NordenBladet — On Tuesday 29 June, the President of the Republic appointed Member of Parliament Li Andersson as Minister of Education and a member of the Government, and Master of Arts, Member of Parliament Hanna Sarkkinen as Minister of Social Affairs and Health.

At the same time, the President released Member of Parliament Jussi Saramo from the post of Minister of Education and his membership in the Government, and Member of Parliament Aino-Kaisa Pekonen from the post of Minister of Social Affairs and Health and her membership in the Government.

At the beginning of this government term, the Left Alliance Parliamentary Group and Party Council decided to divide the portfolio of the Minister of Social Affairs and Health into two two-year posts.

Li Andersson will return from parental leave to her post of Minister of Education. Following the presidential session, the Government plenary session made decisions on changes to the ministerial portfolios, deputising arrangements and the composition of ministerial committees and working groups.

Minister Sarkkinen also gave her declaration of office and judicial affirmation.The Government appointed Dan Koivulaakso, Master of Social Sciences, as State Secretary to the Minister of Education and Saila Ruuth, Master of Social Sciences, to continue as State Secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health.

NordenBladet — On 29 June 2021, the Government granted EUR 2 million to the Regional Council of Lapland for the development of the Kemi-Tornio region. In all, the Government has allocated EUR 12.75 million to the area to manage the sudden structural change caused by the closure of the Veitsiluoto paper mill in Kemi.

The sudden structural change measures were launched immediately after Stora Enso announced its plan to close the paper mill in April. Local operators and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment quickly formed a group to assess the situation and to formulate an action plan to re-employ the workers and promote the vitality of the region.

Summary of funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:

* Employment appropriations, EUR 2.55 million (decision by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment)

* National business aid authorisation, EUR 4.2 million (Government session on 23 June 2021)

* Business aid authorisation from the European Regional Development Fund, EUR 4 million (decision by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment)

* National business aid authorisation, EUR 2 million (Government session on 29 June 2021)

A development plan by local operators in Lapland presents ways to create new jobs to replace the lost ones as quickly as possible, and to thereby minimise the negative effects of the mill’s closure.

According to the plan, new jobs will be created through investments in the industrial circular economy, basic industry and tourism as well as the commerce and services sectors. Support from the State will be allocated to promote business renewal, innovation and skills.

In addition, part of the funding will support capabilities in green transition, digitalisation and utilisation of technology.

These measures will strengthen entrepreneurship and the creation of start-ups.

Individual and social support are important in the early stages of a sudden structural change. Later, individual employment, training and retraining solutions also gain in significance.

NordenBladet — The Government has issued a new decree restricting the activities of restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses owing to the COVID-19 epidemic. The new decree was issued under section 58a of the Communicable Diseases Act, the validity of which has been extended by an act that will enter into force on 1 July 2021. The decree will renew the existing restrictions. In other words, it will have no effect on the restrictions currently in force.The new decree will enter into force on 1 July 2021.

Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in baseline areas in the regions of Åland, South Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Southwest Finland, North Savo, North Karelia, Central Finland, South Savo, Ostrobothnia, Satakunta, South Karelia, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Lapland from 24 June

There are no separate restrictions on the number of customers or licensing and opening hours. The obligations to observe the general hygiene guidelines and to keep a safe distance apply:

The restaurants and other businesses serving food and/or beverages must clearly inform people arriving there that a person with symptoms consistent with a COVID-19 infection is not allowed to enter the premises. The businesses must ensure that the customers use the premises in such a way that they are spaced as far apart as possible, and the customer seats are at a sufficient distance from each other.

The businesses must ensure that the premises and surfaces are cleaned and that the customers are given the opportunity to clean their hands.The businesses must draw up a written plan on how to implement the obligations and restrictions laid down for their activities and the use of their indoor and outdoor facilities.All customers must have their own seat at a table or similar.

The seat requirement does not apply to restaurant activities outdoors.Restrictions on food and beverage service businesses in areas in the acceleration phase in the region of Uusimaa from 24 JuneFood and beverage service businesses may serve alcoholic beverages between 7.00 and 00.00 and be open between 5.00 and 1.00.

Exceptions to restrictions remain unchanged
The restrictions laid down in the decree do not apply to the activities of staff restaurants or to takeaway sales of food to customers.

NordenBladet — On 30 June to 1 July 2021, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will host a defence minister meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries in Helsinki. The ministers will discuss topical security issues in the Baltic Sea region and the Arctic region. A political steering document guiding JEF military activities will be signed in the meeting.

In addition, a scenario-based exercise will be organised during the meeting to explore the decision-making mechanisms and conditions for their cooperation.

“The JEF activities focus on the Baltic Sea and Arctic environments that are important for Finland and activities that involve Finland’s key partner countries,” says Minister Antti Kaikkonen.

The UK-led JEF is a multilateral framework for defence cooperation formed by ten countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Finland joined the JEF in summer 2017 at the same time as Sweden.

The most recent expansion took place in April this year when Iceland joined.

NordenBladet — Matti Hirvola and Jenny Suominen will deputise for Special Advisers to Krista Kiuru, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, starting on 1 July and 1 August respectively.

Of the current Special Advisers, Laura Lindeberg will be on maternity leave between 23 June and 31 December 2021 and on holiday between 1 and 31 January 2022, and Sampo Varjonen will be on paternity leave between 1 July and 31 December 2021.

Matti Hirvola, aged 46, will deputise for Special Adviser Sampo Varjonen. Hirvola will transfer to the post  from Parliament where he has served as Special Assistant to Deputy Speaker Antti Rinne.

Prior to that, he worked as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister in political affairs and as Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance.

Hirvola holds the degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Social Sciences.Jenny Suominen, aged 41, will deputise for Special Adviser Laura Lindeberg.

Suominen will transfer to the post from her current position as the Social Democratic Party’s organisation manager.

Her previous positions include Executive Director of the Uusimaa District of the Social Democratic Party, Assistant to a Member of the European Parliament (committee work) and Assistant to a Member of Parliament of Finland. Suominen holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences.

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has circulated for comments a Government proposal, which will create the legislative basis for a new digital service platform for employment services (TE Services). The new service platform would improve the matching of employees with jobs and make employment services more efficient.

The reform aims to create digital TE services that are customer-oriented and user-friendly. The new digital TE public services would replace the customer information system of TE Offices as well as the customer and expert services (TE online services) currently in use. The services for personal and business customers and experts, as well as the informational content of TE public services, would become available on the Job Market service platform. The aim is also to clarify and update the regulation on the processing of customer data in public employment and business services. The draft proposal can be commented on Lausuntopalvelut.fi until 20 August 2021.

A new online service to improve the matching of jobseekers with jobs
The Job Market platform utilises artificial intelligence to enable jobseekers and employers to find each other faster and better. Compared with the current TE online service, the new service would allow jobseekers to create and publish job search profiles. The draft proposal contains provisions on the processing of data on job search profiles and the retrieval of data on published job search profiles as well as reviews of the roles of operators involved in the processing of personal data. The draft proposal is included in the 2022 budget proposal and will be discussed alongside it. The laws are scheduled to enter into force on 2 May 2022.The test versions of the Job Market service platform are already in use.

NordenBladet — Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit the United States on 28 June–2 July 2021.

During the visit, Minister Skinnari will have a meeting with United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai to discuss, among other things, the trade relations between the EU and the United States and global trade questions. Minister Skinnari will also have meetings with other representatives of President Joe Biden’s administration, members of the U.S. Congress, and decision-makers specialising in trade, technology and climate change matters.

The aim of the visit is to deepen commercial and economic relations and technological cooperation between Finland and the United States as well as to discuss climate and green economy questions. At the end of the visit to New York, Minister Skinnari will meet, among others, representatives of the leadership of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA in order to promote Finland’s humanitarian and development objectives. The United States is one of Finland’s most important trading partners. Compared with any individual country’s economic weight when not only export and import but also investments and innovation cooperation are considered, the U.S. is the most important country for Finland.

“Last year, the United States was the only country among our seven biggest export markets where we exported more than before. In the U.S., Finland is considered to be at the leading edge when it comes to technology. We must take advantage of this fact in our trade better than before. We have considerable opportunities for deepening our cooperation especially in the information and communications technology and green technology sectors. We have allocated resources to export promotion, and I believe that this will show also in the growth of trade,” says Minister Skinnari.

NordenBladet — On 28 June, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to be held in Rome.

The meeting will be co-hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio.  Ministers will discuss ways to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria and especially in the Sahel and Mozambique in Africa.

NordenBladet — On Thursday 25 June, Finland hosted a meeting of the Nordic ministers of agriculture. Finland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021.

The meeting was held via video conferencing, and it was chaired by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä. The theme of the ministers’ policy discussion was the sustainable Nordic food systems.

Introductions to the ministers’ discussion were given by Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen and Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Petteri Taalas. The ministers also heard a summary of the joint Nordic dialogue on sustainable food systems.

The joint Nordic dialogue webinar on food systems on the day preceding the meeting was organised on Finland’s initiative. The dialogue contributed to the national preparations in Finland and the other Nordic countries towards the UN Food Systems Summit to be held in October.

The webinar brought together about 100 participants from all Nordic countries and their autonomous regions. Among the numerous topics related to this very broad theme raised at the virtual meeting were the reduction of food loss and waste, sustainable consumption and nutrition, One Health, sustainable use of renewable natural resources and new technologies.

The Nordic ministers adopted a statement concerning shared views by the Nordic countries on the improvement of sustainability in food systems. The ministers confirmed their common approaches and priorities for the preparation of the UN Food Systems Summit. The Nordic countries have a lot in common and have much to offer to  enhance sustainability of food systems globally.

The Nordic countries have a lot of similarities in their food systems, and they also have nutrition recommendations that are based on common guidelines. This makes it easy to talk about the common views and guidelines, but there are also differences in the emphasis on certain elements due to factors such as different kinds of the natural conditions.

Usually the summer meeting of the Council of Ministers of these sectors (agriculture and forestry, fisheries, aquaculture and food issues) has been organised before Midsummer in the country that holds the Presidency. The original plan was to hold the meeting during Finland’s Presidency in Savonlinna, but due to the CODID-19 situation the meeting was transformed into a virtual event.

NordenBladet — The aim with the two-year project is to develop data collection methods and improve the accessibility of research data on discrimination.

The goal of the Project Know Equality of the Ministry of Justice is to develop new methods to improve the accessibility and usability of data on discrimination. Another goal is to increase the participation of organisations and discriminated groups in the monitoring of discrimination. The work will begin in summer 2021 with roundtable discussions dealing with topics such as measuring of the structural discrimination and improving the accessibility of information. Different interaction and co-creation supporting workshops as well as practical tools for discrimination monitoring will also be introduced. Prime Minister Marin’s Government is committed to promoting anti-discrimination work. The Project Know Equality supports the discrimination monitoring system coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and the Action Plan for Combating Racism and Promoting Good Relations between Population Groups (2021–2023), outlined in the Government Programme.

The Project Know Equality has received funding from the EU’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (REC).