NordenBladet — The number of new coronavirus infections is still at a high level, and community transmission is common in different age groups across Finland. It is alarming that more and more infections are found in older age groups and that there is a clear increase in the number of patients in need of hospital care.There will be a few weeks delay before we see the impact of the stringent recommendations and restrictions introduced by regions in recent weeks.

The positive news is that the more than month-long rapid increase in the number of new cases and incidence has slowed down slightly over the past three weeks. Between 7 and 13 December, a total of 2894 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing a decrease of 112 cases from the previous week. The incidence of new cases was 52 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the previous week it was 54.

The total number of new cases in the last two-week period (30 November–13 December) was 5900, which was 179 cases more than in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases was 106 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 103.The area of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa accounted for more than half of the cases and had a weekly average of around 1600 new cases of COVID-19 during the past three weeks.

Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 0.85–1.05, with a 90 per cent probability.

Alarming development among older age groups
While the majority of new cases are still found in younger age groups and in working-age adults, alarming changes can be seen in the age distribution of COVID-19 infections. The proportion of older age groups has grown since early November. During the period of 7–13 December, people under 50 years of age accounted for around 72 per cent of all cases and people under 30 years of age for around 40 per cent of the cases. The percentages are the same as in the previous week. The trend is a little upward among people over 60 and 70 years of age: people over 60 account now for over 15 per cent of new cases and people over 70 for nearly nine per cent. People over 70 years of age are a high-risk group because of their age. It is important to protect those at risk to prevent serious cases of the COVID-19 disease.

On 16 December 2020, a total of 268 patients were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease, and 34 of them were in intensive care. All catchment areas for highly specialised medical care had patients in intensive care. There were 103 inpatients in specialised medical care and 131 in primary healthcare. Small drop in the number of mass exposures

During the period of 7–13 December, there was a slight drop in the number of mass exposures in leisure activities, food and beverage service businesses and public events, indicating that the restrictions and recommendations are working. Nevertheless, the number of mass exposures remained high in nearly all hospital districts, which puts a strain on the efforts to trace infections.

Healthcare and social welfare settings accounted for about ten per cent of all mass exposures, and private parties for about four per cent.Although more than one in three mass exposures were found in educational institutions and one in five in early childhood education and care, they rarely resulted in further transmission. Only about four per cent of all traced infections were associated with educational institutions and two per cent with early childhood education and care during the period of 7–13 December.

Tracing of infection perseveres
In the whole of Finland, the source of infection was traced in about 60 per cent of all new cases in the period of 7–13 December, showing little change on the preceding week. The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa traced the source of infection in about half of new cases in the area.At national level, about half of all cases with a known source of infection were household transmissions. Around 15 per cent of cases were traced to workplaces, two per cent to leisure activities and one per cent to businesses serving food or beverages.

On 16 December, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Finland stood at 31,870. There have been 473 deaths related to the disease. It is estimated that about 22,500 people, which is over 70 per cent of all confirmed cases, have recovered from the disease.

The monitoring report on the epidemic published today and the previous reports are available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare:Monitoring coronavirus (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finnish and Swedish)COVID-19 epidemic: regional situations, recommendations and restrictions (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)Coronavirus in numbers (Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa)Action plan for implementing recommendations and restrictive measures under the hybrid strategy following the first phase of the COVID-19 epidemic (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2020:26, description sheet available in English)

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The badges and identity cards of the security authorities in the branches of government of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance will be updated as of 1 January 2021. The new badges and cards of the police, the Border Guard, rescue authorities and Customs will reflect the equal treatment of the national languages guaranteed by the Constitution and the Language Act.

The badges and identity cards used by the security authorities in the branches of government of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance were renewed in 2018 after new security features were added to the cards and a uniform appearance was selected for the design. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s decision (EOAK/6446/2018), staff badges and identity cards introduced by the police, Customs, the Border Guard and rescue authorities in 2018 do not comply with the language obligations of the authorities. In the title field, the name of the authority and card in Swedish is in a much smaller font size than in Finnish.

The update now being carried out will address the identified shortcomings. The new badges and identity cards will be identical to the previous cards, with the exception of the text in the title field, which will be changed to the same size in three languages (Finnish, Swedish and English).

The Ministry of the Interior has instructed the authorities to start replacing the badges and identity cards immediately from the beginning of 2021. The transition period will last until the end of 2023. The Ministry of the Interior requires all security authorities to replace badges and identity cards, and to give priority to Swedish-speaking areas and persons in contact with customers.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland provided a historic total of EUR 115 million in humanitarian aid in 2020. Humanitarian aid is one of the most concrete ways of responding to crises and disasters. More than 200 million people across the globe need humanitarian aid due to conflicts, natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic.

