NordenBladet — On 22 December, the Government decided to tighten the restrictions on entry into Finland. The new restrictions will enter into force on 27 January and will remain in force until 25 February. The new restrictions aim to reduce cross-border traffic in order to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 variants. The epidemiological situation in Finland differs considerably from that in other Schengen countries. For this reason, the risk that travellers might spread the virus variants is significant in Finland.

New restrictions on commuting across internal bordersInternal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. As of 27 January, Finland will restrict entry from all Schengen countries.The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment maintains a list of the work that is considered important for the functioning of society or for security of supply. However, any critical task included in the list does not automatically mean that entry into the country is warranted. Employers must use a separate form to justify why the job of a worker seeking entry into Finland is essential and why the work must be performed without delay. The worker seeking to enter Finland presents this form in the border check in addition to other documents required for crossing the border.

Entry into the country permitted for essential reasons
Entry is still permitted for healthcare and rescue service personnel (including emergency medical care) and for professionals who take care of the elderly in their duties; freight transport and logistics personnel in their duties, as well as for authorities in essential duties, diplomats, staff of international organisations, military personnel and personnel of aid organisations in their duties, as well as for representatives of states participating in international negotiations, and for persons participating in the work of international organisations.

Belonging to a border community is no longer a valid reason for entry
The previous decision will also be amended so that belonging to a border community at Finland’s land border with Sweden or Norway is no longer a valid reason for entry. In practice, this applies only to non-Finnish citizens. Finnish citizens and those living in Finland can continue to cross the border under the Constitution. Restrictions on external border traffic to remain in forceExternal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and non-Schengen third countries. The validity of the decision made on 7 January will be extended until 25 February. The decision will be amended as of 27 January so that restrictions on external border traffic will be lifted for traffic arriving in Finland from South Korea for residents of South Korea.

Government still recommends avoiding unnecessary travel abroad
Under the Constitution of Finland, Finnish citizens and residents of Finland always have the right to return to Finland, and everyone has the right to leave Finland if they so wish, provided that there is no legal impediment to this. However, the Government still recommends avoiding unnecessary travel to other countries, except for countries for which the restrictions on entry have been lifted. Travellers must be aware of the current entry and quarantine regulations of their country of destination.

Travellers should check quarantine and testing recommendations before travel Travellers arriving in Finland must take into account Finland’s quarantine and testing recommendations. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare will provide guidance on these health security measures. Information is also available on the FINENTRY service.

Finnish Border Guard gives advice on cross-border trafficThe Finnish Border Guard gives people advice on cross-border traffic by phone and email. The service will be available in Finnish, Swedish and English between 8.00 and 16.00 at +358 295 420 100. The service will also be available over the weekend of 23–24 January 2021 at 8.00–16.00.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The EU Foreign Affairs Council will hold its first meeting of the year in Brussels on Monday 25 January. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. Climate and energy diplomacy of the EU and discussions with the Foreign Minister of Japan will be the main topics of the meeting. At lunch, the ministers will discuss cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom in foreign and security policy. The arrest of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny will also be raised.

EU foreign ministers want to send an encouraging message to countries outside the Union before the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. The EU wants to speed up the establishment of international partnerships to enable global green transition. Finland emphasises the international link between climate change and biodiversity loss and expects the EU to give adequate consideration to the Arctic region in its policies. The ministers will also assess the geopolitical impacts of climate change.

The foreign ministers of Japan and the EU will discuss developments in the Indo-Pacific area, which extends from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and regional security issues. Japan is an important partner to the EU. The Union recently concluded a free trade agreement with this Asian country, and there has also been cooperation in other fields. Finland is of the view that the EU should strengthen dialogue with Japan and work to ensure better implementation of the agreements between the two parties.

Over a working lunch, the EU foreign ministers will have an informal discussion on the future relationship with the United Kingdom in foreign, security and defence policy, and cooperation between the two parties in this area. Both Finland and the European External Action Service are of the view that close cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom in foreign, security and defence policy should continue.

The foreign ministers will also discuss a range of topical issues such as the arrest of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny after his return to Moscow. Other topical issues on the ministers’ agenda will include the relations between the EU and the new US administration, state of the Iran nuclear agreement JCPOA, situation in the Horn of Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, wider security in the Persian Gulf region, Hong Kong, Venezuela and availability of coronavirus vaccines outside the EU.
Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs urges to avoid all travel to the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa in accordance with the recommendation of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. For all other countries, the Foreign Ministry’s general travel advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic is to avoid all but essential travel.

The coronavirus pandemic remains a major global risk to travel safety, and the situation may deteriorate abruptly and unpredictably in any country or region. Travellers may face limited access to healthcare, quarantine and restrictions on being outdoors. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has only limited capabilities to assist travellers in distress during the pandemic.In its meeting on Wednesday 13 January, the Government discussed measures to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 variants and the renewed acceleration of the epidemic. According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the new virus variants may be more infectious and spread faster than other variants.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland must pay stronger and more consistent attention to biodiversity in its development policy and international advocacy work. In addition, developing countries should be supported in their efforts to implement biodiversity agreements. The view is expressed by the Development Policy Committee’s expert group, whose analysis on safeguarding biodiversity was published on Friday 22 January.

