NordenBladet — Legislation and national guidance play a significant role in promoting gender equality in early childhood education and care. This is one of the conclusions of a study commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Nordic ministers for gender equality and LGBTI meet to discuss the promotion of gender equality in early childhood education and care.The Nordic ministers for gender equality and LGBTI will meet to discuss the promotion of gender equality in early childhood education and care. The meeting will be held online on 6 September, and it will be chaired by Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist.Promoting gender equality in early childhood education and care is one of the key themes of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM) during Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The study published on 3 September  examines the legislation, research and good practices related to early childhood education and care in the Nordic countries, the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The study was conducted by researchers Nea Alasaari and Sara Sundell. In their meeting today, the ministers will discuss ways to promote gender equality in early childhood education and care on the basis of the study. ”Gender norms, roles and stereotypes are already learnt in childhood. We learn what expectations are placed on us based on our gender, what is acceptable and what opportunities we have. These ideas affect our wellbeing and may limit our education and career choices, for example. When building an equal society, it is necessary to pay attention to the promotion of gender equality in early childhood education and care,” Minister Blomqvist says.Ministers to decide on continuation of LGBTI cooperationPromoting equal rights, treatment and opportunities for gender and sexual minorities has been part of Nordic cooperation on gender equality since 2020. The Danish and Finnish Presidencies (2020–2021) have focused particularly on promoting the wellbeing and safety of young LGBTI people. For example, a Nordic report on the wellbeing of young LGBTI people was published in August 2021. In addition, a report is being prepared under the leadership of Finland to prevent hate crimes and harassment experienced by LGBTI people. The report will be published in autumn 2021. The ministers plan to make a decision on the continuation of LGBTI cooperation, in particular with a view to improving the quality of life of older LGBTI people.  “The rights of LGBTI people are under threat around the world. Studies show that most people belonging to gender and sexual minorities have also experienced violence, hate or harassment in the Nordic countries, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation even worse. For these reasons, Nordic cooperation on the promotion of the rights of LGBTI people is now more important than ever. The LGBTI projects that we have carried out so far have focused particularly on young people, and the natural next step is to focus on the wellbeing of older LGBTI people,” says Minister Blomqvist. Finland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021. 
 Further informationHanna Onwen-Huma, Senior Specialist, [email protected], tel. +358 2951 63233
Anna Abrahamsson, Special Adviser to the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality, [email protected], tel. +358 . 02951 50029
Sara Sundell, Expert p. 050 514 1818, [email protected]
Nea Alasaari, Project Manager, [email protected]

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government is adopting a single email suffix in stages during the remainder of 2021. Once the harmonisation process is complete, the email addresses of all staff members at the ministries will end in ‘gov.fi’. The Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Environment will adopt the new suffix on 6 September 2021.This means that as a rule, the e-mail addresses of the staff at these ministries will now be in the format [email protected] Emails sent to the old email addresses will still reach their recipients for two years after the new suffix is adopted.The general email addresses of the ministries will change later in 2021. This applies to the addresses of the registries, for example. The change will not affect the website addresses of the ministries. They will remain the same.‘Gov.fi’ suffix to be adopted in all ministries during the second half of the yearThe rest of the ministries will also take the new suffix into use over the course of 2021. The Ministry of Justice and the Prime Minister’s Office have already switched to ‘gov.fi’ addresses. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Finance will adopt the new email suffix on 20 September, and the Foreign Service will take it into use in November.The email addresses of staff working in tasks requiring a high level of preparedness and security will adopt the suffix ‘govsec.fi’. The Ministry of the Interior will change the email addresses of all its staff members to the format [email protected] on 4 October. The schedules are subject to change.By adopting a single email suffix, we can create a more unified Government and make it easier for citizens to contact government staff. The change is being carried out as part of normal updates to the email system. In connection with the reform, the Government is also making improvements to the security of its email traffic and enhancing its ability to detect potential information security anomalies.The ‘gov.fi’ suffix was chosen because it is easily identifiable and the same principle is in use in other countries. Harmonised email addresses will also make it easier for government staff to switch jobs between different ministries.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Tourist spending in Finland will decrease by 30–40% in 2021. If demand picks up in November–December, total spending is estimated to shrink by around 30%, or more than EUR 5 billion. If, however, demand starts to recover only in spring 2022, total spending will decrease by about 40%, or over EUR 6 billion.These figures are from an estimate regarding the development of tourism demand published in Business Finland’s What’s up: Ennusteet & Ennakointi (Forecasts and Anticipation) seminar on 6 September 2021. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, in cooperation with Visit Finland, Statistics Finland, the Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa, and the Association of Finnish Travel Agents SMAL has prepared the estimate using figures from 2019 for purposes of comparison. The estimates on how much spending would fall have turned more optimistic compared with early spring, driven by the growth in domestic tourism this summer. However, the pre-pandemic level in the sector’s overall demand cannot be reached without cross-border travel.According to preliminary estimates, tourism demand (the amount of money spent by Finnish and foreign tourists in Finland) was EUR 16.3 billion in 2019. Demand is not expected to reach this level before 2023. The recovery of tourism demand, particularly inbound and outbound tourism, will be significantly slower than the demand for domestic tourism. The tourism sector must also prepare for a scenario where demand will remain subdued for a longer period. The huge decline in international tourism will continue. The coronavirus crisis will cut spending by foreign tourists by 70–80%, or EUR 3.8–4.3 billion, this year. This represents a significant proportion of Finland’s service exports, of which tourism accounted for 16 per cent in previous years, making tourism the third most important sector of service exports. Finnish tourist spending in Finland on services related to foreign travel will decrease 76–86%, or EUR 1.7–2.0 billion. Before the coronavirus crisis, travel abroad accounted for about 15% of the total travel and tourism demand, but fell to just 5% this year. This consists largely of services provided by domestic airline and shipping companies, and travel agencies. It is estimated that domestic tourism spending will remain close to the 2019 level. Before the crisis, domestic tourism accounted for nearly 55% of Finland’s total demand for tourism; this year the percentage will rise to 82–87%. Regional tourism account of 2019 shows foreign tourists mostly visited Uusimaa and LaplandA regional tourism account, which describes the impacts of tourism on economy and employment in each region, was also published at the Business Finland event. The importance of tourism for regions varies greatly. In 2017–2019, domestic demand for tourism increased from EUR 10.5 billion to EUR 11.0 billion, at an annual rate of around 2% (EUR 211 million). Southwest Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Pirkanmaa and Central Finland experienced the most significant growth. In 2017–2019, international tourism to Finland increased by around 8% per year, focusing almost exclusively on Uusimaa and Lapland. Uusimaa benefited from more than half of the total tourism demand (EUR 8.2 billion).In 2019, 154,000 people worked in the tourism sector in Finland, representing 5.8% of the workforce. The share was higher in Åland (21.4%), Lapland (8.4%), Uusimaa (6.5%) and South Karelia (6.1%).  Of the people employed in the tourism sector, around 60,800 (or 40%) worked in Uusimaa. A regional tourism account, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and produced by Statistics Finland, includes the data for 2018 as well as the preliminary data for 2019 on regional tourism demand, the value added (GDP) by tourism and employment in the tourism sector. Countrywide data is available in the national tourism account published by Visit Finland. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 6 September 2021, Fortum [Power and Heat Ltd] submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment that assesses the environmental impact of continuing the operation of, or alternatively, decommissioning the Loviisa nuclear power plant as well as the impact of the final disposal facility of low and intermediate-level waste.The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, acting as a coordinating authority in the project, issued a statement on the EIA programme in November 2020. In its opinion, the Ministry stated that the company’s plans to carry out the environmental impact assessment were sufficient, provided that the matters presented in the opinion were taken into account.The Ministry requested that report include further details on the management of the ageing of the plant and take into consideration climate change and cooling water. The Ministry also requested that that the company provides more information on nuclear waste management and the prevention and consequences of accidents. Fortum’s EIA report has also assessed the impact of the project on people’s living conditions, wellbeing and health as well as the environment, waters, groundwater, fisheries, nature sites, landscape and cultural environment. In addition, the project’s impact on community structure and regional economy has been assessed.The two primary alternatives in Fortum’s EIA process are either continuing the use of both units until about 2050 or decommissioning the nuclear power plant after the expiration of the current licences in 2027 and 2030.Fortum’s EIA report is available at https://tem.fi/en/loviisa-eia-report The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will request opinions on it from authorities and organisations and will organise a hearing with citizens and communities. The consultation period is between 20 September and 18 November 2021 and the consultation will be carried out online in the Lausuntopalvelu.fi service. A public hearing on the project will take place in Loviisa on 7 October 2021 at 18.00–21.00. The coordinating authority will release its informed conclusion in January 2022. The EIA report will be attached to the application for an operating or decommissioning licence concerning the future of the power plant in due course.The coordinating authority for the project’s EIA procedure is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and for international hearings, the Ministry of the Environment.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government has amended the decree restricting the activities of food and beverage service businesses due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The restrictions for the acceleration phase of the epidemic will be introduced in Satakunta and the baseline restrictions in the city of Rovaniemi.The decree will enter into force on Monday 6 September 2021.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in the regions that are at the community transmission phase of the epidemic — Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso, Uusimaa, South Karelia, Ostrobothnia and South Ostrobothnia — from 6 September: Food and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 22.00 and be open between 5.00 and 23.00.Food and beverage service businesses that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may have only half the normal number of customer seats in use in their indoor and outdoor premises. Other food and beverage service businesses are restricted to 75 per cent of their normal number of customer seats in indoor and outdoor premises.All customers must have their own seat at a table or similar in both indoor and outdoor premises. 
Customers are instructed to stay seated in indoor premises. Businesses must draw up and provide their customers with instructions on how to enter or leave the premises or access the area designated for smoking or the toilets and washing facilities and how to collect their takeaway orders of food and drinks. In practice, dancing and karaoke, for example, are not allowed.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in the regions that are at the acceleration phase of the epidemic — Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme, North Savo, North Karelia, Central Finland, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, South Savo and Satakunta — from 6 September:Food and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 00.00 and be open between 5.00 and 1.00. Food and beverage service businesses that primarily serve alcoholic beverages are restricted to half of their normal number of customer seats indoors. Other food and beverage service business are restricted to 75 per cent of their normal number of customer seats indoors. As before, all customers must have their own seat by a table or counter when indoors. The number of customer seats in outdoor terraces is not limited. Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in the regions that are at a stable level — Åland and Lapland — from 6 September:There are no separate restrictions on the number of customers or on licensing and opening hours.As before, all customers must have their own seat by a table or counter when indoors.The obligation to observe the general hygiene guidelines and to keep a safe distance applies in all areas.Exceptions to restrictions remain unchangedThe restrictions laid down in the decree do not apply to the activities of staff restaurants or to takeaway sales of food to customers. The restrictions on opening hours do not apply to food and beverage service businesses on vessels and aircraft that operate between Finland and other countries or abroad or to food and beverage service businesses that operate at distribution stations for liquid fuels.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium reached an agreement on statistical transfers under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive on late June. The Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä on behalf of Finland and the Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten on behalf of Belgium have now signed the agreement.“Finland’s long-term investments into increasing renewable energy have been successful. We have exceeded our targets and statistical transfers are a way of meeting EU-level obligations in a cost-effective manner. Our negotiations with Belgium proceeded smoothly and the outcome will benefit us both,” minister Mika Lintilä says.The Renewable Energy Directive’s binding national target for the share of renewable energy in Finland is 38% and already in last year the renewable energy accounted for  around 42% of final energy consumption, which means that Finland exceeded the target. The Directive aims to help different Member States to achieve their targets and, at the same time, for the EU to meet its common objective. For this purpose, the Directive allows Member States to use the renewable energy surpluses achieved in another Member State as a statistical transfer for their own target.Finland sells its renewable energy surplus to Belgium for EUR 18.6 millionBy means of the agreement, Finland will transfer the surplus of its renewable energy target to Belgium. The amount to be transferred is 1376.5 GWh. The countries agreed on a purchase price of EUR 13.5 per MWh and therefore Belgium will pay Finland EUR 18,582,750 on 30 September 2021. Finland and Belgium must notify the European Commission of statistical transfers by 31 December 2021, including the amount and price of energy transferred. The Commission was informed in advance of the progress of the negotiations on 31 March 2021. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has prepared the statistical transfers and negotiated the agreement on behalf of Finland supported by the Foreign Ministry. Under the Government Rules of Procedure, energy policy falls within the remit of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and the national implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive is its responsibility. In September 2020, the Ministry submitted a Europe communication to Parliament (E 104/2020 vp) concerning the start of the agreement negotiations.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture is organising the Nordic Nord Start Climate Change Competition in autumn 2021. The competition is part of the programme of Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021. Organised in cooperation with the LUMA Centre Finland’s StarT programme, the competition aims to gather children, young people and adults, from early childhood education and care to higher education, to brainstorm concrete means for the fight against climate change.The Nord StarT competition aims to showcase what kinds of visions Nordic children, young people and young adults have about climate change mitigation and to present examples of how to curb climate change. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in and a growing concern about climate change. In addition, young people are more socially aware and active than they have been in over two decades, and they want concrete action and solution-oriented climate debate.It is possible to enter the Nord StarT competition with projects or practices where different age groups and educational levels are working together. Schools, groups, clubs or any other set of children, young people or adults can enter the competition with a good learning practice or project where children and young people show how to fight the climate change. Teachers, instructors and educators play an important role in the creation of teaching practices. Nord StarT aims to strengthen cooperation and the sense of community among the Nordic countries, to develop sustainable development pedagogics and to promote curriculum-based activities. The competition is designed for all educational levels from early childhood education and care to higher education.The competition is already underway, and it is possible to enter projects and practices for the competition until the end of November. The competition will culminate at the Nordic Conference, and the award ceremony will be held on 9 February 2022. Read more about Nord StarT and how to enter the competition on the competition website.More information and materialsUlla-Jill Karlsson, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 295 330 141Outi Haatainen, Project Manager, LUMA Centre Finland, tel. +358 50 448 9508start.luma.fi/en/

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The recruitment procedure for civilian crisis management experts to be sent abroad will be developed. The Government submitted a legislative proposal on the matter to Parliament on 2 September. The aim is for Finland to have at its disposal a sufficiently large, diverse and competent group of experts for civilian crisis management tasks. Attention will also be given to the impact of civilian crisis management work on the human resources of public sector employers.  According to the proposal, a person employed by the State, a municipality or a joint municipal authority would still be entitled to leave of absence or exemption from work for the duration of a civilian crisis management task. However, the right would be limited so that the person would be entitled to leave of absence or exemption from work for a total of three years over a period of five years.The right would also be extended to cover basic training in civilian crisis management provided by the Crisis Management Centre and the feedback event after the employment relationship has ended.It is further proposed that for certain civilian crisis management tasks only persons who have not previously been in an employment relationship under the Act on the Participation of Civilian Personnel in Crisis Management could be selected as candidates and contracted as employees. The aim of the procedure is to make it easier for first-timers to have access to civilian crisis management tasks in order to increase the size of the available group of experts.In other respects, no restrictions would be imposed on experts applying for civilian crisis management tasks. This would abolish the current practice which has required a break between civilian crisis management employment relationships.This proposal is linked to the strategic theme of the Government Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government, according to which Finland is globally influential. One of the objectives of the Government Programme is that Finland will maintain and develop its capacity to take part in international civilian and military crisis management tasks in cooperation with other international actors.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has appointed a High-Level Working Group on Tourism, which will serve as an expert advisory body on strategy related to tourism development. The High-Level Working Group will promote the implementation of Finland’s tourism strategy for 2019–2028. It will also monitor and assess the sector’s operating environment and current phenomena and support the preparation of tourism policy measures.Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will chair the working group and Ilona Lundström, Director-General at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, will serve as vice chair. The working group will be composed of ministries that are of key importance to the tourism sector, including the units in their administrative branches as well as regional councils and state administration, regional tourism organisations, travel companies, research and educational institutions and organisations. The secretariat of the working group will operate from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The working group’s term will begin on 1 September 2021 and last until 31 December 2028.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — ELY Centres will launch a regional experiment on labour market tests that will introduce common guidelines on work permits in selected areas. This is expected to increase labour mobility between regions and ease permit processes related to foreign workforce. The pilot does not mean that labour market tests will be discontinued. Labour market test means that, upon receiving an application for a Finnish residence permit by a foreign worker, the TE Office determines whether a worker already in Finland could fill the vacancy. The purpose of the test is to support the employment opportunities of labour already available on the market, but not to prevent the recruitment of labour from abroad.The ELY regions of South Ostrobothnia, Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu have been selected as pilot areas for the experiment, which will begin in autumn. In this clearly defined geographical area, business subcontracting chains cross the boundaries of the ELY regions and employers need flexibility in placing their employees. A shortage of skilled workforce has started to impede growth in the region and the need for workforce and international experts is expected to grow even more in the next few years. Pilot to improve availability of workforce in sectors with labour shortageA more flexible labour market test will support immigration of skilled labour, because the ELY Centres can together determine the need for labour by occupation in the pilot area, taking into account the economic outlook. If metal industry, for example, were defined as a sector suffering from labour shortage, the labour market test would be equally moderate throughout the area during the pilot. In addition to more flexible labour market tests, the pilot involves communication campaigns on attracting skilled workforce and on preventing the exploitation of labour.The experiment will begin in September–October 2021 and last until the end of February 2023. In that way, an impact analysis of the pilot can be completed by the end of the government term. 
 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi