives of the project in terms of security, compliance with employment legislation and working conditions, prevention of the grey economy, as well as timetable and quality of work. We welcome the open and good dialogue with Minister Haatainen and the trade unions,” Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre, said.

The trade union leaders thanked the company for its good preparation and proactive approach. For example, the subcontractors have been carefully selected and any problems at the site will be addressed immediately. Many at the event felt that the preparations for the construction of the mill were even better than in Äänekoski, where a similar plant was built in 2015–2017. The roundtable discussion was organised to ensure that all parties have common information about the project and that the objectives will be achieved in the best possible way.

Metsä Group announced in February that it would build a bioproduct mill in Kemi for an estimated value of EUR 1.6 billion, the largest investment ever made by the forest industry in Finland.

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has now designated eight potential candidates for the next stage of the EU-wide selection process for European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). The role of EDIHs is to support businesses and the public sector in the utilisation and deployment of digital solutions.

Finland’s candidates for European Digital Innovation Hubs are:
FAIR – Finnish AI Region (responsible organisation VTT Technical Research of Finland Ltd)
SIX Manufacturing EDIH (Tamlink Ltd)
Location Innovation Hub (LIH) (National Land Survey of Finland/Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (NLS FGI)
5STAR eCorridors (DIMECC Ltd)
WellLake EDIH (Business Jyväskylä)
HealthHub Finland (Turku Science Park Ltd)
Robocoast EDIH Consortium (Prizztech Ltd)Arctic-EDIH (University of Oulu)

Finland boasts expertise on how to capitalise on digitalisation
European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are part of the EU’s new Digital Europe Programme. They function as service points that boost digital investment and, in particular, the digitalisation of SMEs. The activities of the hubs must be non-profit making.

“The idea behind the selected cooperation projects that involve different kinds of organisations is to make the digital transformation generate sustainable growth to a higher degree than before. European networking will support the development of better digitalisation services, and Finnish operators have a lot to contribute to this effort. The chosen set of diverse and capable candidates ensures that, in different contexts, there will be a sufficient number of high-quality Finnish hubs meeting the requirements in terms of geographic location, technological orientation and field of application and they can be drawn to the EU-wide network,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

Member States were asked to select their candidates for innovation hubs through an open procedure. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment received 10 applications in the open call for applications it organised between 18 November 2020 and 15 January 2021. The candidates were evaluated by an independent eight-person panel with a wide range of expertise in the renewal of business and industry, including digitalisation, innovation and science. The applications were ranked on the basis on the scores given by the panel of experts, and the Ministry then determined the number of candidates for the second round.Hubs for EU-wide network to be selected from among the national candidates

The nationally pre-selected candidate organisations will be invited to participate in a restricted call for proposals by the European Commission to select European Digital Innovation Hubs. The chosen national candidates still have an opportunity to fine-tune their applications and look for new partners.According to current information, the EU-wide call for proposals will be launched in March. It will be open for at least 10 weeks, and the results will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2021.

There will be a maximum of four hubs from Finland. The available EU funding has been divided between the Member States to allow for the creation of an EU-wide network of up to 200 Hubs. Approximately EUR 14.8 million have been tentatively allocated from the Digital Europe Programme to fund the Finnish hubs in 2021–2027. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will continue its preparations for the national funding and support of these hubs as part of the Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme, destined to speed up the digitalisation of business and industry.In the spring, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will also start to design activities for the support and coordination of the future EDIHs and other similar operators.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government has submitted a proposal to Parliament on the temporary closure of restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses to customers for three weeks. The act would enter into force on 8 March 2021 and remain in force until 28 March 2021. During that time, meals could still be sold to customers for takeaway and delivery. The closure would apply to food and beverage service businesses in areas where the COVID-19 epidemic is in the acceleration or community transmission phase. Separate provisions on the areas of application will be laid down by government decree.

As a matter of urgency, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is preparing a support model for the reasonable compensation of businesses affected by the closure. The temporary closure of restaurants is one of the measures taken by the Government to prevent the rapid acceleration of the COVID-19 epidemic and to curb the spread of more infections virus variants. The proposal is based on the Government’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Finland. The Government decided on the state of emergency and the proposal in its meeting on 1 March 2021.Closure to affect all food and beverage service businesses in areas in the acceleration or community transmission phase, with the exception of staff restaurants

The temporary closure would apply to all food and beverage service businesses in areas where it is necessary in order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, i.e. in areas where the epidemic is in the acceleration or community transmission phase. Provisions on the regions affected by the closures will be laid down by government decree. The decree will be issued upon the entry into force of the act.

The food and beverage service businesses to be closed down would include cafes, restaurants, bars and nightclubs that are open to the public. The restriction would also affect outdoor terraces.

Restaurants that are not open to the public would be exempt from the closure. It would therefore not affect canteens in residential homes for older people or staff restaurants that are not open to other customers, for example.

During the closure, restaurants and cafes would still be allowed to sell portions directly to the customer for takeaway or deliver them either themselves or using other service providers.In regions where the COVID-19 epidemic is at a stable level, food and beverage service businesses could continue to be open to customers. Businesses that remain open must still comply with the restrictions laid down in the Communicable Diseases Act and in the regulations issued under it.

The classification of regions into the baseline, acceleration and community transmission phases of the epidemic is based on the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s action plan for implementing the hybrid strategy to manage COVID-19.

How will the closure proceed?The Government proposal will now proceed to Parliament for deliberations. Then, the President of the Republic will approve the act and the Government will adopt a decree on the areas to be affected by the closure. The decree will then be submitted to Parliament for an ex post examination.The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will provide more information on the entry into force of the act and the support model for businesses as the matter progresses.

NordenBladet — The Government, in cooperation with the President of the Republic, has declared a state of emergency in Finland due to COVID-19. In its plenary session on Monday 1 March, the Government declared that the country is in a state of emergency as referred to in section 3, paragraph 5 of the Emergency Powers Act. The state of emergency will enter into force immediately.Section 3, paragraph 5 of the Emergency Powers Act states that a widespread outbreak of a serious infectious disease, the effect of which is comparable to a major disaster, meets the definition of a state of emergency. 

The number and incidence of COVID-19 cases in Finland have risen very rapidly since the beginning of February 2021. The number of infections caused by new virus variants has clearly increased, which may further accelerate the epidemic and place significant strain on hospital and intensive care capacity if we are unable to bring the number of infections down. At this stage, there is no immediate need to adopt the powers laid down in Part II of the Emergency Powers Act, which restrict the fundamental rights of citizens, but the need to introduce them will depend on how the epidemic progresses in the near future.

However, the Government estimates that it will be necessary to apply the provisions of sections 106 (communication by the state administrative authorities in emergencies) and 107 (powers in emergencies) of Chapter 15 of the Act once the state of emergency enters into force. The government decision declaring the state of emergency will enter into force immediately and will remain in force until it is repealed. Government proposal on restaurant closures submitted to ParliamentImmediately after declaring the state of emergency, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal for an Act on the Temporary Amendment of the Act on Accommodation and Catering Operations under section 23 of the Constitution of Finland. The proposal would temporarily close restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses to customers for three weeks. The act would enter into force on 8 March 2021 and remain in force until 28 March 2021. During that time, meals could still be sold to customers for takeaway and delivery. The closure would apply to food and beverage service businesses in areas where the COVID-19 epidemic is in the acceleration or community transmission phase. Staff restaurants and other restaurants not open to the public would be exempt from the closure. Separate provisions on the areas of application will be laid down by government decree.

NordenBladet — A new service opened today provides impartial data on the climate impacts of construction products used in Finland, such as carbon footprint and handprint, material efficiency and recyclability. This information harmonises the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life cycle of buildings, facilitating low-carbon building design. The service is free of charge and open to everyone.

Press release of the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Environment

The service is a compilation of average data on the most common and typical construction products, and contains no individual environmental product declarations. Its core comprises information on the harmful and beneficial climate impacts of construction products, end-of-life recycling and recovery options, the waste volumes generated on construction sites, and the theoretical usable life spans of frequently replaced products. The database also includes emission data for the most common construction processes and services, such as haulage, construction and waste management.

The information is based on open sources, which are mainly environmental product declarations for construction products that have enabled comparison, selection and calculation of averages in partnership with construction product industry specialists. While catering specifically to construction industry professionals, such as designers, product manufacturers and construction firms, the database information will be useful for researchers and anyone who is interested in the climate impacts of construction.

Product emission details have been set out on easy offprint pages, with further opportunities to examine more detailed background studies. The service will initially be available in English, to be supplemented with content in Finnish and Swedish at a later date.

Construction industry involved in development work
Collaboration with the construction industry has been close, with more than 100 construction professionals contributing to the first release of the database. This co-development will continue, with the next content update scheduled for autumn 2021.

“The construction industry has been commendably involved in creating the service. The benefit has been mutual: we want to ensure that the service is well known and widely used in the industry. The construction industry will benefit from being able to see and anticipate changes in operating conditions and the direction of statutory guidance. We shall continue open development of the service in partnership with the construction industry,” says Senior Specialist Janne Pesu of the Finnish Environment Institute.

The database lays a foundation for statutory guidance of low-carbon construction. The current government programme envisages legislative control of the whole life-cycle carbon footprint of buildings by the year 2025. A low-carbon assessment method for buildings developed by the Ministry of the Environment has been trialled in construction projects since 2019.

A reform of the Land Use and Building Act is introducing statutes to promote low-carbon construction, for example concerning the climate assessment of buildings, and design based on digital information models. The database forms part of work to collate information on the built environment for greater accessibility in a compatible and machine-readable format. The Ryhti project at the Ministry of the Environment and SYKE is constructing a new information system for the built environment that will provide information on such aspects as the climate impact of building.

A pan-Nordic initiative to combat climate change
The Nordic countries have intensified collaboration in recent years with a view to reducing climate emissions from the built environment. The construction emissions database is a practical example of this work. The goal is for low-carbon buildings to be assessed on the same principles, as opposed to parallel development of separate assessment and calculation methods in these countries.Sweden is publishing its own complementary database on the same day as Finland: the information will be country-specific, but collected and collated in the same way. The database user interfaces will also correspond. Open information exchange, joint development and sharing of best practices between countries will help to ensure the comparability and quality of information. The Nordic construction industry in particular will benefit from this collaboration.

The Ministry of the Environment has tasked the Finnish Environment Institute with responsibility for maintaining and developing the database.C02data.fi: Construction emissions databaseQuestions and answers concerning the construction emissions database (in Finnish)

For further details, please contact:
Construction emissions database: Janne Pesu, Senior Specialist, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 1405,
Statutory guidance for low-carbon construction and Nordic co-operation:  Matti Kuittinen, Senior Advisor, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 29 525 0268

NordenBladet — The Nordic countries have intensified co-operation in recent years to curb climate emissions from the built environment. This partnership focuses particularly on working to ensure corresponding principles for assessing and guiding the climate impact of construction in these countries.

Press release from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and the Swedish Ministry of Finance

The Finnish and Swedish construction emission databases provide impartial and comparable information openly and free of charge concerning the greenhouse gas emissions of construction products and processes. Even though the information in the databases is country-specific, it has been collected and compiled in the same way, in partnership with the construction industries of the respective countries. The Nordic construction sector will benefit in particular from a uniform assessment of the climate impact of construction in the Nordic countries.

“Achieving the global climate target of the Paris Agreement will require a significant societal shift towards low emissions. I am pleased that Sweden and Finland are at the forefront of boosting the transition to more sustainable construction with lower environmental and climate impacts. Together, the Nordic countries can show the potential for combining the climate transition with prosperity and good competitiveness,” says Swedish Minister for Housing Märta Stenevi.

“In autumn 2020 the Nordic Ministers for Housing and Construction approved a new action plan for 2021–2024 seeking a more climate-friendly Nordic construction sector. This initiative is part of work to realise a vision of the Nordic countries as the world’s most sustainable and integrated region by the year 2030. The emission database services opened by Finland and Sweden today are an important step towards ambitious goals for the Nordic construction industry, which has significantly lower environmental and climate impacts,” says Paula Lehtomäki, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

There are major opportunities for Nordic co-operation in harmonising the regulations and standards that govern the construction industry. Many Nordic countries are preparing new legislation and other measures to boost low-carbon construction. The climate impact of the entire life cycle of buildings, from manufacturing building materials to preventing the formation of construction waste through reuse or recycling, must be considered more effectively in future.

One challenge for the construction industry has been disparate building regulations between the Member States, which at worst hinder trade both within the European Union and between Nordic countries. In spring 2020 the Nordic countries set up a joint steering group to co-ordinate the harmonisation of Nordic building regulations. Several new co-operation projects will be launched in 2021 with a view to making the Nordic construction and housing sector more sustainable and competitive.

For further details, please contact:
Timo Juurikkala, Special Adviser to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 40 555 4013,