According to the group of experts representing the member organisations of the Development Policy Committee, it is important that biodiversity and the protection of the environment go hand in hand with the fight against climate change in all Finnish activities.  The importance of biodiversity is not yet sufficiently reflected in policy guidelines concerning development cooperation, and especially not in practice. The group of experts considers it important that biodiversity be included in the next government report on development policy, which sets out principles to be applied across government terms. Biodiversity should be approached both as a cross-cutting objective and as a key theme under the fourth priority (climate change and natural resources) of Finland’s development policy. This is to safeguard the protection of biodiversity in all development cooperation.

Only a fraction of development finance is targeted at biodiversity

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Transport and Communications requests comments on the draft National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 and its impact assessment. The deadline for submitting comments is 23 February 2021.The National Transport System Plan aims to add a longer-term perspective to the development of the transport system across Finland. The Plan will be approved for 12 years at a time.

The preparation of the Plan is based on the Act on the Transport System and Highways. An environmental assessment required by law has been carried out of the Plan.

Plan covers the whole of Finland
The Plan will cover all transport modes, passenger and goods transport, transport networks, services and support measures for the transport system.

The following has been included in the Plan:-a vision of the transport system development until 2050-an assessment of the current state of the transport system and of the changes in the operating environment-goals of the Plan and the strategic guidelines specifying them-an action plan for achieving the objectives-a government funding programme.

The Plan has been prepared at parliamentary level and in close interaction with stakeholders since June 2019.

Strategic situation picture of the transport network
The Transport and Communications Agency Traficom and the Transport Infrastructure Agency have together updated the strategic picture of the situation with regard to transport network. It will be published on 21 January 2021. The situation picture reviews the need to develop the transport network, including the state infrastructure network. The review will be used in the implementation of the National Transport System Plan. In the future, the situation picture will be updated twice a year.

Next steps
The draft National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 and its impact assessment will be available for comments until 23 February 2021.Comments can be presented by all organisations and citizens at www.lausuntopalvelu.fi. The feedback received will be considered in finalising the Transport System Plan before any decisions are made. The comments will also be taken into account in the impact assessment.

The Government is due to submit the National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 in the form of a report to Parliament in spring 2021. After the discussion in Parliament, the decision on the Plan will be made by the Government.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021. In connection with the Presidency, Finland launched a project at the start of the year entitled ‘World’s smoothest cross-border mobility and daily life through digitalisation’.

Its aim is to improve the cross-border mobility and cross-border daily activities of people and businesses by promoting information exchange between public authorities in the Nordic countries. The project will create an operational framework and good practices for stronger and more effective cross-border exchange of information. The project will run for three years, from 2021 to 2023. According to the shared vision adopted by the Nordic Prime Ministers in 2019, the Nordic countries will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. The achievement of this objective will be furthered through cooperation conducted within the Nordic Council of Ministers. In the project launched by Finland’s Presidency, an operational framework for information exchange will be developed with the aid of inputs on services and data for situations and events associated with cross-border mobility. One of the project’s aims is that e-prescriptions issued in Finland could in future also be obtained from pharmacies in the other Nordic countries.

“Promoting smooth information exchange between the Nordic countries and the EU countries is essential to facilitate cross-border economic activity and free movement of people, for work, study and leisure. According to the Government Programme, the Nordic countries must become the best integrated region in the world and Finland aims to further facilitate the movement of citizens between the Nordic countries,” says Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero.

Measures currently being taken to combat the coronavirus epidemic are severely restricting the movement of people between the Nordic countries. However, the project mainly focuses on the period beyond the virus crisis. Furthering the cross-border exchange of information is something that will help people’s daily activities not only in normal circumstances but during any future crisis.The project will examine the exchange of information and everyday cross-border activity by focusing on three key aspects: Studying in other Nordic countries and the three Baltic countries

Using healthcare services in another Nordic country or the Baltic countries
A search engine for statutes covering the Nordic and Baltic countries’ legislation.The project will begin with a study of the current situation, which will create a picture of people’s everyday cross-border life. The main output of the project will be a joint frame-work for stronger and more effective cross-border exchange of information.

The Ministry of Finance will implement the project in cooperation with the Ministry of So-cial Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Justice, together with their administrative branches. All the Nordic countries and the three Baltic countries are participating in the project, which is entitled ‘World’s smoothest cross-border mobility and daily life through digitalisation’.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The group of ministers from digitally advanced EU countries (D9+) will discuss the European Commission’s goal of making the 2020s a Digital Decade. The virtual meeting will be held on 27 January 2021 and chaired by Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

A discussion paper prepared by Finland will be used as a basis of the meeting on Europe’s competitiveness and the objectives of the Digital Decade. According to Finland, the main factors affecting technological competitiveness include artificial intelligence, quantum technologies as well as 5G and 6G technologies.

The European Commission’s viewpoints will be presented by the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager. Pekka Ala-Pietilä, who chaired the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence in 2018–2020, will give an introductory speech on technological competitiveness in Europe. Eeva Raita, Head of Strategy and Culture at Futurice, will speak about artificial intelligence as a catalyst for competitiveness.

D9+ countries focus on digitalisationD9+ is a ministerial group of digitally advanced EU countries that promotes the utilisation, implementation and sharing of best practices of digitalisation. The meeting will be attended by the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Estonia.

All of the countries rank high in the Commission’s DESI index, which measures digital capacity and its development among the EU member states. DESI monitors digitalisation in the EU countries in five areas: connectivity, human capital (including digital skills), use of internet services by citizens, integration of digital technology by businesses, and digital public services.

NordenBladet — The generic skills, also known as general skills, of nearly 60% of students in higher education were at most at a satisfactory level and about 40% at least at a good level. These are the results of the final report by the Finnish Institute for Educational Research of the University of Jyväskylä and the Kappas! project of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning of Helsinki University.

The goal was to determine the level of the generic skills of students in higher education and to see how their skills develop over the course of their studies. The generic skills that were studied consisted of analytical deduction and assessment; problem solving; argumentative writing; language proficiency; critical literacy and assessment; scientific and quantitative reasoning, and analysis of argumentation.

The results show that there were differences between the undergraduate students, which were explained by factors related to the educational and socio-economic background of the students. The level of generic skills was clearly better among undergraduate students who had completed the matriculation examination than among those who had not. According to the study, general skills would seem to improve over the course of studies, but further research is needed.

To lay the foundation for continuous learning, the development suggestions proposed by the project include the need to focus on generic skills already at lower levels of education and in learning environments outside the school environment. Studies should be made into how general skills are taken into account in student admissions and generic skills should be developed in alignment with the educational objectives of universities and universities of applied sciences. In addition, the learning of generic skills needs to be supported in a purposeful way in higher education teaching.

The Kappas! project, funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, has shed light on how important generic skills are and provides higher education institutions with tools for developing their teaching. Approximately 2,400 Bachelor’s degree students in universities and universities of applied sciences in the early and final stages of their degree programmes participated in the assessment of skills. Eleven universities and seven universities of applied sciences were involved.

Assessment of undergraduate students’ generic skills – Findings of the Kappas! project

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 20 January 2020, the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy supported the guidelines for promoting the investment in the eastern rail transport link.In line with the guidelines advocated by the Ministerial Committee, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will continue the negotiations with the municipalities benefiting from the eastern rail transport investment and possible other publicly-owned bodies on setting up a project company. The project company would be responsible for the project-related planning and its funding until the construction phase.

Negotiations to continue on the basis of the Airport line–Porvoo–Kouvola routeThe project company to be set up for promoting the fast rail line in the eastern direction would be tasked with designing one new rail link. The project company negotiations will continue on the basis of the Airport–Porvoo–Kouvola route. According to a preliminary estimate, the planning costs for the route would be around EUR 70 million.The conditions for setting up the project company would be on an equal footing with the Finland Railway (Finland’s main railway line) and One Hour Train (fast rail link between Helsinki and Turku) companies.  At the initial stages, the state would own at least 51 per cent of the project company. The establishment of the project company would require that the other shareholders would commit themselves to providing capital to the company covering approximately 49% of the planning costs incurred until the construction can be launched and other costs required for the operation of the project company.

The party responsible for the ownership steering of the project company would be the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Final decision to be taken by Parliament
However, the decision on the central government’s financial contribution and the use of the appropriation for capitalising the project company would be made by Parliament. The result of the negotiations and the shareholder agreement would be later discussed separately at the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy.

The guidelines on the project company for the eastern rail link do not exclude the future development of other transport connections in the eastern direction. The Ministerial Committee is aware of the need to improve the accessibility of Eastern Uusimaa and Southeast Finland as well as the conditions for industrial transport. The Ministry of Transport and Communications will carry out a study on the development of transport services for the business and industry in Eastern Uusimaa and Southeast Finland and on strengthening the competitiveness of the business sector.

NordenBladet — According to Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru, the manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines should stick to their promise to deliver the agreed batches of vaccines to the Member States. The Commission continues to play an essential role in putting pressure on the manufacturers. Minister Kiuru discussed the situation regarding vaccines with Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, on 20 January.

During their discussion, Minister Kiuru emphasised how important it is to stick to the agreed deliveries of vaccine batches and their steady delivery schedule and smooth distribution to the EU Member States in order to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. The Minister thanked the Commissioner for the Commission’s efforts to put more pressure on the vaccine manufacturers so that they would increase their production capacity.

According to Minister Kiuru, the EU’s joint procurement procedure has proved to be a good and necessary procedure for Finland as the situation in the market for COVID-19 vaccines is difficult. The procedure has made it possible to conclude comprehensive agreements with several vaccine manufactures.