NordenBladet — Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko will represent Finland at the video conference of EU finance ministers on Thursday 28 October.All EU countries are required to present a national Recovery and Resilience Plan in order to receive funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Finland submitted its Recovery and Resilience Plan to the EU on 27 May. The Plan is part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland.The European Commission published a positive assessment of Finland’s plan on 4 October. At the same time, the Commission issued a proposal for a Council Implementing Decision. The proposal includes milestones and targets, which will be used to monitor the implementation of Finland’s plan.Council to approve plans after the meetingIn their video conference, the EU finance ministers will discuss the Recovery and Resilience Plans of Finland, Estonia and Romania. The Council of the European Union will approve the plans and implementing decisions by written procedure within a few days.Finland is in favour of approving the plans for Estonia and Romania.Once the Council adopts Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, Finland will receive 13% of the EU funding for the plan, i.e. EUR 271 million at current prices. Parliament has adopted the third supplementary budget, which outlines the use of the funding this year. Next year’s EU funding is included in the Government’s budget proposal.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 25–26 October, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Foreign Minister’s meeting of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in Tromsø. The meeting will end Norway’s Chairmanship, after which the Chairmanship will be handed over to Finland for the next two years.At the meeting, the Ministers are to approve the establishment of a new project fund for the Barents Region and adopt a new Action Plan on Climate Change and a Ministerial Declaration that will sum up the achievements of Norway’s Chairmanship and pave the way for the priorities of Finland’s upcoming Chairmanship.The aim for Finland during the Chairmanship is to promote sustainable development and a healthy environment, contacts between people, and transport and good connections. In particular, Finland will take action to strengthen indigenous species in the Barents Region and to combat invasive species. The agenda also includes a separate Youth Summit of young people in the Barents Region.The 30th anniversary of the cooperation in the Barents Region will be celebrated in the second year of Finland’s Chairmanship in 2023.In connection with the Council meeting, Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will also have bilateral meetings e.g. with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Anniken Huitfeldt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug Yuri Bezdudny.The members of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council are the Nordic countries, Russia and the EU. In addition, representatives of indigenous peoples and Regional Councils participate in the work. For Finland regional cooperation, including Barents cooperation, is an important means of promoting stability and security, sustainable development and economic opportunities in the neighbouring areas.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On Friday 22 October, the President of the Republic decided to appoint new non-resident ambassadors.The President of the Republic authorised Ambassador Sari Rautio, Head of the Finnish Embassy in Madrid, to represent Finland also in Andorra. In addition, the President of the Republic authorised Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola, Head of the Finnish Embassy in Nairobi, to represent Finland also in Seychelles and Uganda. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Prime Minister Sanna Marin will visit Berlin on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 October.Prime Minister Marin will meet with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday and with Federal Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday 26 October, Prime Minister Marin will attend the World Health Summit held annually in Berlin. The high-level meeting will be attended by several Member States of the World Health Organization, international organisations, civil society organisations, academic institutions and private sector operators. Prime Minister Marin will deliver the opening speech at the closing session of the summit. The theme of her speech will be the economy of wellbeing. The discussions will be streamed live on the event website.In connection with her visit, Prime Minister Marin will also have a bilateral meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen and Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero will represent the Finnish Government via remote connections at the second Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe to be held on 22–23 October 2021 in Strasbourg. Citizens’ representative Ninni Norra will also represent Finland at the event.The discussion at the Plenary session will take place in nine thematic working groups, which will start their work on Friday. The working groups will prepare for the discussions to be held in the Plenary session on Saturday. The working groups will address a variety of issues raised by citizens at citizens’ events around Europe, at the European Citizens’ Panels and in the Conference’s Multilingual Digital Platform. Minister for European Affairs Tuppurainen, who is responsible for matters related to the Conference on the Future of Europe, will represent Finland in a working group focusing on values, rights, the rule of law and security. Minister of Local Government Paatero, for her part, will represent Finland in the working group on the digital transformation. “Finland is one of the leading countries in Europe when it comes to the digital transformation, which gives us opportunities to exert influence. In our work within the EU, we want to ensure that the European vision for a digital future is people-oriented and equal,” says Minister Paatero, who is responsible for digitalisation in public administration.Minister for European Affairs Tuppurainen will speak on behalf of the Finnish Government at the Plenary on Saturday. Discussions at Saturday’s session will cover the issues raised so far at the European Citizens’ Panels, at events organised in the Member States and on the online forum, among other topics. In Finland, citizens have the opportunity to share their views and wishes during the ministers’ “We are Europe” tour. The first five events on the tour have already taken place, and several others are planned for different parts of Finland. “It is important for the Conference on the Future to remain close to citizens. This should also be reflected in the Plenaries and the working groups. We must take full advantage of this opportunity to listen to Europeans’ ideas from across the board and further increase transparency in the Union,” says Minister Tytti Tuppurainen.Finns can also share their thoughts and ideas in the online forum for the Conference on the Future. The online forum seeks citizens’ views on values, climate change, the economy, health and education, and other themes. The common EU-level hashtag #TheFutureIsYours can be used on social media.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On Friday 22 October, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will participate in the second day’s working session of NATO’s defence minister meeting, with the focus on geostrategic challenges and cooperation between the EU and NATO.
“NATO is the key actor in advancing transatlantic and European security and stability. It is important for Finland to have regularly the opportunity to exchange views with NATO and its allies”, says Minister Kaikkonen.

In addition to the NATO countries, the Finnish and Swedish defence ministers and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell have been invited to the meeting. The meeting will be held at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 21 October 2021, the Government proposed that the President of the Republic approve the new Act on interoperability of electronic road toll systems. The Act concerns amendments to the European electronic road toll system, and it does not oblige nor lead to the introduction of road toll systems in Finland.The Act is due to enter into force on 23 October 2021. Upon its entry into force, the new Act would repeal the current Act with the same name.The Act would implement the new Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems and facilitating cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the Union. The Directive applies mainly to the technical interoperability of electronic road toll systems.The legislative proposal on interoperability of electronic road toll systems does not implement the Government Programme’s objective of an act allowing congestion charging. That act will be prepared separately and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for it.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 21 October 2021, the Government submitted a proposal to Parliament for an act amending the Act on Peak Load Reserve, which Secures a Balance between Electricity Production and Consumption. The content of the Act would be brought into line with the requirements of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the internal market for electricity in respect of resource adequacy assessment and introduction of capacity mechanisms.The objective of the proposal is to ensure the development of the peak-load reserve system so that it meets the new EU requirements on strategic reserves. The peak-load reserve system will continue to secure sufficient electricity supply during peak consumption in the winter season.In the future, the need for and volume of peak-load capacity would be assessed at least every two years. The assessment would be based on a national assessment under the Regulation on the internal market for electricity, which would supplement the European resource adequacy assessment. In addition, when determining the volume of peak-load capacity, the Energy Authority should take into account the target level of the security of electricity supply set by decision of the Government.Participation in peak-load reserve would be extended to cover, in addition to power plants and facilities capable of demand response, electricity storages that meet the technical requirements, and combinations thereof (aggregation). In contrast to previous practice, peak-load reserve must be reported to the European Commission as state aid. The Act is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2022.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government proposes that the Aviation Act and certain related acts be further specified to meet the recent developments in EU regulation, among other things. The key amendments proposed in the draft bill would clarify the powers of the aviation authorities and certain other aviation operators. The objective is to further improve safety in civil aviation.The draft bills would complement the powers of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom as the national civil aviation safety authority. The amendments would clarify the powers of the Transport and Communications Agency in terms of restricting the use of air traffic rights and implementing the EU Aviation Safety Regulation. In addition, the responsibility for awarding government grants to airports would be transferred from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to the Transport and Communications Agency.To make the airworthiness review of light aircraft simpler and smoother, airworthiness review staff would be authorised to grant review certificates. Currently the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency grants certificates on the review staff’s recommendation.The draft bill specifies in more detail certain roles and responsibilities concerning air navigation services and flight method design, and expands the right of aviation search and rescue service providers to obtain information necessary for completing the task in question. In addition, the carriage of passengers on historical aircraft should, in future, be reported to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency if such activities are not subject to other permit or reporting obligations.In this context, sanctioning in the aviation sector would be reviewed, including the elements of causing a traffic hazard as specified in the Criminal Code of Finland. According to the proposed amendment, unmanned aviation not complying with EU regulations would be considered a violation, and would have legal consequences. With regard to unmanned aviation, the Aviation Act would give certain operators the right to monitor unauthorised unmanned aircraft systems in areas such as airport surroundings.What next?The proposal for amendments submitted by the Government to Parliament on 21 October 2021 concerns the Aviation Act, the Act on Transport Services, the Act on Electronic Communications Services, the Criminal Code, and the Act on the Defence Forces.A preliminary debate will be held on the proposal in a plenary session. The timetable for the debate will be listed on Parliament’s website (upcoming plenary sessions).After the preliminary debate, the proposal will be referred to a committee. The committee drafts a report, which is then discussed in a plenary session.The aim is for the amendments to come into force no later than the beginning of 2022.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Ships’ Crews and the Safety Management of Ships. The amendment would implement a Council Directive requirement that every fishing vessel must carry a crew list and its copy must be provided to the authorised persons ashore.The Government proposes that the obligation would apply only to vessels that have a hired crew. The amendment would not apply to self-employed persons engaged in fishing or to practitioners engaged in non-commercial fishing.The Government submitted its proposal to Parliament on 21 October 2021. The amendments are expected to enter into force on 19 December 2021, which is the closing date of the derogation Finland applies at the moment. Under the derogation, only fishing vessels exceeding 24 metres in length have been obligated to supply a crew list.What nextA referral debate will be held on the proposal now submitted by the Government to Parliament. The timetable for the debate will be listed on Parliament’s website (upcoming plenary sessions).After the referral debate, the proposal will be sent to the Transport and Communications Committee. Once the committee’s report is ready, the matter will be discussed in a plenary session again.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi