10.5.2021 | The main themes of the General Affairs Council meeting on Tuesday 11 May in Brussels will be the preparations for the special European Council on 24–25 May and the coordination of the EU’s response to COVID-19. Minister of European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen is unable to attend the meeting due to quarantine regulations and Parliament’s vote on the EU recovery package on Wednesday 12 May.

26.1.2021 | Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru calls on the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to scale up its production capacity and to deliver the agreed volumes of its COVID-19 vaccine to the EU Member States once the vaccine has been granted a marketing authorisation in the EU. Minister Kiuru sent a letter to Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, on 26 January.

30.4.2021 | Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru and Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist say that the Government’s decisions at its mid-term policy review session will reinforce health and social services, improve access to care, safeguard the financing and activities of third-sector operators, promote the employment of people with partial work ability, and prevent disability pensions and sick leaves.

26.2.2021 | Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are required to ensure healthy and safe workplaces. The COVID-19 epidemic has posed challenges for many workplaces. Recently, cases of COVID-19 reported at construction sites and shipyards have attracted particular attention.

21.4.2021 | At its meeting on 20 April, the Government adopted a plan to lift the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The Government discussed the feedback received on the plan and made clarifications based on the comments.

7.8.2023 | The Ministry of Transport and Communications requests comments on the draft government proposal on the temporary halving of fairway dues in 2024–2027. The deadline for submitting comments is 1 September 2023. Alongside this, the Ministry is launching a project to amend the Act on Fairway Dues in order to make the halving of the fairway dues permanent.

21.1.2021 | According to current information, the Christmas and New Year period did not cause any significant rise in the number of COVID-19 infections. However, new cases are still reported in large numbers across the country. The number of people getting tested continues to be considerably lower than last autumn.

15.12.2020 | The amount of business support has multiplied during the COVID-19 pandemic and, at the same time, the policy objectives for business support have completely changed from those applicable in normal times. At the beginning of the crisis, the main aim was to help companies with liquidity problems avoid bankruptcy. In the longer term, financial business support should be directed to the development of business activities.

11.2.2021 | The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained at the same level as the week before. Finland has succeeded in curbing the epidemic in many regions. Despite this, the virus has spread throughout the country, and new cases have been reported in large numbers in many hospital districts.

9.4.2021 | The Government has published a plan to lift the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, along with a target timetable.