Reshaping of regionalisation
In accordance with the Government Programme and the regionalisation reform strategy, the Ministry of Finance launched preparations in autumn 2020 for amending the legislation. The aim is to amend the statutory objectives for central government’s regional presence in line with the strategic guidelines and to strengthen the systematic nature of the activities and coordination of everything as a whole. A draft of the government proposal was widely circulated for comments between 16 December 2020 and 10 February 2021. The proposal is that legislation should be enacted on the criteria for determining the availability of central government services and locating units and functions, and at the same time the existing Act on the Authority to Locate Government Units and Functions (362/2002) would be repealed.
In its current form, regionalisation refers to locating central government units and functions outside the Greater Helsinki area. Regionalisation was begun towards the end of 2000 and is based on Act 362/2002 and on the Government Decree on the Authority to Locate Government Units and Functions (567/2002, as amended by 201/2006, 349/2008 and 350/2011). The reform would repeal the current Act and Decree and at the same time would abandon the concept of regionalisation and the distinction between the Greater Helsinki area and the rest of Finland. The proposed new legislation would set out new general objectives concerning the location of central government functions and services, and the procedures for coordination.
More information
Janne Öberg, janne.öberg(at)gov.fi