At the Eastern and Northern Finland Summit on 9 October 2020, the regions 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 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.
The counties emphasise the need to build a nationwide 100Mbit/s optical fibre network 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 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 Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, tel. +358 400 389152
