09.10.2020
Regional needs, telecommunications and financial issues discussed at the Eastern and Northern Finland Summit
In the statement of the Eastern and Northern Finland Summit, clear guidelines for achieving the objectives of the Government Regional Development Decision 2020-2023.
The provinces of Eastern and Northern Finland met on 9 October 2020 for their annual summit. This time the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia was responsible for organising the meeting. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the theme of the webinar meeting was “Smart and international Eastern and Northern Finland”.
At the summit, the provinces published a joint position paper, which lists, among other things, measures that respond to the objectives of research, development, innovation and carbon neutrality set out in the Government's Regional Development Decision 2020-2023.
In order to achieve these objectives, it is particularly important that Finland follows the orientations of the European Regional Assembly summit of July 2020: The new special funding of EUR 100 million for Eastern and Northern Finland and the increase in the special allocation for northern sparsely populated areas, NSPA (EUR 10 per person per year), should be fully directed towards the development of these areas.
The counties emphasise the need to build a nationwide 100Mbit/s optical fibre network in cooperation in cooperation without the need for municipal funding. The State should explore and exploit alternative sources of funding for broadband projects, such as the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). At the same time, Finland must strengthen digital support services and support multi-location and electronic service solutions. Access to 5G in sparsely populated and rural areas should also be promoted.
The regions of Eastern and Northern Finland will insist that funding from the Just Transition Fund (JTF) is allocated to Eastern and Northern Finland in accordance in cooperation in cooperation with the views of last spring's European Commission's country report.
In addition to new uses of peat, JTF funding must be used extensively to achieve research, development, innovation and carbon neutrality objectives. The strengths of Eastern and Northern Finland include energy storage, biofuels and the versatile utilisation of forests. Supporting them will contribute to the transition of the whole country to a carbon-neutral time.
Additional information: Pauli Harju, Regional Director, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, tel. +358 400 389152
