Press releases

At its meeting on 11 June, the Assembly of Members of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia elected the provincial council for the municipal term 2025-2029. The highest decision-making council of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia has 75 members, who are members of the councils of the municipalities they represent. The county council has 31 representatives from Oulu. Raahe received 4 representatives, Kempele, Kuusamo and Ylivieska each 3 representatives. The other municipalities each received one or two representatives. According to the Treaty, each member will receive one representative for each 7000 inhabitants. The calculation is based on the population at the turn of the year preceding the municipal elections. The Centre Party continued to be the largest party The Centre Party held its largest party position in 28 seats in the provincial council on the basis of the results of the municipal elections. The Coalition Party won 13 seats and the Social Democrats 12 seats. The Left Alliance has nine seats, the Finns Party and the Green Party each have six. Christian Democrats have …

The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, which started planning next year's economy and operations, has launched financial and operational planning for 2026-2028. At the same time, further preparation of the strategy has continued, which will guide the planning of the economy and operations in 2026. As part of the preparation of the 2026 budget and the Economic and Operational Plan 2026-2028, the Provincial Government held a brief discussion on the budget's financial framework and the priorities for the strategic goals for 2026. The budget and plan of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for 2026-2028 will be discussed and approved at the meeting of the Provincial Government on 17 November 2025 and at the meeting of the Provincial Council on 8 December 2025.  The Regional Council prepares a statement on the proposal for a new Act on Territorial Use The Provincial Government held a discussion on the draft Government proposal for a new Act on Territorial Use and authorised the Provincial Director to issue a statement within the deadline. A declaratory matter has a significant impact on the statutory tasks of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. In the preparation of the opinion…

The Regional Council of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met in Oulu on Tuesday, 25 May. At the meeting, the provincial council approved the regional plan for the energy and climate phase and the financial statements and annual report of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for 2024. The meeting was the last of the four-year term of this provincial council. The new regional council will be elected on the basis of the results of the municipal elections in the Assembly of Members of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, which will be held on 11 June in Oulu. The regional plan for the energy and climate phase was approved by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the preparation of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase was started in autumn 2021. The phase county plan focused on the following themes: regional structure and accessibility, energy production, storage and transmission, transport system and logistics areas, green structure and ecosystem services, the impact of the energy transition on land use planning and the development of climate impact assessment at the regional plan level. The largest single entity in the phase county plan is wind power and the related energy transmission. Regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia…

At its meeting on 27 May 2025, the Regional Council approved the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia, which was launched in autumn 2021. The regional plan sets out the principles of land use and urban structure and identifies areas necessary for the development of the region. Territorial reserves shall be allocated only in so far as and to the extent necessary to meet national or provincial objectives concerning the use of areas or to coordinate the use of areas in more than one municipality. The regional plan contains provisions that, taking into account the purpose of the plan and the requirements set for its content, are needed when planning or constructing the regional plan area. According to the Regional Use Act, a regional plan can be drawn up in stages. This means that the provincial zoning process does not go through all the land use entities in the area, but focuses on some of the areas defined in the initial phase of zoning.…

The provincial government met on Monday 5 May in Oulu. The Provincial Government proposes to the Provincial Council the approval of both the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia and the Administrative Regulation of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The provincial government proposes to the provincial council that the provincial plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia be approved. The regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia consists of documents that are attached to the item. Responses to the public consultation for the second proposal phase were accepted. The second proposal of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia was publicly available from 17 February to 21 March 2025. A notice on the display of the formula was sent to the municipalities on 12 February 2025 and an official announcement was published on 14 February 2025. 95 participants provided feedback during the consultation period. The county's 14 municipalities left a reminder. Neighbouring regional federations received a statement from the Regional Council of Kainuu. In addition to the North Ostrobothnia ELY Centre, feedback was received from the ELY Centres of Kainuu and South Ostrobothnia. Metsähallitus, Reindeer Herders' Association…

