Press releases

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 was "Smart and international Eastern and Northern Finland". At the summit, the counties published a joint statement listing, among other things, measures that respond to the objectives of research, development, innovation and carbon neutrality set out in the Government's decision on regional development 2020-2023. In order to achieve these objectives, it is particularly important that Finland follows the orientations of the European Council 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. Provinces…

The personnel of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia have been given a recommendation on teleworking as of 12 October 2020. Union employees can also continue to work in the office. Meetings and workshops are recommended to be held at Teams. At meetings attended by persons outside the union, safety distances and hygiene instructions are taken care of. If necessary, the organizer of the event will provide respirators. You can reach us by phone and e-mail. The telephone switchboard 040 685 4000 will be open on working days from 8.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can find our contact information here.

The Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group held a hybrid meeting in Oulu on 30 September 2020. Päivi Keisanen, Development Manager at the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, told about the preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The Government's decision on the national allocation of EU funds is expected during September-October. Timo Lehtiniemi, Head of the Rural and Energy Unit at the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Northern Ostrobothnia, told about the current situation of the rural development programme. As part of the EU Recovery Plan, rural development funding will be increased by EUR 7.5 billion to support farmers and rural areas in making the structural changes needed to implement the European Green Deal. For Northern Ostrobothnia, the Covid-19 Crisis Survival Plan The Co-operation Group of the Region approved the Covid-19 Action Plan for Northern Ostrobothnia, which focuses on the compilation of regional measures. The measures must be able to be launched in late 2020 or during 2021. Longer-term strategic choices and measures…

The Regional Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia suspended its meeting on 14 September 2020 and continued it today on 28 September 2020. Realisation of the financial and operational objectives of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia The Regional Government is given three times a year a report on the realisation of the financial and operational objectives of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The aim of the project is to strengthen advocacy in accordance with the strategy, to increase functional ecosystems in the region, to strengthen networking with European smart specialisation platforms and to activate networking in the region. The cost estimate for the project is EUR 265 946, of which the self-financing contribution of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia is EUR 79 783. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia appointed Eija-Riitta Niinikoski as its own representative in the steering group of the project. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is applying for regional development funding for the Northern Ostrobothnia Future Steps project. The project makes it possible to work on the prospects for the future of the province…

In the draft law, social and health services will be transferred from the responsibility for organising municipalities to the health and social services counties. The health and social services reform creates the conditions for improving equal access to social and health care services, but this must not mean that the differences in the service needs of different municipalities and their residents are not recognised and that services cannot be targeted according to the service needs.  From the point of view of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, the objectives of the rescue services reform are also worth supporting, states the opinion of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia on the proposal for organising social welfare, health care and rescue services. The provincial government discussed the opinion at its meeting on 14 September 2020. In the view of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia, special attention should be paid to ensuring cooperation between the municipality and the health and social services county in order to secure functional cooperation structures and operating models in shared customer surface services. Restrictions in the draft law significantly weaken…

The Regional Council of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia held a meeting in Oulu on 14 September 2020. The meeting was adjourned after more than three hours and the meeting will continue on 28 September 2020. The Provincial Government approved the draft economic and operational plan for 2021-2023 and the budget for 2021 as a basis for further preparation. In accordance with the Treaty, the member municipalities of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia are asked to give their opinions on the draft, which will be taken into account in the final plan. The 2021 budget totals EUR 5 646 887 in operational revenue, representing an increase of 5,4 % compared to the 2020 budget. Operating costs amount to EUR 5 705 149, representing an increase of 4.2% over the previous year's budget. The increase in operating income and operating costs is due to the fact that the projects managed by the federation are starting at the end of 2020. Membership contributions will remain unchanged in 2020…