Press releases

The provincial government met on Tuesday 17 September in Oulu. On lobbying issues, Regional Director Jussi Rämet presented the state of preparation of the Northern Finland Programme and the meeting of the President of the Regional Government Jussi Ylitalo on 19 September. The regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia has progressed to the public consultation of the proposal phase. The proposal material will be available from 23 September to 24 October 2024. The members and participants of the municipalities in the plan area have the right to make a reminder of the plan proposal. The plan proposal and the background information are available on the website of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and at the Regional Council's office. The proposal will be presented online on 3 October 2024. The experts who prepared the plan are available to meet and answer questions in three plan cafés: 30.9. In Haapavesi and 8.10. Pudasjärvi and Oulu. The proposal phase of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia consists of the following documents: Participation and assessment plan, phase regional plan maps 1A and 1…

Preparation of the regional financing plan for 2025-2026 The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has instructed the preparation of the regional financing plans for the current programming period. The financial programming 2025-2026 describes the regional allocation of regional and structural policy funds by priority axis, specific objective and authority. The themes of the Eastern and Northern Finland programmes launched by the Government are recommended to be taken into account when planning the use of funds. Regional councils are responsible for the preparation of financing plans in cooperation with the ELY Centres and regional partners. The financing plans approved by the regional cooperation group will be submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment at the end of October. The Secretariat of the Provincial Cooperation Group decided to forward the preparation of the matter to the Provincial Cooperation Group for information. Update of the North Ostrobothnia Climate Road Map The North Ostrobothnia Climate Road Map 2021-2030, adopted in February 2021, will be updated. The Climate Roadmap has been linked to practical climate action in funding for the current programming period and its priority axis 2 (Carbon-neutral Finland). In addition, information acquired in road map work…

The county government met for the first meeting of the autumn season on Monday 19 August at the Liminganlahti Nature Centre. At the beginning of the meeting, Pekka Rajala, Mayor of Liminka, told about current issues in Liminka municipality, Liminka Bay Nature Centre and Ruutkangas Shooting Sports Centre. In matters concerning lobbying, Provincial Director Jussi Rämet spoke about the state of preparation of the Northern Finland programme, the government's autumn budget session and the parliamentary meetings. The Northern Ostrobothnia Transport System Plan is being revised The Regional Government approved the Northern Transport Strategy, which sets out the common and key development needs of the regions of Central Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland. The measures of the Northern Transport Strategy will be specified in regional planning. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Northern Ostrobothnia have prepared a transport system plan for Northern Ostrobothnia in 2019. Provincial transport system work has highlighted the need to update the current plan to meet the requirements set by the changed world situation, as well as several documents guiding provincial transport system work.  Updating the Northern Ostrobothnia Transport System Plan is …

In the autumn, the Government will submit to Parliament a proposal for a law reforming the funding model for vocational education and training. The planned legislative change will not only cut funding, but will also make it more difficult to change sectors and retrain. North Ostrobothnia is a province of long distances. Changes in the weighting coefficients of the cost groups and the division of the fields of education into the cost groups related to the bill may significantly hamper the ability of education administrators to organise training. Cuts in basic funding will easily lead to a concentration of training provision in large training centres. This undermines the accessibility of vocational education and training. A large, skilled and skilled workforce is essential for security of supply. The proposal includes nearly 30 basic funds for the natural resources sector. % According to the assessment of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, the reduction is unreasonable. Discretionary funding increases the inequality of education providers and the randomness of targeting. In addition, the proposal makes it particularly difficult to change fields and retrain. It is proposed that …

The provincial government met for the last meeting of the spring season on Monday 10 June. In matters relating to lobbying, Provincial Director Jussi Rämet highlighted the visits of Kari Wihlman, Director General of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, and Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne to Oulu, the EU milestones for Northern Ostrobothnia, and a statement on the Act on the Piloting of Vocational Education and Training. Based on the strategic guidelines, the Provincial Government approved the strategic targets for 2025 for next year. Overall safety and internationality were accepted as cross-cutting themes for 2025. An increase of 1.9% was accepted as the basis for planning the budget for municipal invoicing. The proposal for an economic and operational plan for the years will be discussed in the Provincial Government on 17 September 2024, after which the plan will be sent to the member municipalities for a statement. The budget of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the Economic and Operational Plan 2025-2027 will be discussed and approved at the meeting of the Regional Council on 11 December 2024. Risk study on Natura sites and ecological network…

After the EU parliamentary elections at the beginning of June, the new European Parliament will start its work. It approves a new EU commission its task is to form a proposal for the next EU program and seven-year budget in a very short time. The budget proposal must be submitted by summer 2025. A total of 111 regions from different EU member states have sent a petition to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioners Elisa Ferreira, Nicolas Schmit and Johannes Hahn regarding the future of EU cohesion policy. Cohesion policy has a unique opportunity to mobilize investments…

  After the European elections in early June, the new European Parliament will start its work. It approves the new Commission, which will be tasked in a very short time with drawing up a proposal for the next EU programme and a seven-year budget. The budget proposal must be submitted by summer 2025. A total of 111 provinces from different EU Member States have sent a petition to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioners Elisa Ferreira, Nicolas Schmit and Johannes Hahn on the future of EU cohesion policy. Cohesion policy has a unique opportunity to mobilise investment and respond to citizens' concerns. These include increasing global competition, challenges related to EU enlargement, climate change, ecological, digital and demographic changes, and the growing need for security. Cohesion policy complements the single market and helps to reduce …

Lyly Rajala was elected Chairman of the Provincial Council. Mari-Leena Talvitie was given a resignation from the position of Chairman. Report by the Board of Directors and Financial Statements 2023 The Regional Council approved the Report by the Board of Directors and the Financial Statements for 2023. For 2023, the operating costs of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia were budgeted at EUR 6 183 536 and the actual operating costs were EUR 6 274 519. The largest item of expenditure was personnel costs of EUR 3 851 359, which increased by approximately EUR 100 000 compared to the budget. The second major item of expenditure was purchases of services amounting to EUR 1 802 329.96. They were below the budget by around EUR 260 000. The result for the financial year was a surplus of EUR 45,245. The evaluation report drawn up by the Audit Board states that the finances and operations of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia have been well managed. the Board of Audit for the year…

The next ERDF application round of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is planned to open from 1 September 2024 to 30 November 2024. Only projects under Specific Objectives 1.1 and Specific Objectives 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 are eligible. The ELY Centre of Ostrobothnia received two applications for restoration and after-use by the end of April. They apply for a total amount of EUR 1 029 324.  The application period for the Northern Ostrobothnia ELY Centre's ESF project (TL 4) runs from 15 August to 31 October 2024. The Secretariat of the Provincial Cooperation Group supports eight projects to be funded under the Renewable and Skilled Finland 2021-2027 programme The Secretariat of the Provincial Cooperation Group discussed 12 projects at its meeting. Of these, it supports the funding of eight projects. Four projects received a negative decision. The projects are presented in the minutes of the Provincial Cooperation Group Secretariat, which can be found here.…

The meeting of the Advisory Board of the Provinces of Eastern and Northern Finland was held on 16 May. The Advisory Board heard about Finland's climate policy, Finland's EU objectives and the EU policy objectives of the regions of Eastern and Northern Finland for the next term of office of Parliament and the Commission. The aim of Prime Minister Orpo's Government is a strong and caring Finland that can cope with the storms of the world. The energy transition and clean technologies offer opportunities for Finland to create jobs, exports, economic growth and well-being. Finland's footprint in climate policy is larger than its size. Pure Finnish nature is important to all Finns. The Government's aim is to strengthen biodiversity and combat biodiversity loss, as well as to ensure the availability of clean and affordable energy. At the meeting, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Kai Mykkänen told about the Government's objectives. - Eastern and Northern …