Finland’s humanitarian aid stresses education, school meals, the rights of women and girls, improving the situation of people with disabilities, disaster risk reduction, and direct support for dealing with the coronavirus crisis this year.

“The government is committed to increasing the level of humanitarian aid. Significant additional funding granted at the end of the year will increase Finland’s humanitarian aid to match and even exceed the level that preceded the cuts in appropriations for development cooperation. Finland is thereby also discharging its responsibilities even in these exceptional times,” says Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.

Finland is also adopting a stronger role in education in the humanitarian sector. It will begin funding the Education Cannot Wait fund (EUR 6 million) managed by UNICEF, which seeks to ensure the rights of children to education even under crisis conditions. Finland is also supporting children’s schooling through UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (EUR 2 million), which includes providing refugees with basic education and health services.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant rise in the number of people suffering from acute malnutrition. Through the UN Food Program WFP (World Food Program), Finnish funding is supporting school meals in the countries of the Sahel region and in many other crisis areas where school meals are the only meal of the day for many children. The WFP channel also enables Finland to provide food aid in Yemen (totalling EUR 5 million), which is on the brink of famine.Finland is seeking to reinforce its support for the education sector in crisis situations. “We know from our own experience that school meals have much more far-reaching effects than mere nutrition. They strengthen the health of children, improve learning outcomes and promote equality. This is why I am working as a WFP School Meals Ambassador to build political and financial support for school meals in developing countries and in humanitarian crises,” Ville Skinnari explains.

The Minister’s work in this capacity faces a challenge as the coronavirus pandemic has damaged the position of women and girls in particular in humanitarian crises. Finland promotes the rights of women and girls by such means as supporting the humanitarian work of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Syria and other crisis areas around the world (EUR 3 million). UNFPA provides maternity and child health clinic services, improves access to safe childbirth, prevents gender-based violence, and provides psychosocial support to victims of violence. Finland is also working through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to fund the prevention of gender-based violence among Rohingya refugees in Myanmar and Bangladesh (EUR 2 million). The work of UNHCR also stresses child welfare, education, emergency accommodation and shelter.

Prevention is a much more cost-effective approach than responding to crises, and Finland has long supported disaster risk prevention efforts through the UN. It is also providing additional funding to help the poorest countries in particular to prepare for natural disasters and other crisis situations (EUR 1 million).

Supplementary funding allocated towards the end of the year will enable Finland to support the humanitarian work of UNICEF in Ethiopia (EUR 2 million), and direct support through the Red Cross and Red Crescent movements to Ethiopia, Somalia and Niger, where work focuses on health, water, sanitation and shelter (totalling EUR 3 million). Finland is also providing additional funding for the work of UNHCR in Venezuela (EUR 0.5 million), and for the UN Central Emergency Response Fund CERF (EUR 5.4 million), which provides a rapid response to sudden disasters and protracted underfunded crises around the world.Earlier this autumn Finland allocated EUR 3.1 million to Finnish CSO projects that seek to address humanitarian needs caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Yemen, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — In their meeting on 16 December, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy received a briefing on developments related to NATO and topical matters concerning Finland’s NATO partnership.

Finland is continuing its dialogue and wide-ranging cooperation with NATO as a partner country.

The President and the Ministerial Committee also discussed the preparation of the Government’s Defence Report.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — A record number of 197,040 children and young people took part in the pupil and student survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture. This is a significant achievement for an online survey both by national and international standards. More than one third of pupils and students in primary and lower secondary education participated in the survey (35 per cent of all pupils and students). Schoolchildren are interested in many new leisure activities and hobbies linked to the school day. Altogether 55 per cent of all respondents want to take up a new leisure activity or hobby.

The survey included questions related to the kind of leisure activity or hobby children and young people would wish to take part in in connection with their school day. It was sent to all 2,229 primary and lower secondary schools in Finland. The pupils and students chose from a range of 76 leisure activities and hobbies their favourite ones and ones that they would like to try out.

The results showed that 55 per cent of all respondents would like to start a leisure activity or hobby. One in five lacks a meaningful leisure activity or hobby, and of these, more than 60 per cent said they would like to start a hobby. Younger schoolchildren are interested in leisure activities and hobbies such as parkour, climbing, cooking, animal clubs, visual arts, snowboarding/skiing and football. Older schoolchildren are interested in gyms, snowboarding/skiing, cooking, bowling, shooting as a sport/archery, fixing mopeds and pool. If a club for fixing mopeds were to be set up in school, older boys would probably take part in it. Girls and boys prefer different leisure activities and hobbies. The wish list of girls includes riding, cooking, visual arts, animal clubs, dancing, climbing and agility. Top of the list for boys are parkour, designing games/coding, football, fixing mopeds, BMX/mountain biking, hunting and snowboarding/skiing. Girls also expressed an interest in film clubs, handicrafts, fashion design and photography; boys, instead, listed history clubs, architecture, media, video and light art.