The Regional Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met in Oulu on Monday, 7 April. In matters concerning lobbying, Regional Director Jussi Rämet told about the Government's mid-term review of the Northern Finland programme, the development of the main railway line, the energy tax on data centres and mines, and the property tax on the exclusive economic zone for offshore wind power. Hanna Honkamäkilä, Head of International Affairs, told about the new European Union's multiannual financial framework and cohesion policy. A proposal for the EU financial framework is expected in July 2025. The responses to Sweden's feedback from the proposal phase of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase were approved by the Provincial Government of Northern Ostrobothnia, which approved the responses to the international consultation on the proposal phase of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase. The international consultation took place in parallel with the public consultation on the regional plan for the energy and climate phase in Northern Ostrobothnia in autumn 2024. Sweden's feedback highlighted international cooperation throughout the Baltic Sea region. This cooperation is not defined in the regional plan for Northern Ostrobothnia, but requires the Finnish, Swedish …

The provincial government met on Monday 10 March in Oulu. In matters concerning lobbying, Regional Director Jussi Rämet presented the current state of implementation of the Northern Finland Programme and a proposal for further development of cooperation between Northern Finland, Northern Sweden and Northern Norway. The Regional Board of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia approved the report and financial statements of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The budgeted operating costs for 2024 amounted to EUR 6 093 107 and the actual operating costs amounted to EUR 6 011 923,83. The largest item of expenditure was personnel costs of EUR 3 749 530.53, which exceeded the budget by EUR 34 876.19. The second major item of expenditure was purchases of services amounting to EUR 1 658 689.17. They were below the budget of EUR 129 230.49. Operating income was budgeted at EUR 5 883 019 and realised operating income was EUR 5 966 230.56. Northern Ostrobothnia…

The next ERDF application period for the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is 17.2. – 11 April 2025, amounting to approximately EUR 6.7 million. In 2024, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia granted a total of EUR 48 million to 162 regional development and investment projects under the Regional and Structural Policy Programme. The total cost of the projects will reach EUR 63 million. The largest beneficiary was the University of Oulu, which received ERDF and JTF support totalling EUR 19.8 million for the implementation of development and investment projects. The second largest beneficiary was Oulu University of Applied Sciences and the third was the Joint Municipal Authority for Education OSAO. The secretariat of the regional cooperation group took note of the financial situation of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia in 2024. Provincial Cooperation Group Secretariat supports 28 projects to be funded…

Current project presentations Two current project presentations were given to the regional cooperation group. The first concerned the arrangement of the junction area of Highway 8/road 771 (Satamatie) and the improvement of mt 7771 by constructing a pedestrian route to Kalajoki between Kokkolantie and Usvametsäntie. Another project presented was the builders of well-being at work. The external evaluation of the Regional Programme for Northern Ostrobothnia 2022-2025 was presented to the Regional Cooperation Group. The evaluation was carried out in cooperation with the provinces of Northern Finland and Owal Group Oy, which carried out the evaluation. The external evaluation of the provincial programme is part of the statutory process of implementing the provincial programmes. The objective of the evaluation is to obtain information on the implementation and effectiveness of the programme and, in particular, to provide recommendations and views for the preparation of the future provincial programme. The evaluation started in spring 2024 with background material analysis and expert interviews. The next step was to collect an electronic questionnaire…

The provincial government met for its first meeting of the year on Monday 10 February in Oulu. The provincial plan proposal for the energy and climate phase will be re-opened to the public. A new public consultation will be held on the proposal for a regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia. An update of the Natura 2000 risk assessment has been prepared on the plan solution, which complements the previous risk assessment carried out at the stage of the authority's proposal. The plan solution has been changed for regionally significant wind power areas. Compared to the first consultation of the proposal phase, five wind power areas have been removed from the land areas, and demarcation changes have been made to 20 areas. Twenty-six television stations remain unchanged. After a risk assessment, the exiting areas turned out to be too small to meet the regional criteria. Of the previous phase plans, 48 onshore wind power areas remain legally valid. Three offshore wind power areas have been reduced in the territorial waters of the Bothnian Bay, two areas remain unchanged. In addition to the changes concerning wind power, …, approved at the end of 2024, has been included in the planning data.