Press releases

The Regional Councils of Eastern and Northern Finland require that an adequate appropriation intended to be permanent in the future be allocated to the state budget for 2022 for the activities of the police in sparsely populated areas. The 2022 draft budget puts the police in jeopardy in sparsely populated areas. According to the Ministry of the Interior, next year's budget framework will no longer be sufficient to maintain the current level of police activity, and without a significant increase, the police will have to significantly adjust their activities. This would mean significant personnel reductions and a drop in service levels, especially in the sparsely populated areas of Eastern and Northern Finland. The police received funding of EUR 4.1 million for the current year, which finally succeeded in increasing the number of police officers in sparsely populated areas. The same funding was also used to set up a group specialising in the fight against trafficking in human beings and to step up the fight against cybercrime. Funding for sparsely populated areas…

The Northern Ostrobothnia Youth Council held a meeting in Oulu on Wednesday 25 August. Oona Jukkola from Merijärvi was elected as the chairperson of the Youth Council. The number of vice-presidents was set at two. Leevi Sippola from Haapajärvi was elected as 1st Vice-Chair and Ossi Ruotsalainen from Kärsämäki as 2nd Vice-Chair. Young people want the right to speak and be present at the meetings of the provincial council The youth council discussed Sirpa Tikkala's pontoon proposal, which arrived at the meeting of the provincial council on 7 June 2021: ‘The Provincial Council encourages the Youth Council to propose the right to speak and to be present in the institutions of its choice’. The Youth Council decided to propose to its Presidium the right to speak and be present at the meetings of the Provincial Council. The North Karelia Youth Council, together with the Regional Council of North Karelia, is organizing a Summit of Regional Youth Councils, to which representatives from each Regional Youth Council and Regional Council would be invited. The summit will discuss the relationship between the provincial youth councils and the future welfare area and their tasks …

The North Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group held a hybrid meeting on 25 August 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, Mikko Finnilä from the University of Oulu presented the project Agility for research and development with digitalised micro- and nanotomography and Sanna Savolainen from BusinessOulu presented the project Go global – invest and export Oulu. Starting the Oulu Innovation Alliance 2021-2027 Ecosystem agreements will be signed with the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and other university cities and city centres, mainly with the resources of sustainable urban development for the EU programme period 2021-2027. Included are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Vaasa, Joensuu, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta (incl. Imatra), Lahti, Pori, Seinäjoki, Mikkeli, Kajaani (incl. Sotkamo) and Kokkola. Funding of 500,000 euros has been granted for the start-up of the Oulu innovation ecosystem. The total cost of the project is EUR 835 000. The agreements will develop cooperation networks, strengthen know-how tips and increase the number of RDI activities…

The secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Group for Northern Ostrobothnia held a hybrid meeting on Tuesday 17 August 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, the topical issues of the 2021-2027 EU regional and structural policy programming period and the CAP27 plan were heard. In March 2021, the Provincial Cooperation Group approved the implementation plan for the Provincial Programme and the related financing plan for the Structural Funds Programme for Sustainable Growth and Work 2014-2020 for 2021-2022. The financial plan was prepared for REACT-EU funding under the Recovery Package. The Regional Council of Northern Pojamaa received EUR 6.62 million in ERDF funding and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment received EUR 12.217 million in ERDF funding and EUR 8.074 million in ESF funding. In June 2021, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment submitted a second authorisation decision granting the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Northern Ostrobothnia a new authorisation of EUR 3.5 million for business subsidies to be used in Northern Finland. In the REACT-EU call, which was open in spring 2021, Northern Ostrobothnia…

The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia held its first meeting of the autumn period on Monday 16 August 2021. Decisions on the meetings were taken in accordance with the agenda.  The provincial government was dismayed by the draft investment programme for the state fairway network The provincial government held a referral discussion on the draft investment programme for the state fairway network for 2022-2029. The investment programme is part of the implementation of the national transport system plan. The programme defines the investments to be made in rail, road and waterway projects to be launched over the next eight years. The draft is very worrying for the province. The vision of the programme does not implement the Transport 12 plan and there are no major development projects in Northern Ostrobothnia. The main track, which has not been taken into account in its entirety, for example, the double track between Ylivieska and Oulu is missing, was strongly highlighted in the discussion. Significant investments on highway 4 are also lacking and the limited funding for basic road maintenance is problematic. A strategic long-term … was also discussed.

The secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Group for Northern Ostrobothnia held a Teams meeting on Wednesday 23 June 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, Päivi Keisanen gave an update on the state of preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The regional allocation of structural funds has been postponed to August. Tiina Suutari told the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment about current issues related to the CAP27 plan and the EAFRD.  The Secretariat of the Provincial Cooperation Group supports the following projects to be funded under the Finnish Structural Funds Programme for Sustainable Growth and Jobs 2014-2020:    Haapavesi - a biocluster for the southern part of Oulu / ERDF Responsible authority: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia Applicant: City of Haapavesi Total costs: 312 500 € ERDF and state funding requested: 250,000 € LAKU - From valleys to hills: visibility for rural tourism through digitalisation and productisation / ERDF Responsible Authority: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia Applicant: University of Oulu Sub-applicants: Development of the Raahe region, Nivala-Haapajärvi region NIHAK ry and Kattilakoski Cultural Cooperative Costs…

The Regional Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met remotely on Monday 14 June. Decisions on the meetings were taken in accordance with the agenda.  The decisions of the provincial council are implemented The decisions of the provincial council are made in the prescribed order, the provincial council has not exceeded its powers of action and the decisions are not unlawful. Preparation of the budget of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia begins The Regional Government approved the guidelines for the preparation of the Economic and Operational Plan 2022-2024. In 2022, municipal invoicing will be kept at the previous year's level. The proposal for an economic and operational plan will be discussed in the Provincial Government on 13 September 2021 and after that the plan will be sent to the member municipalities for a statement. The budget and plan will be discussed at the meeting of the provincial council on 13 December 2021. Riitta Pitkänen, Director of Administration and Human Resources Riitta Pitkänen, Director of Administration and Human Resources, was reappointed as Director of Administration and Human Resources as of 1 August 2021. In order to implement the provisions of the new Administrative Regulation of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, it is appropriate to change the title of Administrative Director to Administrative and Human Resources Director.…

The regional cooperation group held the last meeting of the first half of the year through Teams on 9 June 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, BusinessOulu's Finance Specialist Ari Saine told about the implementation of the 6Aika strategy. Between 2014 and 2022, Oulu actors participated in 32 projects. Nearly nine million euros of EU and state funding has been received for the Oulu region.   More information on the 6Aika website. Päivi Keisanen, Development Manager at the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, reviewed the state of preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period and the preparation of the CAP27 plan. Timo Lehtiniemi from the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment told about the current state of play of the CAP27 plan. Link to attachments. The regional cooperation group supported four ESF projects for funding Sustainable growth and work 2014-2020 from the Finnish Structural Funds programme The final decision on financing the project is made by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Ostrobothnia. Supported projects: Culture Experience Guides - New Work for Culture…

The Regional Council of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met for the last time on 7 June 2021 with its current composition. The meeting was held via Teams and the audience was able to follow the live stream on YouTube. The current council began its term in 2017. Pirjo Sirviö, chairman of the regional council, thanked the council and the regional government as well as the staff of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for the past period. After the municipal elections in June, a new regional council will be elected based on the results of the elections. The election will be made at the municipal assembly of the county at the beginning of October. The financial statements and the report of the Board of Directors of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia were approved by the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia. Despite the budget deficit, the result for the financial year ended in a plus. The surplus of EUR 320 348.95 is recorded in the balance sheet surplus/deficit account. The result was largely influenced by the coronavirus epidemic, which caused the Federation's personnel and elected officials to stop travelling…

The national funding legislation related to broadband projects must be amended so that the objectives are in line with EU requirements and municipal funding allocations are completely abolished in order to safeguard regional equality. It is impossible for several municipalities to participate in funding when the costs per taxpayer are unreasonable. The costs of regional specificities, such as long distances and sparsely populated areas, are not taken into account when determining municipal contributions. The definition of minimum speeds is also not in line with EU requirements. If the terms of the legislation are not changed, the objectives of the Act will not be achieved. Well-functioning connectivity is a key infrastructure. They are vital to the vitality of the regions. From the point of view of accessibility, this is also central. Well-functioning broadband connections play a crucial role in the provincial residents' access to public welfare and health and social services through the network. At present, in many places, we are only insecure and …