–    I would like to thank every single pupil and student for taking part in the survey, and the principals and teachers for their support in carrying out the survey. Every single child should be given the opportunity for a hobby. It brings joy and allows children to experience a sense of achievement and learning.  This is the aim of the Finnish model for leisure activities and hobbies. This survey is a great initial impetus for incorporating the type of hobbies children want into their school days, said Minister of Science and Culture Annika Saarikko.

The pupil and student survey is part of the implementation of the Finnish model for leisure activities and hobbies. It aims to offer every child and young person a genuine opportunity to pursue a leisure activity or hobby of interest as part of the school day. The leisure activities and hobbies will be selected on the basis of the survey or based on other consultations with children and young people.The Finnish model will be launched in a handful of municipalities at the beginning of next year. The next application round for municipalities will open in early March at the latest and involves leisure activities and hobbies starting in the autumn. This was the fourth time the survey was organised. The previous record number of participants, which was in 2017, was up by 77,000 respondents in the 2020 survey.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Economic growth will accelerate to 2.5% in 2021 as the coronavirus epidemic recedes, is the forecast of the Ministry of Finance in its latest Economic Survey, published on 17 December.

In 2020, the economy will contract by 3.3%. The easing of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2021 will restore the economy closer to normal conditions. Before then, economic growth will remain sluggish due to increased restrictive measures, the low level of confidence felt across the economy and greater uncertainty. In the second half of 2021, the economy will grow rapidly. Gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow by 2.0% in 2022 and by 1.4% in 2023. The forecast is based on the assumption that coronavirus cases will decrease due to severe restrictions over the turn of the year. If the number of cases starts to rise again after the relaxation of restrictions, then restrictions may again have to be tightened in early 2021. This creates uncertainty, which will undermine economic recovery in spring 2021. The introduction of vaccines during the spring will improve confidence in the future across the economy and gradually restore the functioning of society towards normality.

The imbalance between general government revenue and expenditure will remain above 5% of GDP in 2021. The deficit will gradually decline in the coming years but will, however, remain so high that it appears that the general government debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to grow throughout the early 2020s.“The epidemic has been an exceptional event in the economy and society. When it becomes clear that Finland is moving into the post-epidemic period, it would be justified to shift the emphasis of economic policy from acute crisis management to strengthening the conditions for economic growth and stabilising public finances,” says Mikko Spolander, Director General of the Economics Department at the Ministry of Finance.

Course of the pandemic will drive the global economyThe global economy will recover from the deep recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic during 2021. The recovery will be weighted towards the second half of the year. Since summer 2020, world trade has started to recover from the deep crash caused by the pandemic, and it will continue to gradually improve. China’s economy has already almost returned to the pre-crisis level, but the pandemic is still preventing economic normalisation in many other economic areas.

Recovery will continue after a brief lullIn Finland, the clear recovery of the economy from the coronavirus epidemic will be postponed until 2021, as the second wave of the epidemic will temporarily slow down economic growth around the turn of the year. Consumption of services will decline again as a result of the second wave of the epidemic, but consumption of goods will remain strong. Consumption of services is not expected to recover until consumer confidence gradually returns to normal. The average growth rate of private investment will remain subdued. Gradually recovering global economic development will be reflected in a pick-up in investment. Starts of new construction projects are expected to be delayed, however, and there will be a clear reduction in the amount of investment in housing construction. World trade has already turned to growth, which has had a favourable impact on goods exports. Exports of services, on the other hand, continue to decline. Growth in the output of exporting companies is increasing demand for intermediate goods imported from the rest of the world, and the impact of net exports on economic growth remains modest. The share of exports and GDP accounted for by domestic value added has not risen in line with the EU average.

General government deficit will remain substantial in 2021The continuing coronavirus epidemic and measures taken by the Government to support businesses, citizens and the economy will keep the general government deficit at a high level in 2021. In addition, the postponement of non-urgent care during the epidemic is resulting in a service and healthcare backlog that will increase upward pressure on health and social services expenditure after the epidemic subsides.

The general government debt-to-GDP will grow to 69% in 2020. In 2021, the growth in the debt ratio will slow as the epidemic recedes and the economy recovers. However, the imbalance between general government revenue and expenditure as well as increases in spending due to population ageing will continue to increase the debt ratio also in the coming years. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to be 75% in 2025.

Development may yet surprise in both directions
Economic growth may be slower than projected in a situation where growth in the number of coronavirus cases accelerates either as a result of delayed restrictive measures or should such measures prove to be ineffective. An increase in the need for hospital care would later lead to significantly tighter restrictions, which in turn would slow economic growth further.

An increase in coronavirus cases as well as the need for hospital care would severely undermine economic confidence, significantly slowing economic growth. Moreover, the magnitude of the economic impact will also depend on the government measures taken to mitigate the epidemic and support the economy.  The economy will recover faster, the more quickly vaccines are available, how large a proportion of the population is vaccinated and how effective the vaccines are. The confidence-building effect of vaccines may also be stronger than anticipated, allowing the economy to return to normal earlier than expected. This would promote, in particular, a faster and stronger recovery in services both domestically and internationally. Strong measures to stimulate production and demand have been initiated and are planned in the EU. Implementing these measures as well as the measures decided and planned by the Finnish government to stimulate the economy will support output both in Finland and elsewhere.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and employment administration have jointly prepared a transitional strategy for public employment and business services (TE services), which outlines the priorities for these services in the coming years. The strategy published on 16 December 2020 focuses on ensuring individual services and an employer-based recruitment service. The strategy also emphasises strategic partnership and digitalisation.

The challenges faced by TE Services include technological development, digitalisation, and changes in the labour market, work, skills and economic structure. The TE Services Strategy reviews the types of services, service and customer models, personnel skills and knowledge-based management that will be needed for the TE services to best meet the needs of customers and provide services in a customer-oriented, cost-efficient and effective manner.A vision for 2023 in the TE Services StrategyIn line with the vision of the TE Services Strategy for the next few years, TE Services will focus on individual and effective customer services, identification of skills and their development needs as well as job search skills, education-related guidance and recruitment. The services will be customer-oriented, broad and equal. Digitalisation will support the development of the service system and services.Actively contacting and interacting with companies and identifying jobseekers’ skills will promote the availability of labour. Customers will receive integrated services that include existing and partner services.

Key points of the TE Services Strategy:

Strengthen the start of job search and provision of individual services
Combine employer and jobseeker services into recruitment services
Support SMEs in recruitment, growth, internationalisation and changing circumstances in close cooperation with the network of partners
Focus on new entrepreneurship
Focus on efficient and multi-channel services
Reform the service structure of TE Offices and create a multi-channel service model
Competent and valued personnel is an important resource
Knowledge-based management is a key part of developing the service system

The strategy concerns the TE services provided by the State, TE Offices, TE Customer Service Centre and, in part, ELY Centres. The strategy, which has been prepared by public officials, is a transitional strategy outlining the priorities of TE services in the next few years. The strategy will develop in time and its implementation will be continuously assessed. An interim review of the strategy will take place in 2023, and at that time a decision will be made on the strategy’s continuation.

The strategy takes into consideration the ongoing reforms of the structures and organisation of the employment administration. These reforms include municipal experiments on employment, Nordic labour market service model, preparation of a permanent service structure, reform of the service organisation for continuous learning, and expansion of multi-channel services. These reforms are being prepared in interaction with each other. Customers’ service needs, individuality, customer orientation, cost-efficiency and effectiveness will guide the development of employment and business services, regardless of the future form of the service structure.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 17 December, the EU environment and climate ministers will meet in Brussels to finalise the EU’s climate commitment to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen.

By the decision of the European Council made last week, the EU is committed to reducing its net emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990. According to the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Parties must update their nationally determined contributions concerning the year 2030 during 2020.

The decision of the European Council to tighten the target for 2030 enables to reach a general approach also on the European climate law. Law will include a climate neutrality objective by 2050. A partial general approach on the European climate law was reached already at the Environment Council in October. Now the ministers will supplement the approach by an updated target for 2030.

“Finland aims for a strong European climate law that takes us effectively towards climate neutrality by 2050. This requires ambitious milestones that are in line with the target for 2050, not just for 2030 but also for 2040,” Minister Mikkonen says.

Stronger role to environmental organisations, conclusions on the circular economy to be approved
The meeting aims for a general approach on amending the Aarhus Regulation. The Aarhus Convention regulates the right of public access to information and participation and right to seek the review of decisions. The amendment would improve the opportunities of environmental organisations to influence the policies and decisions.At the meeting the ministers will also approve conclusions on the circular economy and on digitalisation and the environment. In the conclusions on the circular economy, a key focus is on sustainable recovery and its funding in a way that supports the objectives of the European Green Deal. The conclusions stress the importance of a sustainable product policy and identify the role of the circular economy in boosting the competitiveness, innovation, employment and wellbeing and, thus, the resilience of the EU.

