NordenBladet — The goal of the two-year project, launched by the Ministry of Justice, is to promote equality and non-discrimination. The goal will be pursued by developing tools to the key players for carrying out equality work.
The Project Drivers of Equality strives to boost the equality planning processes between authorities, educational institutions and employers.
Another goal is to increase the awareness among the key target groups and the general public about non-discrimination and diversity.
The project partners are the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL), the Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman and the City of Helsinki.
The project term lasts until the beginning of 2023.
The Project Drivers of Equality has received funding from the EU’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (REC).
NordenBladet — Yesterday, the Government confirmed its resolution on the contents of the third national fundamental and human rights action plan. The action plan includes indicators for fundamental and human rights, which can be used to produce systematic data on how these rights are realised in the everyday lives of people.The third national fundamental and human rights action plan develops the way these rights are monitored in Finland and improves knowledge-based decision making around human and fundamental rights questions. – It is important for us to receive regular updates on how fundamental rights are realised in the everyday lives of people in order to efficiently address any problems, says Anna-Maja Henriksson, Minister of Justice.In addition to implementing indicators, the monitoring of fundamental and human rights will be improved by promoting research and data collection, following the recommendations of international treaty-monitoring bodies and their enforcement more efficiently and developing the assessment of fundamental and human rights in law-drafting.Fundamental and human rights indicators describe the realisation of rights in everyday lifeNon-discrimination is the overarching principle of the fundamental and human rights indicator model. The monitoring objects and their indicators have been grouped into nine categories: • personal liberty, integrity and the right to life • legal protection and good governance • private and family life • freedom of speech, opinion, religion and beliefs • language and culture • inclusion and influence • livelihood and decent work • education • health, wellbeing and environment. The preparation process for the indicators has been open and interactive. The final choices are based on the recommendations of international treaty-monitoring bodies, observations by legality reviewers, statements by the Constitutional Law Committee and questions raised in hearings and discussions with the expert work group. Finland’s fundamental and human rights monitoring needs developing The Constitutional Law Committee, national treaty-monitoring bodies and the previous actions plans along with their independent evaluations have highlighted a need to develop national monitoring of fundamental and human rights as well as data collection on the subject. The Constitutional Law Committee has also found preparing an action plan for each government term necessary.Knowledge-based policy-making is one of the policy reforms promised by Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government.
NordenBladet — The growing battle for economic and technological leadership between the US and China has adverse effects also on Finnish companies. In a recent report, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK recommend that both Finland and the EU prepare more carefully for possible harmful effects.This was the first time that the influence of the rivalry between the great powers on Finnish companies was studied. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and EK conducted their joint project together with 60 specialists and 30 companies.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has appointed a working group to prepare the government proposal on the implementation of the EAA in Finland.The EAA requires that both the public and private sector actors guarantee the accessibility of certain products and services. The EAA must be transposed by each EU Member State by 28 June 2022. The application of EAA begins on 28 June 2025.In accordance with the Government’s policy, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for co-ordinating the implementation of the EAA, while other ministries participate in the preparation in line with their specific field.The EAA makes products and services accessible and increases inclusionThe purpose of the EAA is to make products and services more accessible and, in this way, make society more inclusive and facilitate the independent lives of persons with disabilities. At the same time, it will increase the availability and free movement of accessible products and services by harmonising relevant requirements in the Member States.The EAA specifically concerns products and services relating to ICT and are particularly important for the full participation of persons with disabilities in the life of the community. These include computers and their operating systems, smartphones, e-commerce and consumer banking services. Proposal scheduled for consultation in autumn 2021The working group’s preparation schedule is tight, as the draft government proposal is expected to be sent for consultation in autumn 2021. The aim is to consult stakeholders in different ways during the preparation. The government proposal will be submitted to Parliament in spring 2022.Documents and preparatory material related to the EAA will be made available as collected on the websiteFurther information about the European Accessibility ActEnquiriesEmilia Ojala, Project Manager, tel. +358 (0)295 163418
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Defence has authorised the Defence Forces to sign an agreement with BAE Systems Hägglunds Ab, Sweden, to implement a mid-life extension of the Army’s infantry fighting vehicles CV9030. The prototype and test series will be upgraded first while the remaining life-cycle upgrades will be carried out in 2022.
The Army procured the infantry fighting vehicles between 2002 and 2007, and the agreement will ensure their usability and lifecycle until 2035. The supplier is obliged to have the assembly work of the serial production phase carried out by a Finnish subcontractor. This will strengthen the domestic security of supply. The domestic employment effect will be approximately 23 person-years.
The overall value of the procurement with options is about EUR 33 million excluding value added tax. The procurement will be financed by the funds for defence materiel procurement that are budgeted for this purpose.
NordenBladet — On 23 June, the Ministry of the Interior sent out for comments draft legislative amendments that would support preparedness for a possible mass influx of migrants. The need for change has been identified in the development work that the authorities have been carrying out since 2015.The reception act would clarify the coordination of preparedness for a mass influx of migrants. The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for the reception system for asylum seekers. In the event of a mass influx of migrants, the Finnish Immigration Service has the lead in operational responsibility in this respect. Therefore, provisions on its coordinating role and tasks should be laid down at the level of an act of Parliament too.Low number of new asylum applicationsA mass influx of migrants is a situation in which reception centres for asylum seekers, including additional accommodation, are reaching maximum capacity and there is a constant influx of new migrants, with more arriving than leaving the country. Such a situation may arise gradually or abruptly, because of the massive displacement of people from a country towards Finland, for example.Jorma Kantola, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 215, [email protected]
NordenBladet — The Government submitted its Annual Climate Report to Parliament on Wednesday 23 June. According to the report, Finland’s emissions declined in the exceptional year, but achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 will require more and faster action also after the pandemic.“We are going in the right direction, but new climate measures are needed. We are currently preparing our most important climate plans: the Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan that extends until 2035, the Climate and Energy Strategy and the climate change plan for the land-use sector. In this work, we must find measures that will enable us to achieve Finland’s goal of being carbon neutral in 2035. It is also important to ensure that the climate measures are implemented in a way that is fair,” Minister of the Environment and Climate Krista Mikkonen says.The Government’s objective is that Finland will be carbon neutral by 2035 and carbon negative shortly thereafter. Carbon neutrality means that emissions and the sinks that sequester carbon are in balance, i.e. emissions caused by human activity are calculated to be as high as greenhouse gas removals. Carbon negativity means a situation in which greenhouse gas removals are higher than greenhouse gas emissions.A key factor for the carbon neutrality target is the expected number of carbon sinks in 2035, which determines the magnitude of the required emissions reductions. If a net sink of 21 million tonnes is aimed for in the land use sector in 2035, emissions should likewise decrease from the current 48 million tonnes to 21 million tonnes. The current measures are estimated to cover about 16 million tonnes of the necessary emissions reductions of 27 million tonnes, which means that 11 million tonnes will remain as an emissions gap. Considerable reductions in emissions trading sector in 2020, small reductions in other sectorsAccording to the preliminary data of Statistics Finland, the total emissions in Finland declined by about 9% from the previous year. In the emissions trading sector the reduction was almost 16% and in the non-emissions trading sectors the emissions decreased by 3%, which slightly exceeded the EU’s annual emission allocation for Finland in 2020.The emissions trading scheme covers electricity production and the majority of district heat production, metal production, pulp and paper industry, chemical industry, construction industry and air transport. Sectors and operations not covered by the scheme include road transport, agriculture and heating of individual buildings.The decrease in emissions was a result of the warm winter, recent structural changes in electricity production and a decrease in emissions from the transport sector. The land use sector’s carbon sinks increased while felling of forests declined, which was also relevant for the climate.Finns are consuming moreAccording to the calculations of the Finnish Environment Institute, emissions from household consumption declined between 2010 and 2015, but have remained at around the same level since then. Consumption-based emissions include emissions arising in Finland from the production of goods and services as well as overseas emissions from the production chains of imported goods. Emissions from export production chains are deducted in the calculation of consumption-related emissions. There has been an overall increase in emissions from consumption of 4% since 2000. The primary factor explaining this rise is income level: the more money people have, the more they usually consume. The increase in consumption expenditure has been partly compensated by lower-emission products and services.Decline in transport sector emissionsIn 2020, emissions from the transport sector in Finland decreased by 6% from the previous year. The coronavirus pandemic, in particular, contributed to the decline in emissions from the transport sector as there was a decrease in driving distances. The target set in the Government Programme is for transport sector emissions to be halved from 2005 levels by 2030. Transport sector emissions are declining too slowly in relation to the target: the existing measures are expected to reduce emissions to 7.9 million tonnes, but emissions should decrease to 6.3 million tonnes. In May 2021, the Government adopted a resolution on a roadmap for fossil-free transport to achieve this target.Emissions from agriculture remain unchangedAccording to preliminary data, emissions from agriculture in 2020 remained the same as the previous year. The current measures included in the Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan are expected to lead to a slight downward trend in emissions from the agriculture sector. The EU Common Agricultural Policy is currently being revised for the next funding period. Measures to reduce emissions will be re-examined in connection with this. The EU’s obligation to Member States is to allocate 30% of rural development funds to environmental and climate measures at the national level.Discontinuation of oil heating will drive down emissions caused by heating of individual buildings Emissions from the heating of individual buildings have been on a downward trend in recent years due to the reduction of oil heating and improvement in the energy efficiency of buildings. Emissions from individual buildings are mainly caused by oil heating. The action plan for phasing out fossil fuel oil in heating was on a consultation round in spring 2021. Newly introduced subsidies will be used to speed up discontinuation of oil use in residential properties.Adaptation measures need to be expedited Accelerating global warming highlights the need to expedite the measures to prepare for change. An update to Finland’s National Climate Change Adaptation Plan will be launched under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 2021. The aim of the implementation of the adaptation plan is to reduce the harmful effects of climate change on people’s safety, health and living conditions, nature and other environments, livelihoods, infrastructure and society’s important functions.A knowledge base of the impacts and risks of climate change and methods to prepare for these are being developed in several currently ongoing research projects. Finland’s ability to prepare for climate change will improve by strengthening broad-based cooperation, forging partnerships and developing climate-resilient solutions.Annual Climate Reports are based on the Climate Change ActThe Annual Climate Reports are based on the Climate Change Act that entered into force in 2015. This is the third annual report. The Annual Climate Reports follow the achievement of Finland’s emission reduction targets. They contain information on the trends in the emissions and sinks in Finland. They also deal with climate change adaptation and the impacts of the envisaged policy measures on emissions. The reports also consider whether new measures are needed to achieve the objectives set.To make it more comprehensive, the content of this Annual Climate Report has been developed on the basis of reports issued by Parliament and feedback received from various stakeholders. The Annual Climate Report provides extensive information on emissions trends and topical issues related to climate policy. In addition to the effort sharing sector, the emissions trading and land use sectors are also examined.Parliament will start the discussions on the Annual Climate Report after the summer holidays.
NordenBladet — Knowledge, techniques and skills related to hand-made glass are being prepared to be submitted to the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Besides Finland, the multinational application coordinated by France includes Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic.The application has been under preparation since 2017 and is to be submitted to UNESCO in March 2022. A decision on the possible inscription to the list will be given in December 2023.In Finland, the multinational application is supported by eight different entities operating in the glass industries and twelve glass studios. The Finnish Glass Museum is the responsible party for all the entities in the glass industries. The Finnish Glass Museum, appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture, is a museum with national responsibility, specialising in glass production, glass manufacturing and the history of glass artwork.UNESCO World Heritage Convention safeguards cultural heritageFinland signed the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. The Convention promotes the protection of intangible cultural heritage and makes visible the diverse cultural traditions of people, communities and groups. The Finnish Heritage Agency is in charge of implementing the Convention in Finland.Based on the Convention, an inventory of cultural heritage is kept both nationally and internationally. UNESCO keeps two lists of intangible cultural heritage and a register on the best safeguarding practices.
NordenBladet — Since 19 October 2020, ELY Centres have been able to grant business development aid as temporary State aid under the Finnish COVID-19 aid scheme. In addition, aid has been granted to small companies that have been in difficulties before 1 January 2020. The Government will continue the temporary amendments until 31 December 2021. This will enable support for business development projects not only during the coronavirus crisis but also during the gradual transition towards normal conditions.More information on the granting of business development aid as temporary State aid and for small companies in difficulty is available on a previous press release by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Commission approved extension to Finland’s aid scheme and an increase to maximum aid under temporary State aid in March The Government’s decision to extend the temporary amendments are based on the European Commission’s decision on 28 January 2021 to extend the temporary State aid rules until the end of this year. At the same time, the Commission decided to raise the maximum amount that a company can receive as temporary State aid to EUR 1.8 million from EUR 800,000. With its decision on 10 March 2021, the Commission confirmed that Finland’s COVID-19 aid scheme will be extended until 31 December 2021 and that the company-specific maximum amount of State aid under the aid scheme will be EUR 1.8 million. The increase, which entered into force in March, applies to business development aid granted by the ELY Centres as State aid under Finland’s aid scheme.The State aid scheme involves a temporary easing of State aid rules due to the coronavirus epidemic. Aid granted under the aid scheme may be granted in addition to de minimis aid. In other words, a company can receive both forms of aid. In calculating the maximum amount of aid per company, all aid granted by Finnish authorities under the aid scheme must be taken into account.Companies apply for business development aid at ELY CentresELY Centres grant business development aid to SMEs for their development measures and investments. These companies include start-ups or those looking to reform or grow. A particular focus is on internationalisation.More detailed information on applying for business development aid on ELY Centre website
NordenBladet — On 17 June, the Government submitted to Parliament a government proposal for a new act on executive assistance to the police by the Defence Forces. The key points of the proposal relate to the preparedness of the authorities, and the regulation on very exceptional situations and armed assistance. The aim is to update the legislation on executive assistance provided to the police.The new act would include more precise provisions on the conditions for providing executive assistance and on decision-making concerning executive assistance in exceptional situations. The act would also lay down provisions on implementing decisions on executive assistance and coordinating the activities of the police and the Defence Forces in situations requiring executive assistance. Similar amendments would also be made to the provisions of the Border Guard Act on critical executive assistance provided by the Border Guard to the police. Act aims to improve the preparedness and ability of the police to prevent crimes that threaten the lives and health of a large number of peopleOne of the aims of the new act is to improve the police’s ability to prevent, prepare for and immediately respond to a terrorist attack, for example. “The purpose of the amendment is to develop the process relating to executive assistance to make it more possible for the police to prevent, in advance, serious crimes against a large number of people, for instance,” says Heidi Aliranta, Senior Specialist from the Ministry of the Interior.The new act would include more precise provisions on the conditions for providing executive assistance and on decision-making concerning executive assistance. The aim is that a decision on critical executive assistance can be made sufficiently quickly with regard to the situation, and in a timely manner, based on sound information.No changes are proposed to everyday, regular executive assistance given by one authority to another; instead, the proposed amendments concern very exceptional situations in which police personnel or equipment are insufficient. Nor would the new act confer new powers on the Defence Forces or the Border Guard. The situations requiring executive assistance referred to in the act relate to the performance of police duties under the direction and guidance of the police.“Critical executive assistance is intended as a last resort to deal with very exceptional and rare situations, which the police seek to prevent primarily by other means. The hope is, of course, that the police will never have to use critical executive assistance. However, it must be taken into account that the operating environment has changed over the years and, in Finland too, we must be able to prepare for situations such as those serious incidents we have seen around the world,” says Aliranta.The legislative reform began in spring 2018 when the Ministry of the Interior launched the legislative project and set up a working group to prepare the project.