NordenBladet — The Climate Policy Roundtable will hold its sixth meeting on Monday 8 February. The main topic of the meeting are the low-carbon roadmaps for individual sectors. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
In accordance with the Government Programme, 13 different sectors have drawn up a roadmap towards carbon reduction. Most of the roadmaps were completed last summer, and they identify a good number of ways to reduce emissions. Assessments on e.g. the trends in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption and investment needs of the sectors are also presented. The work on the roadmaps is coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The Roundtable will discuss steering instruments by which the emission reduction potential identified in the roadmaps can be realised.In international comparison, the Finnish industry is energy-intensive. About a quarter of the emissions in Finland are produced by the industrial sector. During the roadmap process it was estimated that bringing the emissions from the energy system down to a level close to zero will require investments of at least EUR 20 billion in clean energy production by 2050. Investments are also needed in the energy networks and systems and renewable processes in energy-intensive industries.
The Climate Policy Roundtable brings together a broad spectrum of stakeholders from different sectors of society. The purpose of the Roundtable is to create a common understanding of how Finland can make a just transition to a carbon neutral society by 2035. With its work, the Roundtable supports the preparation and implementation of Finland’s national climate policy.To follow the work of the Roundtable in social media use #ilmastonpyöreäpöytä and #hiilineutraali2035. To follow the discussion on low-carbon roadmaps use #tiekartat.
NordenBladet — Communications Minister of Brazil Fábio Faria will visit Finland on Friday 5 February 2021. His visit is part of a wider five-country tour that key Brazilian decision-makers undertake to survey potential 5G network suppliers in the world. Brazil is planning to organise an auction of 5G frequencies in spring 2021.
From the Brazilian point of view, Finland is among the more natural and reliable partners for digitalisation projects. Finland’s strengths include high technological expertise as well as digital safety, reliability and transparency. Security and legislative matters concerning 5G networks are among the main topics of the visit. Among others, the Brazilian Communications Minister will meet Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari in person and Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka via video connection.
Finland and Brazil have a close and constructive partnership relationship. Brazil is Finland’s biggest trading partner in Latin America, and as a country with 220 million inhabitants, it offers Finnish companies many opportunities to expand cooperation and partnerships.
NordenBladet – Iceland is in a unique position compared to other countries in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases, mbl.is reports.
According to weekly figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), updated yesterday, the 14-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants in Iceland stands at 10.92. The second lowest incidence is in Greece, or 77.86.
Just like last week, Iceland is the only country in Europe classified as green, as are parts of Norway and the Åland Islands. The Faroe Islands are not included in the statistics, since separate figures for them are not reported. The European country with the highest 14-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants is Portugal, with an incidence of 1,652.47.
The most recent figures for Iceland, updated this morning at 11 am on covid.is, show the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants standing at 10.9. Only one new domestic case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Iceland yesterday, and the person diagnosed was already in quarantine.
This was only the third confirmed domestic case in eight days. Two active infections were confirmed at second border screening yesterday.
Thirteen persons are in the hospital at present with COVID-19. A total of 4,855 vaccinations have been completed in Iceland.
NordenBladet —The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has fined the dating app Grindr 100 million Norwegian Krone ($11.7m) for illegally sharing personal information with advertisers, a recent investigation has revealed.
Due to the highly personal nature of the information shared, which included details on user location, sexual orientation, and mental health, the fine was notably high, roughly 10% of Grindr’s global annual revenue.
The director of digital policy in Norway’s Consumer Council, Finn Myrstad, states, “This is a milestone in the ongoing work to ensure that consumers’ privacy is protected online. The Data Protection Authority has clearly established that it is unacceptable for companies to collect and share personal data without users’ permission.”
As part of a counter-argument put forward by Grindr, the app argued that sexual orientation was not exposed as some users may actually be heterosexual. This claim was rejected by the Norwegian authorities as Grindr promotes itself explicitly as “exclusively for the gay/bi community”.
“If you rely on unlawful ‘consent’ you are subject to a hefty fine. This does not only concern Grindr but many websites and apps,” explained Ala Krinickyte, data protection lawyer at noyb, the European Center for Digital Rights.
NordenBladet — On Monday 15 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit St Petersburg and have a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The Foreign Ministers will discuss the situation of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, EU-Russia relations, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as arms control.
Ministers will also discuss regional cooperation in areas such as environmental protection and nuclear safety, and preparations for the upcoming Russian chairmanship of the Arctic Council and the upcoming Finnish chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. Discussions will also touch on bilateral issues. During his visit, Foreign Minister Haavisto will meet representatives of civil society organisations too.
NordenBladet — On 4 February 2021, the Government allocated EUR 8 million to regional councils for regional development and EUR 5 million for the launch of ecosystem agreements between the State and cities. In addition, EUR 400,000 was granted to the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme for the sudden structural change caused by the closure of a bus body manufacturing plant by Scania’s subsidiary SOE Busproduction Finland Oy in Lahti.
EUR 8 million for development of regionsThe appropriation for the development of regions will be allocated to various measures supporting the implementation of the Government’s decision on regional development and regional programmes, in accordance with the regions’ needs and consideration. Of the EUR 8 million appropriation, 70% has been distributed equally among all regions and 30% on the basis of population.
“The funding aims to strengthen the economic and social vitality of the regions. In addition to the coronavirus recovery measures, it is important that regions can continue their long-term development work in line with the priorities of the regional programmes,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.
Regions can use this appropriation to develop projects based on regional strengths and specialisation and to start development processes and multilateral research and development projects that require a rapid response and where other funding instruments are unsuitable.
EUR 5 million to launch ecosystem agreements between State and cities
In accordance with Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government Programme, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has prepared ecosystem agreements for innovation with 16 urban regions. The agreements between the State and university towns will address the priorities for strategic growth and innovation in the near future. “The agreements are based on the views of urban regions and the State on the effective use of innovation clusters. The State and urban regions have also agreed on the allocation of resources to achieve common goals, including a reduction in carbon emissions,” Lintilä says.
The purpose of the ecosystem agreements is to strengthen the creation of attractive innovation and competence clusters, and to build connections between Finland and international research, development and innovation networks and value chains. The agreements are letters of intent, which determine the vision, objectives and priorities of the parties. The content of the agreements is close to completion. The EUR 5 million to be distributed now is intended for the launch of the agreements. The main funding for the implementation of the agreements will come from the EU’s Structural Funds programme. The Government will decide later how to allocate these funds to regions. EUR 400,000 granted to Lahti region for sudden structural change
The Government has granted EUR 400,000 to the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme for the sudden structural change caused by the closure of a bus body manufacturing plant by Scania’s subsidiary SOE Busproduction Finland Oy in Lahti. This appropriation is part of the additional funding of EUR 1.065 million allocated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment to Lahti to manage the structural changes in the area.
NordenBladet — The European Commission has submitted two legislative proposals aimed at making the digital environment safer and fairer for consumers and businesses. One of the proposed regulations concerns digital services and the other concerns the digital market. Finland supports the objectives of the proposed regulations and suggests some clarifications for further preparation.On 4 February 2021, the Government issued Union Communications to Parliament outlining the content and impact of the Commission’s proposals and Finland’s positions on the proposals.
The aim of the Digital Services Act is to promote the functioning of the digital single market and in particular the services offered by so-called intermediaries. These include cloud services, online platforms and content-sharing networks, among others.
The aim of the proposal is to set EU-wide rules for different online services, ranging from small service providers to global digital platforms. Providers would be subject to due diligence obligations proportionate to their services and their size, with the aim of a safe, predictable and accountable digital environment.
The Government considers that illegal online content should be addressed effectively so that the online environment is not used for illegal purposes. In such a case, regulation must be proportionate to the objective pursued and it must safeguard the freedom of expression and other fundamental rights of users as well as a high level of consumer protection.
The Government supports the objective of combating disinformation and other information influence activities. The proposed regulation contains a number of obligations and measures for service providers, which support this objective and which are, in principle, supported by the Government.
The Government supports the strengthening of the position of consumers, for example through rules that allow businesses on online marketplaces to be tracked and rules on transparency of advertising shown to users. At the same time, the protection of legitimate business secrets of companies should be taken into account. New obligations of gatekeeper platforms to promote market access for smaller companies
The Digital Markets Act will regulate the 10–15 largest companies that provide core platform services in the EU. The core platform services described in the Act include for example search engines, operating systems and online intermediation services. The regulation would address unfair practices that companies and consumers encounter on digital platforms. This would increase the transparency of digital services and promote the competitiveness and market access of smaller digital companies. Consumers’ choices would increase as companies could offer their services on more than one platform at the same time.
The company would be designated a gatekeeper if it:
provides at least one core platform service,has a significant impact on the internal market,offers its business users an important gateway to end users,has, or is likely to have in future, an entrenched and durable position in the market.
The legislative proposal also defines quantitative thresholds. If a company meets these thresholds, it is presumed to be a gatekeeper. However, a company would have the opportunity to challenge this presumption. Gatekeeper companies should, among other things, make the data generated by the activities of business users and their customers available to the business users and promote the interoperability of services between different platforms.
The Government supports the objectives of the proposal and considers it justified, as it is not possible to address effectively the problems faced by businesses and consumers by means of the current regulation. However, the obligations must be justified, proportionate and clear. Unnecessary administrative burden should be avoided. In further preparation, particular attention must also be paid to the protection of personal data and the legal protection of gatekeeper companies.
Next steps
The Speaker of Parliament will refer the Government’s Union Communication to the Grand Committee and at the same time determine which specialised committee or committees will provide statements on the matter to the Grand Committee. The referral of the Communication to the committees will be announced in plenary session.
The Council preparatory body on Competitiveness and the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection have also begun to discuss the proposals. Once the Council and the European Parliament have established their positions, they will start tripartite negotiations with the Commission. The institutions will come to a preliminary agreement on the regulatory text during the negotiations, after which the text will have to be approved by each institution again.
NordenBladet — The Government proposes that employers would have the right to conduct criminal record checks on people who work with children in short-term positions. The proposal aims to promote the protection of minors. Currently, employers are only authorised to investigate the backgrounds of people who work with children longer than three months during a one-year period.
“Background checks have not been possible in employment relationships lasting less than three months, which has raised concerns in daycare centres, for example. We need to take such concerns seriously. The best interests of the child should outweigh everything else,” says Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen.
Request for an extract from criminal records to be at employer’s discretionAfter the legislative amendments, employers would have the right to request that an employee provide an extract from the criminal record even for positions lasting no more than three months. This would not constitute a new obligation; instead, the request would be based on the employer’s own judgment and risk assessment. In this way, the new legislation would take into consideration the different needs of employers and the situations in which work is carried out. The right to conduct criminal record checks for short-term positions would also apply to other authorities required to investigate criminal backgrounds, including the Centre for Non-Military Service, TE Offices, licensing and supervisory authorities, municipalities and joint municipal authorities. In addition to employment relationships, people who work with minors as part of their non-military service or work trial would be required to provide an extract from criminal records before the start of the work. This requirement would also apply to commission agreements on family care.
The legislative amendments would improve not only the protection of minors but also the implementation of Finland’s international obligations. Finland has adopted the Council of Europe Convention to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse. The Convention contains provisions on the recruitment of persons working with children.
Finnish legislation fulfils the main obligations of the Convention concerning the investigation of the criminal background of those working with minors. The proposed legislative amendments would acknowledge the recommendations made by the Committee supervising the implementation of the Convention.The Council of Europe is a European organisation that promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Amendments to come into force in spring 2021
The Act on Checking the Criminal Background of Persons Working with Children has been in force since 2003. It aims to reduce the risk of children becoming victims of sexual abuse, subject to violence or lured into drug use. The Act requires persons working with minors to present to the employer, at the time of entering into an employment or public service relationship, an extract from the criminal record, if the work lasts more than three months in one year.
The Government submitted a proposal to Parliament to amend the Act on 4 February 2021. The amended Act is intended to enter into force after Parliamentary discussions in spring 2021.
NordenBladet – Scandinavian literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, and Scandinavia’s associated autonomous territories (Åland, Faroe Islands and Greenland). The majority of these nations and regions use North Germanic languages. Although majority of Finns speak Uralic languages, Finnish history and literature are clearly interrelated with those of both Sweden and Norway who have shared control of various areas and who have substantial Sami populations/influences.
These peoples have produced an important and influential literature. Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright, was largely responsible for the popularity of modern realistic drama in Europe, with plays like The Wild Duck and A Doll’s House. Nobel prizes for literature, itself a Scandinavian award, have been awarded to Selma Lagerlöf, Verner von Heidenstam, Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan, Knut Hamsun, Sigrid Undset, Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Pär Lagerkvist, Halldór Laxness, Nelly Sachs, Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson, and Tomas Tranströmer.
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Scandinavian literature, also called Nordic literature, the body of works, both oral and written, produced within Scandinavia in the North Germanic group of languages, in the Finnish language, and, during the Middle Ages, in the Latin language.
Scandinavian literature traditionally consists of works in modern Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Danish, and Faroese, all members of the North Germanic group of languages. The literary works written in these languages show deep-seated common linguistic ties. The Finnish language is unrelated to the North Germanic languages; it belongs instead to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric language family and is most closely related to Estonian and Karelian. Because Sweden ruled Finland for more than six centuries, Finnish literature, despite its linguistic differences, became closely intertwined with Swedish literature.
The term Scandinavia traditionally designates the two countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula—Norway and Sweden—and Denmark. Finland and Iceland are frequently called Scandinavian countries on geographic, political, and cultural grounds. The term Nordic is often used today to refer collectively to the Åland Islands, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Although the Scandinavian literatures exhibit similarities stemming from close cultural ties, they manifest differences reflective of distinct national institutions and historical and geographic conditions. They are therefore discussed separately under Danish literature, Faroese literature, Icelandic literature, Norwegian literature, and Swedish literature. Works written in Finland in the Swedish language (Finland-Swedish literature) and in the Finnish language are discussed under Finnish literature.
NordenBladet — On 4 February, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal for an act on temporarily amending the Communicable Diseases Act. The amendment would extend the validity of the provisions on restrictions concerning food and beverage service businesses, namely restaurants, bars and cafes. The current Act on Temporarily Amending the Communicable Diseases Act is in force until 28 February 2021. When submitting the legislative proposal, the Government stated that consultations with the authorities and stakeholders would be launched for the purpose of drawing up a legislative proposal for tighter restrictions.
The restrictions concerning the activities of food and beverage service businesses were temporarily added to the Communicable Diseases Act, under section 58a, in May. Now the validity of the Act on Temporarily Amending the Communicable Diseases Act and the temporary section would be extended, without changing their content, from 1 March 2021 to 30 June 2021.
The provisions must remain in force so that the general obligations regarding the activities of food and beverage service businesses will remain in force after February and the Government can lay down further provisions on more specific restrictions by decree. The decree and restrictions are based on the Government’s hybrid strategy, which aims to curb the epidemic effectively while minimising the adverse impact on people, businesses, society and the exercise of fundamental rights.
Government: further measures are needed
In connection with the government proposal, the Government approved a statement, which was entered in the minutes. According to the statement, the Government proposal for temporarily amending the Communicable Diseases Act aims to ensure that at least the current restrictions concerning the activities of food and beverage service businesses will remain in force after the expiry of the current provisions on 28 February 2021.
Due to the prevailing and anticipated epidemiological situation, the Government will start consultations with the authorities and stakeholders on a legislative proposal for tighter restrictions. The aim is to introduce, in tier 2 of the action plan for the Government’s hybrid strategy, necessary and proportionate restrictive measures concerning the activities of food and beverage service businesses.
Restrictions and obligations already laid down remain in force
The content of the legislative proposal submitted to Parliament corresponds to the current provisions. Food and beverage service businesses would have to follow specific hygiene requirements and be able to maintain sufficient physical distances between customers. The Government may continue to lay down provisions on the restrictions concerning the opening and licensing hours, numbers of customers and use of indoor spaces by decree. Food and beverage service businesses would be required to draw up a plan on how to implement the restrictions and obligations. The plan and the maximum permitted number of customers would have to be displayed where customers can see them.
The Regional State Administrative Agencies would have the task of overseeing compliance with the restrictions and obligations. These Agencies could order any shortcomings and deficiencies to be put right and they could also order an establishment to be closed to customers immediately for up to a month if there is a significant violation of the obligations.The restrictions laid down in the Act would not apply to staff restaurant activities, take-away food and beverages, or food and beverage service businesses operating in connection with service stations. Restaurants of ships and airplanes travelling between Finland and other countries or operating abroad would also be excluded from the restrictions.
Changes to previous restrictions in Åland and Ostrobothnia and in the Hospital District of East Savo On 4 February, the Government also amended the decree restricting the activities of food and beverage service businesses owing to the COVID-19 epidemic. The amendment to the decree will enter into force on 6 February at 00.00.
In the regions of Uusimaa, Southwest Finland, Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme, Kymenlaakso, Ostrobothnia and North Ostrobothnia, food and beverage service businesses that primarily serve alcoholic beverages will be allowed to serve alcohol between 7.00 and 22.00 and be open between 5.00 and 23.00. The amount of customer seating will be restricted to half the maximum number of seats. In other restaurants, the serving of alcoholic beverages will be permitted between 7.00 and 22.00 and they may be open between 5.00 and 23.00. They will be allowed to seat 75% of their normal number of customers.
In the regions of Pirkanmaa, Satakunta, South Karelia, Central Finland, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, Lapland, North Karelia and South Savo, food and beverage service businesses that primarily serve alcoholic beverages will be allowed to serve alcohol between 7.00 and 22.00. They may be open between 24.00 and 23.00 and seat half of their normal number of customers. In other restaurants the serving of alcoholic beverages will be permitted between 7.00 and 22.00, they may be open between 1.00 and 24.00 and they will be allowed to seat 75% of their normal number of customers.
In North Savo and Åland, the number of customer seats in restaurants will not be restricted. Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages will be allowed to serve alcohol between 7.00 and 24.00 and they may be open between 2.00 and 1.00. In other restaurants, the serving of alcoholic beverages will also be permitted between 7.00 and 24.00, but the opening hours will not be restricted.
The amendments to the decree therefore concern the region of Ostrobothnia and the Hospital District of East Savo, where the current restrictions were tightened. Previously, the restrictions corresponding to the acceleration phase applied only to the area of the Hospital District of South Savo in the region of South Savo. In Åland, the current restrictions were eased.