The conclusions on digitalisation show its dual role very well: on the one hand, digitalisation supports the achievement of emission reductions, climate change adaptation and monitoring of the state of the environment while, on the other, there are concerns related to the growing energy and material consumption in information and communication technology (ICT). Finland is currently preparing a national strategic programme on the circular economy and a climate and environmental strategy for the ICT sector.

In addition, the ministers will exchange views on a chemicals strategy that will promote sustainability. The aim of the chemicals strategy is to protect human health and the environment even better against hazardous chemicals. The strategy also aims to promote innovation related to safe and sustainable chemicals and to enable a transition to chemicals that have been designed as safe and sustainable. Finland considers it important that the strategy is sufficiently ambitious and comprehensive with its aim for better protection of human health and the environment, and that it will contribute to a more comprehensive transition towards sustainable production and consumption.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Money laundering aims to cover up the origin of criminally acquired property or money by circulating these assets through a legitimate payment system so that it looks like they have been legally acquired.

This can mean depositing criminally acquired liquid assets in a bank and circulating them through various other banks, giving the appearance that they originate from a legitimate source. Unlawfully acquired funds might also be used to purchase real estate or other valuable items. Recipients of such funds can also be guilty of money laundering if they were aware of the unlawful origin. Money launderers are guilty of a crime for which the punishment under Finnish law is a fine or imprisonment.

Working together to prevent money launderingAnti-money laundering work aims to combat criminal activity by making it less financially rewarding. Money laundering is a key element of organised crime and is often also connected with international crime. Companies and professionals whose products and services can be used for covering up the origin of assets or which can detect money laundering in their operations have a significant role to play in the prevention of money laundering. This is why many business operators are obliged to undertake customer due diligence measures, conduct risk assessments and notify the Financial Intelligence Unit of any suspicious transactions. Exchange of information between those involved in anti-money laundering is essential for effective prevention. Various public authorities are working closely together to prevent money laundering. For more information on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, visit the moneylaundering.fi website.

The moneylaundering.fi website contains information on preventing money laundering and combating terrorist financing. The moneylaundering.fi website is jointly maintained by a number of different authorities and organisations.More information:Jaana Vehmaskoski, Ministerial Adviser, tel. 0295530267, firstname.lastname(at)vm.fi

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Due to the second wave of COVID-19 this autumn, air transport has not been able to recover from the COVID-19 crisis as was anticipated in the summer. This has had a particularly strong impact on the air transport situation in Finland. For example, Finnair continues to operate at only around ten per cent capacity, and the company’s operations are currently loss-making. The company has suffered and will continue to sustain substantial losses due to the pandemic and resulting travel restrictions.

With this in mind, the Government has begun preparations a financing arrangement to support Finnair. If granted, the amount of State financing will not exceed EUR 400 million, which is the amount remaining from the EUR 700 million in appropriations approved by Parliament in the spring. The financing would be granted as a hybrid bond to strengthen the company’s equity in its accounting. The final decision on the potential financing arrangement will be made by the Government plenary session. The arrangement will not necessitate applying for new funds from the State budget.

“The State is committed to its obligations as Finnair’s responsible anchor owner. Finland’s geographical location is challenging, and we cannot get by without well-functioning air transport connections. Air transport is of great importance to Finland for business and leisure, both at home and internationally. The extensive connections provided by Finnair are essential for the vitality of our counties and regions and play an integral role in our tourism and export sectors,” says Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen. Last spring, the State supported Finnair by participating in the company’s share issue and by granting a 90 per cent guarantee on the company’s earnings-related pension loan.  The Government Resolution on State Ownership Policy stipulates that all state-owned companies must base their operations on corporate social responsibility and that they must take into account the economic factors and the social and environmental impacts of their activities in their decision-making. “As part of other ownership steering work, I require Finnair to reduce its emissions in line with its responsibility programme. We will be monitoring this matter closely through active dialogue according to the principles of good governance,” Minister Tuppurainen emphasises. In March, Finnair published an ambitious corporate social responsibility programme through which it aims to halve its net emissions compared to the 2019 level by the end of 2025 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 at the latest. The future financing arrangement will require approval from the European Commission’s competition authority in line with the EU state aid rules. Finnair is a company of strategic interest to the State due to its significant positive multiplier effects on the air transport cluster and air transport connections.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi