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25.5.2021 | The third supplementary budget proposal for 2021 will boost growth, bring forward investment, respond to spending requirements caused by the coronavirus, and alleviate harm that the virus has caused to businesses and to children and young adults. The supplementary budget will initiate reforms and investment under the European Union recovery instrument.

30.6.2022 | On 30 June 2022, the Government submitted its national climate and energy strategy to Parliament as a report. The strategy is a comprehensive action plan for the medium term, which Finland will use to meet the EU’s obligations for 2030 and to achieve the national climate target for 2035. The strategy covers all greenhouse gas emissions in the emissions trading, effort sharing and land use sectors as well as the carbon sinks of land use and other sectors.

24.11.2021 | Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä proposes that Finland and Sweden prepare a joint industrial strategy to promote a green transition. According to Lintilä, the discussions could start at a summit next year, which would bring together the countries’ top politicians and industrial and business leaders.

14.10.2021 | The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) will meet in Luxembourg on Friday 15 October. Finland’s representatives at the meeting will be Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen and Minister of Social Affairs and Health Hanna Sarkkinen.

25.6.2021 | On the second day of their meeting in Brussels on 25 June, the EU leaders focused on economic issues. Economic stimulus measures and the completion of the Banking Union were on the agenda.

25.2.2021 | The Finnish Government approved the content of REACT-EU funding on 25 February as part of the ongoing Sustainable growth and jobs structural funds programme. Allocation of recovery funds to regions will begin in spring 2021. This funding will particularly support SMEs from the perspective of digitalisation and a green economy.

1.6.2022 | Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko gave a speech at the conference on the theme of ecologically sustainable economic policy in the 2020s on 1 June 2022.

24.9.2021 | First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation Nadia Calviño will visit Finland on Monday, 27 September 2021. First Deputy Prime Minister Calviño will be accompanied by Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence Carme Artigas and Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Roberto Sánchez. Deputy Prime Minis...

26.1.2022 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met in Madrid on Wednesday 26 January. The two prime ministers discussed strengthening their countries’ economic relations and cooperation on a number of EU issues. The security situation in Europe also came up in the discussion.

19.4.2022 | The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action will hold its spring meeting on Tuesday 19 April. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held virtually in connection with the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Finland has served as the one of the chairs of the Coalition since 2019, and the meeting is due to decide on extending the term by one more year until spring 2023.

13.12.2021 | According the OECD’s review, the development of Finland’s environmental policy has been positive in recent years. The OECD considers the carbon neutrality target and targets related to promoting biodiversity and a circular economy as highly relevant. However, the current measures will not be enough to reach the targets that have been set and, according to the OECD, this will be a challenge for Finland in the coming decade.

13.5.2021 | Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Kazakhstan on 12–14 May.

8.5.2021 | On Saturday 8 May, Prime Minister Sanna Marin and the other European Council members took part in an informal social summit. At the meeting hosted by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, the leaders adopted the Porto Declaration emphasising the importance of social issues for the economic recovery of the Union. The EU leaders also had a discussion via videoconference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

23.8.2022 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin's speech at the annual meeting of Heads of Mission, hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland on 23 August 2022.

24.2.2021 | At their video conference on 25 February 2021, the EU ministers responsible for the internal market and industry will discuss national recovery plans, the New Consumer Agenda of the EU and public country-by-country tax reporting. A declaration prepared by the group of ministers from digitally advanced EU countries (D9+) will moreover be presented by Finland.

14.12.2021 | Finland is preparing a national digital compass during spring 2022. The objective is to formulate a shared national vision and targets for digital transformation and the data economy for 2030. In its second meeting on 14 December 2021, the Ministerial Working Group on Developing the Digital Transformation, the Data Economy and Public Administration outlined the content themes that guide the preparation of the digital compass.

24.9.2021 | First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation Nadia Calviño will visit Finland on Monday, 27 September 2021. First Deputy Prime Minister Calviño will be accompanied by Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence Carme Artigas and Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Roberto Sánchez. Deputy Prime Minis...

17.3.2022 | At the beginning of February, the European Commission adopted a new EU standardisation strategy and simultaneously issued a proposal for amending the regulation on standardisation. On 17 March, the Government submitted to Parliament information on the strategy, amendments to the regulation on standardisation and Finland’s position on them.

25.5.2021 | The third supplementary budget proposal for 2021 will boost growth, bring forward investment, respond to spending requirements caused by the coronavirus, and alleviate harm that the virus has caused to businesses and to children and young adults. The supplementary budget will initiate reforms and investment under the European Union recovery instrument.

7.3.2022 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas met in Tallinn on Monday 7 March. In their meeting, the prime ministers discussed the security situation in Europe, cooperation on topical EU matters and bilateral relations between Finland and Estonia. A report on opportunities for developing Finnish-Estonian cooperation was published in connection with the visit.

11.10.2021 | The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday 11 October. Finland will have an important role in the meeting, as Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko will chair the meeting jointly with Indonesia’s Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.

29.10.2021 | The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President and Commissioner in charge of competition and digital policy Margrethe Vestager will visit Helsinki on Friday 29 October. She will discuss current issues related to competition and state aid, the implementation of EU industrial strategy and digitalisation with Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen and Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä. 

16.3.2022 | The EU ministers responsible for the environment and climate change issues will meet in Brussels on 17 March to discuss the EU’s Fit for 55 package, the Battery Regulation and the Deforestation Regulation. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari.

6.5.2021 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin met with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa on Thursday 6 May in Porto. The main themes of their bilateral meeting were increasing economic cooperation between the countries and topical EU issues. Finland and Portugal have traditionally had good relations, which have been further deepened by EU partnership.

26.5.2021 | Finland will begin the first reforms and investments of its Sustainable Growth Programme already this year, but most of the funding will be used in 2022–2023. In its third supplementary budget, the Government proposes investments in research, continuous learning, quicker access to care and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal includes EUR 238 million in funding for the Sustainable Growth Programme.

24.11.2021 | Finland joined the Export Finance for Future coalition (E3F) at its meeting on 24 November 2021. The E3F is part of the strategy work to combat global warming. It allocates funding to sustainable projects and defines the most suitable measures for phasing out export finance in projects that are not in line with sustainable development.

30.9.2021 | On Monday 4 October, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Sanna Marin will meet in Helsinki to discuss topical EU matters. In connection with the visit, the Commission will publish its assessment of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and will present a proposal for the Council of the European Union’s decision on the plan.

9.2.2022 | Finland and Morocco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy. The aim of the document is to develop technical and economic cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector and promote the access of Finnish companies to the Moroccan market.

25.1.2022 | The new growth portfolio operating model of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment provides a tool for Finnish companies to strengthen their ability to anticipate and concretise future trends and to understand global market opportunities and competitive strengths. The growth portfolio work will create a better knowledge base and intensify cooperation between the private and public sectors.

8.1.2021 | In a telephone conversation on 8 January, Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė discussed bilateral relations between Finland and Lithuania, EU affairs and international issues. Prime Minister Marin congratulated Šimonytė on her recent appointment as Prime Minister. The Prime Ministers have not yet met in person, but they talked via video connection.

3.2.2022 | The Ministry of Education and Culture has entrusted Archinfo Finland as Finland’s contact point for the New European Bauhaus initiative. The contact point participates in an EU-wide informal network for exchange of information and experience and communicates nationally on opportunities for participation and funding possibilities.

28.4.2021 | Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will attend the EU development ministers’ informal video conference on 29 April 2021.

9.9.2021 | The budget proposal of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government for 2022 builds sustainable growth for the future in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The budget proposal aims to support post-pandemic recovery, accelerate investments, enable environmentally sustainable growth and increase the availability of skilled labour. The goal is to safeguard people’s wellbeing and to ensure favourable conditions for sustainable economic growth in the long term.

6.5.2021 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin will attend several meetings hosted by the Portuguese EU Council Presidency in Portugal on Friday 7 May and Saturday 8 May. On Thursday 6 May, Prime Minister Marin will have a bilateral meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa.

12.8.2021 | Akseli Koskela, Master of Social Sciences, was appointed as State Secretary to Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo on 12 August 2021. The position was earlier held by Olli-Poika Parviainen who will take up the duties of the Mayor of Hämenlinna.

23.8.2022 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin's speech at the annual meeting of Heads of Mission, hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland on 23 August 2022.

21.12.2022 | “Even though this year will go down in the history books for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have still been fortunate enough to record some favourable developments,” writes Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs, in relation to the 2022 year in foreign policy.

22.4.2021 | On 22 April 2021, the Government appointed Minna Kivimäki, Master of Laws, as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

17.5.2023 | Prime Minister Sanna Marin spoke at the New York University commencement in New York City on 17 May 2023.

1.6.2021 | Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit St Petersburg on 2–5 June. Minister Skinnari will attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The International Economic Forum will bring together influential leaders from the world of business and economics from various parts of the globe, offering an excellent platform for exchange of views with representatives of business and political life.