Summary: Though they no longer help out with the harvest, urban Finns still make the Midsummer pilgrimage to the countryside.

In the days leading up to Finland’s public Midsummer holiday Finnish cities become eerily quiet. By Friday many will have packed their bags, loaded their cars, and driven out to the countryside for a long weekend. That’s because Finns take midsummer  very  seriously.
 "Records of Midsummer celebrations in Finland date back to the 1300s, before the invention of the printing press,” senior archivist at the Finnish Literature Society (SKS)  Juha Nirkko  told Yle News. “The first records of the celebration can be found in handwritten calendars."
 Midsummer, which is also known as  Juhannus  in Finnish, occurs during the summer solstice which is the longest day of the year. In Finland the sun is visible almost around the clock in most of the country on Midsummer. But nowhere is the spectacle of the nightless night more breathtaking than in the country’s far north.
 A nation of over half a million cottages
 The midsummer migration sees many Finns heading to their summer cabins, or  mökki  in Finnish, to celebrate the long holiday weekend. Summer cottages are hugely popular in Finland. In a population of just over 5.5 million, there are around 600,000 dotted around the country, meaning that nearly one in ten inhabitants has a summer retreat. Each of these cottages is in use for 79 days a year on average, according to estimates by the Finnish Consulting Group (FCG), a consulting firm indirectly owned by Finland’s local and regional authorities.
 It’s not difficult for city dwellers to find solace in a country where 75 percent of the land area is covered by green forests and which boasts of more than 180,000 lakes of all sizes. Many Finns still yearn to make the pilgrimage to small towns and villages as many of their ancestors did in the past to help with summer harvests.
 "Urbanisation on a large scale is quite a new phenomenon to Finns,"  Arja Tiihonen , a specialist in buildings and leisure residences from Statistics Finland, explained to Yle News. "Many of us need to get to peace and quiet in the countryside to escape the stress of work, especially in the summer. That’s why summer houses are often located near a lake or by the sea where people can relax. Spending time at a summer house is the opposite of our busy everyday lives."
 That's not to say that all Finnish families own their own summer hideaways, many also rent cottages.
 "When it comes to Midsummer weekend, distance is a huge factor for Finns. They want to be able to drive to a cottage that’s nearby," said  Juha Purhonen , a business director with holiday home rental service Lomarengas. "All of our cottages in the south of Finland are fully booked over Midsummer weekend."
 Midsummer bonfire — the original social media update
 After the Christianisation of Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, Midsummer was fixed on 24 June to commemorate St. John the Baptist, the saint who baptised Jesus. Nowadays, however, Midsummer is celebrated on the Saturday between 20-26 June, and the celebrations combine both pagan and Christian traditions.
 Story continues after photo.
 A traditional Midsummer bonfire, or "kokko". Juho Liukkonen / Yle
 Most villages and towns still put on some kind of Midsummer celebration, which usually involves lighting a big bonfire. In some Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, locals gather to dance around a decorated maypole. Midsummer weekend is also a popular time for church confirmations and weddings.
 Large bonfires, or  kokko  in Finnish, were traditionally built in almost every village on Midsummer Eve, or  Juhannusaatto.  Fire has always been considered symbolic and it was previously believed to be a purifying force that dispelled evil spirits.
 "Jumping over the Midsummer bonfire was believed to increase your chances of finding love," Nirkko remarked, adding that some bonfires were so big that they could be seen by neighbouring villages.
 "Lighting a bonfire was a bit like updating your status in a pre-social media world. 'What are you doing?' — 'Having a bonfire.'"
 This Midsummer the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has put a damper on bonfires in southern and central parts of Finland, where there is a  risk for forest or brush fires .
 Lethal combination: Alcohol and open water
 There is a downside to Finland’s Midsummer madness. The tendency toward bacchanalia sees many residents engage in heavy drinking and its associated lack of restraint.
 The combination of drinking and celebrating near the water has led to a spike in calls to the emergency services during the holiday weekend. So much so that it has become a grim part of the holiday ritual for authorities to report on the number of drowning fatalities during the period.
 Story continues after photo.
 Taking the plunge during Midsummer in Finland. Yle News / Tabatha Leggett
 SUH, the umbrella association representing swimming teaching and lifeguard organisations in Finland, maintains a running count of drowning deaths in the country throughout the year. The group reports a peak in drowning deaths during the summer months, some of them during Midsummer. In 2018, the NGO said that more than half of the people who drowned had been inebriated.
 Police also provide an update on the number of calls they received that were triggered by assaults, domestic incidents, drunk driving and general rowdy behaviour.
 Earliest Midsummer celebrations devoted to Ukko
 Until the 1300s Midsummer was a celebration that took place after the spring sowing and was dedicated to Ukko, the pagan god of weather. "It was all about guaranteeing a good harvest and fertility," Nirkko explained.
 "People toasted Ukko with homemade wine and beer. They turned their old grains into alcohol, which they then drank, in the hope of bringing about a good crop."
 Nirkko added that Midsummer was an especially potent time for folk magic.
 "It’s likely that our ancestors cast spells in order to attract great fortunes and plenty of suitors."
 Unmarried women traditionally collected seven or nine types of wild flower and placed them underneath their pillows the night before Midsummer. They believed the practice would reveal their future husbands in their dreams.
 This tradition is thought to stem from folklore and was probably influenced by the romantic ideals of the time.
 "It was all about determining a young woman’s fate and finding out whether she’d marry into a good family," Nirkko noted, adding that while some of the spells were serious, others were just a bit of fun.
 Unmarried men are also believed to have cast love spells, but these are not as well documented, the archivist said.

A Midsummer night's dream: Why Finns go wild for the summer solstice


Summary: Authorities are cleaning up an oil spill that occurred off the south-west coast on Thursday evening.

The coast guard detected the spill on Thursday evening some 46 kilometres southwest of the island of Utö.
 The oil slick, which the coast guard said leaked from a passing vessel, spans over ten kilometres in length. Current estimates put the extent of the spill between 9 and 39 cubic metres.
 Story continues after image.
 Accident site. Kalevi Rytkölä / Yle
 “During the night we managed to collect floating oil from the sea and cleanup efforts will continue on Friday,” said  Mikko Hirvi , chief of operations at the West Finland Coast Guard.
 To combat further environmental damage, officials are using aerial oil spill surveillance to pinpoint smaller oil slicks as the spill breaks up.
 Investigators plan to analyse samples from the spill with those taken from fuel tanks of vessels travelling near the accident site.
 “We’ll compare spill samples with those taken from ships in the area to determine the source,” Hirvi explained.
 The coast guard said it seemed unlikely that any oil would reach the shoreline thanks to removal efforts.

Coast guard fights oil spill in Turku archipelago


Summary: Many asylum seekers' benefits are locked up due to a prepaid card glitch, reports local news conglomerate Lännen Media.

A payment card switchover by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has prevented as many as 1,500 asylum seekers in Finland from accessing their reception allowance, a form of financial assistance granted by the Finnish state to cover basic needs. Migri uploads the benefit on prepaid cards.
 Between April and May the Finnish Immigration Service migrated from Moni prepaid cards to PFS cards. Existing funds did not, however, always transfer over from the old cards to the new ones.
 Pekka Nuutinen , who heads the Reception Unit at the Finnish Immigration Service, told Lännen Media payment service providers were working to resolve the issue.
 Some individuals' frozen balances totalled thousands of euros, according to Nuutinen.

Payment card glitch ties up asylum seekers' benefits


Summary: Residents are enjoying the balmiest Midsummer’s Eve in decades, says Yle’s weather service.

Daytime highs will soar to 30 degrees Celsius in an area stretching from Lahti in the south to Ilomantsi in the east, according to Yle meteorologist  Toni Hellinen .
 “The last time the 30-degree threshold was surpassed on Midsummer’s Eve was in Lappeenranta in 1999 when meteorologists recorded 32.5 degrees Celsius," Hellinen explained.
 Story continues after picture.

 Eastern and northern Finland can expect the lowest temperatures in the country this evening, with the mercury just around 10C. On Saturday, the weather will cool nationwide from Friday’s highs by five to ten degrees.
 This Midsummer the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has put a damper on bonfires in southern and central parts of Finland due to a  risk of forest and brush fires .
 Thunderstorms brewing
 On Friday, central areas and Kainuu will see thunderstorms which may produce hail as they proceed towards the northeast. Hellinen also said there’s a chance gusty winds could down power lines.
 According to Hellinen, residents can also expect gusty summer winds on Saturday, particularly in Ostrobothnia.
 Story continues after photo.
 Sultry Midsummer weather is increasing the likelihood of thunderstorms. Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva
 “A rapidly moving thunderstorm is quicker than a car, which is why it’s best to not venture too far out on the water,” Hellinen explained.
 Finland’s Midsummer Eve heat record dates back to 1935 when Ähtäri saw the mercury climb to 33.8 degrees.

Finland basks in record-breaking Midsummer heat


Summary: Police said three minors under the age of 15 were playing with fire on the school roof before the detsructive blaze.

Investigators said three children had climbed Mikkeli's Tuppurala primary school roof, where they had played with fire.
 Police said it was likely that the fire was still smoldering when the kids finished playing and climbed down. The school’s gym and roof were destroyed in the  blaze that broke out on Wednesday evening .
 No one was reported injured in the incident, as school is out of session for the summer.
 Officials said the three young suspects had cooperated with police, and that authorities did not need any more tips from the public pertaining to the case.
 Police are treating the incident as a case of aggravated vandalism.
 The primary school serves about 180 pupils and is located near Saimaa Lake, about two kilometres east of the centre of Mikkeli.

Three kids suspected in devastating Mikkeli school blaze


Summary: The Finns Party chair said the state’s decision to recover funding from the party's youth wing was an attempt to abolish it.

Jussi Halla-aho  said the decision by the Ministry of Education and Culture this week to  terminate government funding for the Finns Party's youth wing  over an  offensive tweet  would be the chapter's death knell.
 “My view is that cancelling and recovering funding is an unreasonable action over one silly tweet. There’s reason to appeal the decision – and if needed – take it to court,” the chair of the populist party posted on Facebook.
 The youth wing was to receive a total of 115,000 euros, and the ministry will now recover the 57,500 euros that it already paid. The Ministry of Education and Culture terminated this year's government funding of the Finns Party's youth wing for violating the objectives of the Youth Act.
 Halla-aho: Decision was political
 “This decision will in effect end the youth wing’s activities and bankrupt the organisation. It’s clear that the youth chapter can’t pay back the 57,000 euros it has already received,” Halla-aho explained.
 The youth wing of the populist party had come under fire for a racist tweet they posted and later deleted from their official account — it depicted a dark-skinned family accompanied by the text, "Vote for the Finns Party if you don’t want Finland’s future to look like this."
 The Finns Party chair said the ministry’s decision was politically motivated and that withdrawing funding was a tool to limit political opponents, though he also acknowledged that the youth wing had brought the situation on itself.
 Earlier this month, Finland's  Non-Discrimination Ombudsman , Kirsi Pimiä,  stated  that the youth wing was suspected of unlawful ethnic harassment.  Helsinki police also launched a preliminary investigation  into the matter of the tweet, which the youth wing deleted, calling it "ill-advised" and "thoughtless" after facing a backlash.
 Jussi Halla-aho and a number of other politicians from the party have been  convicted of online hate speech  over the years.

Halla-aho: State’s decision to deny Finns Party youth wing funding 'unreasonable'


Summary: Reports of fights, public disturbances and illegal bonfires have kept police busy around Finland.

So far, two people have drowned over the holiday weekend.
 In south-western Finland a 67-year-old man drowned in a pond on Friday afternoon while a woman of the same age drowned while swimming in central Finland, according to rescue officials.
 Inebriated drivers kept police busy, with residents calling in tip-offs of motorists driving under the influence of alcohol.
 Several saunas meanwhile caught fire on Friday, particularly in the Pirkanmaa region.
 Fire services tackle bonfires
 Rescue workers also put out dozens of illegal bonfires.
 “People are used to lighting bonfires on Midsummer’s Eve, and rescue departments have a difficult time properly monitoring bonfires when warnings are in force for forest or brush fires,”  Pentti Partanen  of the Central Finland rescue department told Yle.
 The law forbids lighting any kind of open fire when meteorological warnings are in force for grass or forest fires. Those lighting a fire in open air under these conditions face a fine if convicted.

Two drown on Midsummer's Eve


Summary: Finland now has 42 recognised mosquito species, half of which are a nuisance to humans.

A Lapland researcher has laid claim to identifying a new species of mosquito, the  Aedes rossicus . The discovery of the hitherto-unknown insect was confirmed in Rovaniemi on Wednesday, just  in time for Midsummer .
 "It’s not a new addition to the species, but it’s a type of mosquito that has not been recognised because of insufficient entomology research. It has probably been in Finland for hundreds and thousands of years," Lapland Provincial Museum natural sciences curator  Jukka Salmela  said.
 The newly-identified mosquito differs from others in that it is active and likely to bite unsuspecting victims during the day as well as at night. It thrives in shadowy locations and can be seen in large swarms, especially in flood plains near large rivers. Finland now has 42 recognised mosquito species, half of which are a nuisance to humans, Salmela noted.
 Story continues after photo.
 A male member of the species Aedes rossicus.
 The museum curator said that he came across the insect in northern Finland’s Selkäsaari, along the Tornio river in early June. However verification of the finding took place using mosquitoes cultivated in Rovaniemi.  Aedes rossicus  had been previously identified in the lower reaches of the Swedish side of the Tornio river.
 Not much is known about the mosquito species, precisely because of the lack of research in this area.
 "We know the number of mosquito species. But as to whether or not changes have occurred in the species in Lapland over the past 30 years, we can’t really say anything."
 Bumper summer for mosquitoes
 So far this year, mosquitoes have already been detected as far north as Lapland. "The mosquito season is normal or a few days ahead of schedule," Salmela said.
 He explained that conditions for the six-legged bugs are good this year  compared to last year , which was exceptionally hot and dry.
 "If there is enough moisture, mosquitoes will proliferate," said environmental expert  Reima Leinonen  of the Kainuu centre for economic development, transport and the environment.
 Midges and sand flies, which are especially common in the north, can also ruin holidaymakers’ outdoor activities. Salmela said that it’s not unusual for people to be taken aback when they encounter biting insects for the first time during summer.
 "It could be because of the long, cold winter in between. We don’t remember what these insects can be like," he concluded.

New mosquito species identified in Finland – just in time for Midsummer


Summary: The city's experiment with personal emissions trading caught the jury's attention.

Lahti is the first Finnish city to win the European Commission’s Green Capital Award, which the jury said went to the town for its environmental credibility. The title brought Lahti a 350,000-euro award for its environmental achievements.
 “Lahti is particularly strong in the fields of air quality, waste, green growth, eco-innovation and governance,” the commission said in a statement.
 The city of Lahti stopped using coal at the beginning of April and has spent 180 million euros on a bioenergy plant. The jury said Lahti—home to 120,000 people—has been a pioneer in air quality and has been dropping emissions since 1997. The city’s air quality regulations also impressed the judges, who noted that 99 percent of city residents live within 300 metres of green urban areas.
 Personal emissions scheme
 This fall Lahti—often associated with cross-country skiing and ski jumping—will launch a personal traffic emissions trading scheme for residents, according to the city. To participate, users download an app which tracks how they get around the city, with incentives possible for those favouring environmentally sustainable modes of transport.
 Green cities—such as Lisbon—which won the award last year are “healthier and happier places for people to grow, live and work in,” the commission stated. The award for smaller cities went to the Irish city of Limerick and Belgian city of Mechelen.
 This was Lahti’s third entry into the competition. As the 2021 winner, the city will have to foot the bill for a third of hosting costs, which are expected to rise to some nine million euros.

Lahti nabs European green city award


Summary: Since the beginning of June, traffic police in Finland have been able to issue tickets for drunk driving.

Police can now hand on-the-spot fines to drivers failing breathalyser tests. District courts were previously tasked with issuing fines in drunk driving cases.
 The move aims to ease court backlogs, though it will increase the workload for police.
 Offenders can choose if they want to take the ticket or see the matter through the courts, as has been the practice.
 The Southeast Finland police told Yle that most people who get pulled over for drunk driving have wanted to get their ticket right away.
 Courts will, however, continue to handle cases regarding drivers with multiple prior offences, according to district prosecutor  Osmo Manninen  from the Prosecutor’s Office of Eastern Finland.
 The expedited ticket practice does not apply to those found driving under the influence of drugs or those with alcohol content high enough to classify as aggravated drunk driving.
 A person is considered to be driving under the influence when their blood alcohol level is at least 0.05% or when an exhalation contains at least 0.22 milligrammes of alcohol per one litre of air, according to the Finnish Road Safety Council.
 The threshold for aggravated drunk driving is blood alcohol content of at least 0.12%, or 0.53 milligrammes of alcohol per litre of exhaled air.

Police begin issuing on-the-spot DUI tickets


Summary: Khaali Hirsi from Vaasa says she lost an internship over her headscarf—a claim her boss denies.

Discrimination cases often pit one person's word against another's, which is why  Robin Harms  from the non-discrimination ombudsman's office says victims need to be proactive in collecting evidence if they suspect they'll face bias.
 Frustrated by a lack of job prospects,  Khaali Hirsi , who holds a bachelor’s in business, decided to retrain as a bus driver. At the end of her training, she was to start an internship with bus company Helsingin Bussiliikenne, which operates some 40 percent of buses in the capital area.
 “The boss asked me if I was planning to wear my headscarf, and I said ‘of course.’”
 Hirsi claimed the supervisor— Jari Syväoja —requested that she wear a smaller scarf that would show some hair, but this was out of the question for Hirsi.
 “I’ve worn a headscarf my whole life. It’s my faith and I have a right to practice it,” she said of the idea that she was forced to choose between her religion or a job.
 Studies have shown that Finland is one of the  most racist countries in the EU , with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reporting that 16 percent of immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Finland faced discrimination in hiring.
 Syväoja of Helsingin Bussiliikenne told Yle he had no problem with Hirsi’s headscarf, and that it was actually her long skirt which was the issue.
 ”She was wearing a long, wide skirt. That’s a safety risk as it can become tangled in the pedals. We don’t have any problem with headscarves,” Syväoja said.
 Hirisi said she did not object to wearing a driver’s trouser uniform.
 ”We have many drivers of foreign background, so we have allowed headscarves,” he explained, though adding that no female drivers working for the company wear hijabs.
 “We’re a Finnish company offering a Finnish service. Our standpoint is that workers can practice any religion as long as it doesn’t get in the way of work.”
 Hirsi was eventually able to secure an internship with a Somali-background manager working for another bus company. She has not been able to find steady work as a bus driver and she said she believed it’s because she’s a headscarf-wearing woman.
 Ombudsman: Fight back with evidence
 Robin Harms, a senior adviser at the office of the non-discrimination ombudsman, told Yle that workplace discrimination is underreported in Finland.
 Story continues after photo.
 "There are many authorities and multinational companies who have realised how important diversity is--not just form an equality standpoint but also because it's good for business," said Robin Harms. Laura Mendelin
 Harms said discrimination cases often fail to move forward over a lack of hard evidence, but mentioned successful discrimination rulings, such as when Helsinki District Court  fined two managers of a Helsinki clothing store  for dismissing an employee over wearing a headscarf. That same year a Sikh bus driver in Vantaa  won the right to wear his turban  on the job.
 “The best thing to do if one is turned down over religious attire is to ask for dismissal grounds in writing. That gives us something to work with,” Harms explained.
 He said it’s not unusual for employers to change their story when officials begin investigating discrimination allegations.
 “My advice to anyone who believes they could be the target of hiring discrimination is to record the interview situation,” he said.
 Finnish law allows for the recording of conversations—even without the explicit permission of other parties, according to Harms.

"I lost a traineeship over my headscarf": Workplace discrimination often difficult to prove


Summary: Road officials say holiday return traffic will peak from 2-7pm on Sunday.

Return traffic on Sunday should be relatively smooth, according to officials, as many residents are in no hurry to get back to the city as they start their summer holidays.
 In southern and central Finland, motorists can look forward to sunny conditions. Up north, rain is causing wet driving conditions while gusty winds are in store nationwide.
 Two road fatalities, five drownings
 Holiday traffic claimed two lives this weekend. One young man died in Reisjärvi, central Finland, when he lost control of his car and ran off the road. In the southwestern town of Naantali another young man died from injuries he sustained after crashing his motorcycle into a passenger car. Several people suffered minor road traffic injuries over Midsummer.
 So far, five people have drowned over the weekend.
 Rescue workers around the country have been busy putting out illegal bonfires. Finnish law prohibits open fires when warnings for brush or forest fires are in force.
 In northern Finland, wet and windy conditions put a damper on summer solstice festivities, with Oulu police reporting little activity in the area.

Two road deaths, five drownings over Midsummer


Summary: Finland's new employment minister says attitudes towards those with partial capacity to work needs to change.

Prime minister  Antti Rinne ’s  75-percent employment goal  means Finland needs to find more ways of getting people into the workforce—and keep them in jobs for as long as possible.
 Finland’s new government has identified groups with unrealised employment potential: the elderly, those with low educational attainment and people with partial capacity to work.
 Timo Harakka , Finland’s new employment minister, said residents with partial work ability are a major untapped resource.
 “In this group, there’s over 60,000 people hungry for work. Employees and employers just need the right mentoring and support to connect,” he explained.
 At the end of April, some 28,000 partially disabled people had registered with TE employment offices in hopes of finding jobs. However many more want to work but aren't on officials' radars.
 "Everyone has limitations"
 Harakka, who was born to deaf parents, said Finland needs to shift its outlook on people with limited work ability.
 “We’re all limited in some way,” he said.
 Päivi Mattila-Wiro  from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said helping this pool of people makes sense, as a recent programme aimed at helping partially disabled jobseekers led to a 30-percent drop in unemployment in this group.
 “The most important factor is changing attitudes and focusing on strengths,” she explained.
 Subsiding the hiring of people with some form of impairment is one concrete way of getting the ball rolling, according to Harakka.
 “We’ve earmarked funds to make it easier for employers to hire people who have some limitations," he said. "It’s also important that employers have a much simpler time applying for these subsidies.”
 To that end, the new left-leaning government has said it wants to encourage municipalities to tender services from organisations with social employment schemes, including those hiring people on partial disability pensions.

More partially disabled people could find jobs, government says


Summary: Yle shutters its weekly Latin news bulletin after 30 years on the air.

Nuntii Latini’s final broadcast aired on 14 June, after three decades of programming.
 Some 40,000 people regularly tuned in to the five-minute Friday evening bulletin on Yle Radio 1. Latin enthusiasts could also access the show online, extending its reach to an international audience which included the Vatican, according to the programme-makers.
 Nuntii Latini was originally slated for shutdown back in 2017, but Yle continued the programme for another 18 months following a public outcry from Latin scholars.
 Yle’s creative director,  Ville Vilén , praised the programme’s contributions to the spoken Latin community, but said,“Yle has put a lot of resources into a language practiced by hobbyists worldwide. Yle’s responsibility rests with serving a Finnish audience.”
 Nuntii Latini has been the only regularly broadcast news programme in classical Latin in the world. It offered listeners a review of recent world news as well as human interest stories.
 The three-person team behind the programme,  Tuomo Pekkanen ,  Virpi Seppälä-Pekkanen  and  Reijo Pitkäranta ,have been with the show since it launched in 1989.
 "Some of my most memorable moments have been writing about the Estonia ferry disaster, the Twin Towers in New York and the Indian Ocean tsunami," said Pitkäranta.
 Latin teachers often harvest Nuntii Latini for teaching material, as audio and transcripts of shows dating back to 2011 are available  online .
 In addition to programming in  Finnish  and  Swedish , Yle produces news in  English ,  Russian ,  Sami ,  Romani ,  Finnish sign-language ,  easy Finnish  and  Karelian .

Yle ends Latin news service


Summary: As more residents in Finland become workers in the gig economy, many wonder if it's worth it.

Today some 180,000 people in Finland are self-employed, according to Statistics Finland.
 Some see  becoming sole traders  as a path to greater autonomy while others said they chose it for a  lack of better options .
 “Your employer has no responsibilities. You pay for your own work clothes, tools, travel expenses and you can’t get sick,"  Laura , a 28-year old house painter who did not want to disclose her real name told Yle.
 Laura has been working as a painter for four years and she said that during that time employers in the sector have started preferring painters with their own business ID. This means an employer buys a service from a private contractor and doesn't engage in a typical employment relationship. As a result the worker shoulders the burden of pension and social costs that used to fall on the employer.
 Today workers in Finland’s gig economy include everyone from construction workers to nurses and translators.
 “Almost any time you apply for a job they ask if you can just send an invoice for your work,” Laura explained.
 Freelance future?
 Maija Mattila , a researcher at the Kalevi Sorsa foundation, a social democratic think-tank, said she believed the gig economy would continue to flourish as it’s a cheaper and easier option for employers. Her research found that some companies running labour-sharing digital platforms would not be in the black if they paid social costs.
 “Business models that split a job into several smaller parts for outsourcing can spread. We need rules to figure out if this is okay or not,” Mattila said.
 As a contractor, Laura was offered a gig where she could invoice 18 euros an hour for her work. That would mean an hourly wage of ten euros after mandatory pension contributions and insurance.
 The Finnish Construction Trade Union told Yle that the job Laura was offered could be classified as slave labour. The median wage for a painter is 16.81 euros per hour.
 Becoming a sole trader left Laura with 2,500 euros in debt which she plans to begin paying off in August.
 Harri Hellsten , who heads labour market affairs at the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, said parties can freely set the price of labour as entrepreneurs are outside the scope of collective agreements.
 The Confederation of Finnish Industries and the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, both representing the voices of employers, have said they don’t recommend further labour regulations in Finland.
 The service workers’ union PAM meanwhile said it feared the platform economy could grow to include everyone from cashiers to restaurant workers in the future.

Gig economy transforms Finnish labour


Summary: Travellers are increasingly taking trains rather than planes to Europe in an effort to combat climate change.

Main daily  Helsingin Sanomat  (HS) reports Monday on the 20-percent increase in Interrail passes sold during the first two months of the year, as people increasingly seek out alternative travel modes in response to climate change. Interrail passes enable cross-European travel during a set period of time and are valid on most trains across the continent.
 HS interviews Helsinki-based journalist  Heidi Kalmari , who says she seriously started to consider sustainability issues many years ago while working with another writer on a book about ecological travel.
 “Since then I have tried my best to avoid flying for leisure,” Kalmari tells the paper. “It seems as though many people just fly to European destinations for the weekend because it’s so cheap, for instance as a way to cheer oneself up after a hectic stretch of work. But it’s not very sustainable,” she adds.
 On Monday Kalmari starts her summer holiday with an Interrail trip headed via Stockholm, Hamburg, and Rostock to Berlin with her husband and two children, aged 8 and 10.
 According to HS, Kalmari is one of a growing number of people concerned about climate change who are using alternative forms of transport for travel. State-owned railways VR reports that Interrail pass sales grew 20 percent in January-February alone. This compares to about 6 percent growth for the same time period the previous year. Figures for March onward are not yet available, but it’s very likely that Interrail pass sales will increase in the run-up to summer, says HS.
 VR’s  Salla Ketola , vice president of sales and customer experience, tells HS that she estimates this year more than 7,000 Interrail Passes will be sold, which will break records of previous years. It is, however, still far from the Interrail heyday figures -- in 1986, 20,000 Interrail passes for European trips were sold in Finland.
 HS also goes onto compare the cost, time and CO2 emissions of different of trips such as Helsinki to Berlin. By flying, the trip takes about a little more than two hours and costs 52 euros whereas by boat and train the journey takes just over 32 hours and costs 311 euros.
 Carbon emissions per person for the Helsinki-Berlin flight are 118.6 while for the same trip they are 70.2 by boat and 29.5 by train.
 Celebrating diversity
 Some Helsinki taxis will be wrapped in multi-coloured tape to mark Helsinki Pride week, which begins on Monday writes tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat . This theme of this year’s pride festival is ' ääni ,' (voice in English), which aims to highlight minority rights and attempts to provide a forum for those many voices that are often left unheard.
 One of the week's events includes a panel discussion organised by THL, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, that will examine whether minority voices are heard in research and surveys compiled by statisticians, writes the tabloid.
 Last year Helsinki Pride drew more than 100,000 people to the annual festival and parade. This year's parade will be held on Saturday. Many other cities and communities are also holding Pride events across the country.
 Stormy weather in store
 Tabloid  Iltalehti  warns readers that heavy rain showers are in store for all of Finland on Wednesday. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, warm weather will prevail on Monday and Tuesday with highs of +20 Celsius in southern Finland, but cooler weather and heavy rain showers are coming Wednesday and Thursday.
 "Towards the end of the week the weather especially in the North will cool down," the institute's meteorologist  Jari Tuovinen  tells Iltalehti.

Monday's papers: Combating climate change, Pride week starts, and showers in store


Summary: The board received around 2,000 requests asking it to review price changes which went into force earlier this year.

Finland's Consumer Disputes Board said it unanimously decided not to follow up on thousands of complaints filed about Helsinki public transport fare increases that went into effect earlier this year, because it does not have jurisdiction.
 The board received around 2,000 notices of complaint from residents who were upset that ticket prices for travel from the city's eastern district of Östersundom (earlier known as  Itäsalmi  in Finnish) and the municipality of Sipoo were now much higher than before the changes took effect in the spring.
 The changes also broadly restructured the  region's travel zones , making local bus and train tickets less expensive for some - but dearer for others. The changes also brought in incentives for passengers to swap out their travel cards for a smartphone app.
 However, according to the board's director,  Pauli Ståhlberg , the board does not have jurisdiction in the matter.
 "Those who have filed review requests have asked [the board to examine] whether the joint municipal council's decision was right or wrong. Meaning that [the requests] are not complaints about disputes between a consumer and a trader, Ståhlberg said.
 Story continues after images.
 A map of Helsinki regional transport's updated zones, which came into force 27 April 2019. Yle / Uutisgrafiikka
 Yle / Uutisgrafiikka
 The board also received a number of individual requests from residents who wanted it to examine the public transport scheme changes.
 The consumer disputes board is a neutral and independent expert body with members representing consumers and businesses. The board's decisions are not legally-binding but instead recommendations. However businesses comply in more than 80 percent of its recommendations, according to the organisation.

Consumer dispute board quiet on Helsinki public transport price hike complaints


Summary: Preventing employees from taking consecutive weeks of vacation is almost always illegal, a union says.

Only 52 percent of under 30-year-olds are allowed to take four consecutive weeks of summer leave, according to a new survey commissioned by Erto, the union of private sector professionals.
 The most common reason that employees were given when asked to break up their vacation weeks was that taking a four-week holiday would require hiring a replacement.
 According to Erto, this means that half of young people are being left without the statutory rest period that is mandated by law in the interests of occupational well-being. Of all-age wage earners, 27 percent were left without the option of a four-week vacation, according to the survey.
 Legalities surrounding holiday time
 ”For employers to divert from a continuous four-week holiday requires exceptional circumstances, so the lack of a continuous holiday is almost always illegal,” said Erto spokesperson  Juri Aaltonen  in a press release.
 According to Aaltonen, the need to hire a replacement doesn’t give the employers the right to force employees to break up their four-week holiday into smaller units of time.
 Though holiday time can be broken up, Erto stresses that it must be because a worker wants to have their holiday in several stretches. When it comes to young wage earners, many are unaware of what their rights are regarding how much time off they are entitled to.
 YouGov Finland carried out the questionnaire survey for Erto in June by interviewing 1,000 wage earners between the ages of 18 to 63.
 Risk group includes low income earners
 According to Erto, taking a holiday in one stretch is the best option for workers in terms of rest and recovery. Thus, it’s important from an occupational safety point of view.
 “Employees are constantly talking about their ability to cope, and burnout among young people is a very worrisome trend. It is imperative that workers to have the right to the right amount of holiday as per law," said Aaltonen.
 According to the survey, the option for holidays breaks up unevenly. In addition to young people, risk groups include low wage earners and those who work for small companies. Of those surveyed who earn under 27,000 euros a year, only half were able to take their requested holiday in one stretch whereas 80 percent of those who earn over 67,500 euros a year were able to do so.
 ”In certain fields the situation is very worrisome," said Aaltonen. "Only 17 percent of Erto members working in the financial sector receive a continuous four-week holiday and 41 percent receive a three-week holiday. Almost one third are only allowed to take a two-week holiday.”

Half of young wage earners not given legal holiday duration, survey says


Summary: Finland will not actively repatriate citizens marooned at the Al Hol refugee camp, according to the government.

Finland will not intervene to collect  Finnish citizens stranded at the Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria , including 11 women and 33 children.
 The government said it would not evacuate Finnish citizens from the camp when queried by the opposition Finns Party and National Coalition Party during Parliament’s question hour on Thursday afternoon.
 “We have no plans of using consular services to bring these people to Finland,” said Prime Minister  Antti Rinne , adding that the government will seek a solution to the situation that balances moral, ethical and security concerns.
 Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto , however, pointed out that citizens returning from the camp on their own would be allowed back into Finland. The government said it would seek help from international aid agencies to determine whether any of the Finnish citizens at the camp were seriously ill.
 Finns Party parliamentary group chair  Ville Tavio  said Finns in the camp posed a security threat to Finland and said any children there should be taken out of parental custody.
 Dealing with returnees
 Rinne said MPs shouldn’t insinuate that the Finnish women in the camp have committed crimes ahead of any official investigations.
 MP  Sari Essayah  of the opposition Christian Democrats claimed the women had supported their Isis partners, making them complicit to any possible crimes.
 “Not one EU state has collected its adult citizens from the camp,” added long-time National Coalition MP  Ben Zyskowicz .
 The Al Hol refugee camp accommodates 74,000 people, 90 percent of whom are women and children, according to the Finnish Red Cross.

Finland won't rescue Isis families from Syrian refugee camp


Summary: Strawberry isotopes can now be checked to ascertain their origin and weed out fraud.

Consumers in Finland tend to be particular about buying domestically grown produce, especially when it comes to iconic summer treats such as strawberries – even though they are often pricier than imports. As a result, some vendors at markets and shops claim that foreign berries are domestic to boost sales and profit margins.
 Now, in an effort to stamp out efforts to pass off imported strawberries as domestic, the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the Finnish Food Safety Authority have developed a system to check the origin of berries. They have compiled a database on Finnish strawberries that should help to uncover fakes.
 “Fraudulent food labelling has become an increasingly hot topic in recent years. Finnish strawberries are a valuable commodity, which makes them vulnerable to origin fraud. The geographical origin of berries is difficult to verify, and traceability information gets lost along the long supply chain. The analytical technique, which is based on stable, nonradioactive isotopes, solves the problem,” says  Annikki Welling , head of the Food Safety Authority’s chemistry unit.
 Municipal authorities have been set up to use the testing procedure on samples for retail sites. So far the method can differentiate domestic berries from those grown in Poland and Sweden. Later this year it will be expanded to include comparisons with Estonian strawberries.
 Organic and tunnel berries tested this year
 The procedure is based on the fact that the relative levels of various isotopes vary depending on geographic location. Stable isotopes are transferred to plants in measurable ratios, which can be used to determine where they grew. This can be ascertained further by measuring mineral levels in the soft fruit.
 Samples have been collected from all of Finland’s strawberry-growing regions, ranging from the Åland Islands in the southwest to Kainuu in the east.
 "We will also soon have access to data on strawberries grown in Estonia,” explains Research Professor  Saila Karhu  from Luke. “The isotope ratios of strawberries grown in Poland and Sweden are already known, and the system is beginning to show potential as a genuine mark of Finnish origin. More samples can be collected in subsequent years if necessary. Finnish growers can also have their own produce tested if they want to establish the exact ‘fingerprint’ of their berries. There is no real need to do that, however, as the ratios of Finnish berries make them stand out very clearly from produce grown elsewhere.”
 Luke gathered a comprehensive set of samples around the country in 2017 and 2018 for the database. This year sampling continues with berries grown with different cultivation techniques including organic strawberries and early berries produced in light greenhouses known as polytunnels.
 Under Finnish law, the country of origin of berries, including wild ones such as bilberries (also known as blueberries), lingonberries and cranberries, must always be indicated.
 The Food Safety Authority recommends that imported frozen berries always be heated at minimum 90 degrees Celsius for five minutes, or boiled for two minutes before consumption to reduce the risk of viral infections.

New procedure unmasks foreign strawberries posing as Finnish


Summary: The EU's main preparatory body will hold meetings in eastern Finland as the country takes on the EU Council presidency.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

With Finland taking on the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July, important EU Council preparatory meetings will be held in the eastern city of Lappeenranta in mid-July. Close to 100 guests and officials will arrive on the shores of Lake Saimaa, where Lappeenranta is located and also travel to nearby Savonlinna, which is known for its annual opera festival held in a medieval castle.
 Finland will be represented by  Marja Rislakki , Permanent Representative of the EU for Finland. Counselor  Reetta Härönoja  says the agenda for the preparatory meetings includes issues such as justice, economic and financial affairs, and migration.
 Visits in Lappeenranta and Savonlinna
 According to Härönoja, the committee has a tradition of starting a new EU Council presidency with an unofficial meeting, which is what will take place in Lappeenranta.
 Lappeenranta Mayor  Kimmo Jarva  will take a break from his summer vacation to attend the meeting.
 The EU guests will arrive from Brussels in Finland on Friday 12 July and return to Brussels on the following Sunday.

EU Council prep meetings to be held in Lappeenranta in July


Summary: The accuser is now being charged with making a false statement during official proceedings.

In May, a woman in the town of Kangasala in Finland’s Pirkanmaa region filed a criminal complaint about a pre-arranged date made through dating app Tinder that allegedly ended in rape. The Central Finland Police Department released a statement on Monday saying the alleged sexual offence never occurred.
 Police made enquiries about a man named Niki and asked for tips from members of the public as part of the pre-trial investigation, during the course of which they decided that there was no reason to suspect the crime.
 Detective Chief Inspector  Antti Uusipaikka  revealed that the woman had admitted last Thursday that no sexual offence had occurred.
 According to police, while the main reason for making the false criminal report was thoughtlessness, the woman may also have been seeking revenge and compensation.
 Uusipaikka stated that when the date hadn’t gone the way she desired, the woman felt she was entitled to report a criminal complaint to the police.
 “The reason for making this matter public is that the investigation has caused distress to a few individuals who matched the accuser’s description of the suspect,” Uusipaikka said.
 Officials plan to continue the investigation — the woman is now being charged with making a false statement during an official procedure, the punishment for which is a maximum of two years' imprisonment. However, the case is likely to be settled with a fine, the police added.

Tinder date gone wrong: Police shoot down woman’s false rape claim


Summary: A new forest surveillance service may also be used to map out damage from storms or pests.

The Finnish Forest Centre has rolled out a national system of tracking forest logging by satellite. Authorities will be able to compare the maps it generates with logging notifications from landowners and timber owners.
 The main purpose is ensure compliance with the Forest Act. The law is aimed at advancing the economic, ecological and socially sustainable use of forests in such a way that the nation's woodland can sustainably produce good profits while maintaining their biodiversity.
 A forest owner must always file a notification of forest use before any commercial logging or other procedures in areas designated as particularly important habitats under the Forest Act.
 Officials say that satellite surveillance will allow more efficient use of resources with fewer unnecessary inspection visits.
 "Inspections will be targeted at areas where there is a need for field inspections and a risk of violations," says  Eetu Myöhänen , a development specialist at the Finnish Forest Centre, which operates under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
 Positive pilot
 The new service has been tested over the past few years in pilot areas including Liperi, Ähtäri, the Parikkala-Savonlinna area and the southerly Uusimaa region.
 For instance, monitoring in 2015-16 turned up 122 hectares that had been logged without filing the proper paperwork. However this was only 0.3 percent of the entire land area under surveillance.
 In those cases, authorities found only one case where they believed the forest owner intentionally neglected to file a notification, while the other cases were chalked up to human and date-technology errors.
 In June, the service was expanded to cover all of mainland Finland. Last year the Forest Centre estimated that some 550 forest use notifications are left unfiled annually. That is about one percent of the total that are filed.
 While the system is so far set up to detect areas that have been clear-cut, Myöhänen expects it to be fine-tuned in future to also be able to identify forests that have been thinned.
 Tracking storm and bug damage
 The system was developed by the Jyväskylä-based software company Bitcomp, which also offers map-based forest information systems for timber buyers, forest service providers and forest owners' associations.
 The firm's R&D manager,  Sanna Härkönen , says that the satellite data can be used in other ways to quickly track environmental conditions on the ground.
 "For instance, damage from storms or insects can be rapidly evaluated, as well as determining the forests' carbon sinks," she tells Yle, adding that she expects the service to be adopted outside of Finland.
 "There is a need to track illegal logging and forest shrinkage in many countries," she notes.

Eye in the sky: Finland monitors logging by satellite


Summary: Moves to limit Airbnb apartment rentals, a 200K fine for a debt collector and some e-scooter mishaps linked to alcohol.

Apartment owners could soon have to notify their housing associations of the number of residents or guests they expect to host every year, if the lobby group for landlords and property owners gets its way. The Finnish Real Estate Federation, FREF, is calling for clear new rules for the kinds of short-term rentals typical of the online hospitality service Airbnb.
 According to national daily Helsingin Sanomat,  the organisation has proposed reforms  to legislation governing housing companies as well as city zoning and construction in a bid to  tame the booming trade . One key measure the group is pushing is an annual limit to the number of persons allowed to use apartments designated for residential use.
 "Exceeding that number would constitute misuse [of the property]. The housing association would then have the opportunity to intervene by taking the apartment under its management," FREF’s senior legal specialist  Virpi Heinonen  said in a statement.
 In Finland, housing companies own and run most apartment blocks, while homeowners buy shares in the company in exchange for use of their flats. The system allows them to  pool the risk and cost of maintenance and major repairs  with other members of the housing company.
 FREF also wants resident homeowners to be obligated to inform housing companies about all the users of their properties, potentially using some form of electronic filing system. The lobby group said that it has received many requests for advice on Airbnb operations.
 "The current situation is causing uncertainty and disputes, since housing companies don’t know on what terms to permit accommodation services or when to intervene," it said in the statement. It also called on city building supervisors to provide guidelines on the matter.
 200K fine for collections firm
 Tabloid daily Iltalehti highlights  the case of a collections firm forced to swallow a dose  of its own medicine, as Finland’s Market Court ruled to uphold the revocation of its operating license and also slapped it with a 200,000-euro fine for repeated shortcomings.
 Back in January, the southern Finland regional administrative authority had revoked the debt recovery license held by collections firm Alektum over major deficiencies in its operations. Officials found that the firm had repeatedly sent consumers more collection letters than the law allowed over unpaid bills for the same subscription product. It also charged customers excessively for the payment reminders.
 The Consumer and Competition Authority KKV, also noted that Alektum’s unlawful activities related to subscription products sold to consumers over the phone or online. Customers typically ordered underwear, blades for shaving sets as well as health supplements and weight loss products from firms such as Westerfield, MMBG and Fennotuonti. Earlier this year, the consumer watchdog  warned consumers about the firm's shady practices .
 The Southern Finland regional administrative authority is responsible for monitoring collections firms throughout the country to ensure that their operations are lawful and conform to good practice. The agency also has the authority to ban unregistered debt recovery firms.
 Alcohol + e-scooters = injuries
 Another tabloid, Ilta-Sanomat looks at the summery  electric scooters that have taken over cities  like Helsinki, Tampere and Turku. Specifically,  the paper reports that in Helsinki at least , the two-wheelers have already sent about two dozen users to hospital due to injuries sustained on the move.
 According to chief medical officer  Mika Paavola  of the Töölö hospital, the most common mishaps result in injuries to the face, upper extremities and chest. He also noted that alcohol had been a factor in some accidents.
 "It’s quite common for the front wheel to get stuck on the edge of the pavement or somewhere and then the user flies over the handle bars. People then brace with their arms, but they may not always be strong enough and they may end up face-first on the asphalt," Paavola said, describing a typical case.
 "Face injuries aren’t just a few scratches, but fractures and broken teeth," he added, noting that medical staff have also treated more serious cases such as concussions and even worse.
 Since the Töölö accident and emergency unit began tracking statistics about scooter injuries at the end of March it has recorded about 20 cases, the equivalent of up to four accidents weekly. During the Midsummer weekend alone, another four cases were logged. Paavola noted that since not all patients seek medical attention in Töölö, "this is just the tip of the iceberg,".

Tuesday's papers: Calls to control Airbnb rentals, debt collector fined, e-scooter injuries


Summary: One of the complainants in the case said that alcohol played a role in the voluntary refresher course.

The Helsinki Court of Appeal has sentenced former air force commanders to pay fines over misconduct, abuse of power, breach of service and defamation  during voluntary training exercises  at the Karelian Air Command in September 2017.
 On Tuesday the court found former Commander of the Karelian Air Command  Markus Päiviö  guilty of abuse of his position as a superior, breach of service and defamation and sentenced him to a 60-day fine, the equivalent of 3,000 euros.
 The prosecution had initially called for a sentence of between 60 and 80 day fines. Päiviö’s attorney,  Pentti Laiho , said that his client was not surprised by the outcome.
 "The decision was as expected. He was prepared for it," he added.
 Court: Air Command head humiliated subordinates
 In its judgment, the court declared that as director of the training exercises, Päiviö had acted inappropriately and improperly in word and deed by insulting other participants on different occasions.
 The court said that he had referred to air command personnel as "gay wankers" and had also insulted the air command chief of staff. Päiviö also reportedly berated the mayor of the eastern city of Nurmes,  Asko Saatsia , calling him "Finland’s crappiest mayor".
 Saatsia, one of the complainants in the case, had previously gone on record as saying that alcohol played a role in the voluntary refresher course.
 The appellate court ruled that by using such language, the former air commander had treated his subordinates in a degrading manner and was guilty of abusing his position as a senior officer. It ordered Päiviö to pay Saatsia 1,200 euros in damages.
 1.7K fine for ex-air force commander
 Another defendant in the case, former Finnish Air Force commander  Sampo Eskelinen , was found guilty of breach of service and sentenced to a 30-day fine, amounting to 1,770 euros. The prosecution had demanded a 20- to 50-day fine for Eskelinen, Päiviö’s former boss.
 Eskelinen was suspected of breach of duty for delaying an investigation into the conduct of then-head of the Karelian Air Command, Päiviö during the course.
 Eskelinen’s lawyer  Heikki Maunila  said that the ruling took his client by surprise and that he was somewhat confused by the outcome.
 However the court found that at the latest by September-October of 2017, Eskelinen had reason to suspect that Päiviö was guilty of military offences.
 It wasn't until December of the same year that the former air force commander requested a preliminary investigation into Päiviö's actions.
 The court found that this delay was deliberate, however it said that there was no reason to suspect that Eskelinen's failure to act promptly was due to a desire to protect the Karelian Air Command chief.

Former air force top brass fined for misconduct over training drills


Summary: Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that Finland is not envisaging a summit between Iran and the US at the moment.

Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  has said that recent sabre-rattling between the US and Iran has increased and could lead to military conflict. The newly-minted Green minister added that tensions between the two countries are very fraught at the moment.
 "War could break out over even an isolated incident," Haavisto said in an Yle interview on Monday.
 He said discussions over the current stand-off should stress that Iran should operate within the confines of the nuclear agreement to which it has committed.
 "It would be good to find some mechanism by which Iran could be held to international cooperation in the future. The most dangerous Iran is an isolated Iran and this is also a risk," he commented.
 US President  Donald Trump  has threatened Iran with military action over what the US claims are the state’s attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Oman, followed by the recent downing of a US military drone. Trump has since ratcheted up pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on the country’s Supreme Leader,  Ali Khamenei .
 Haavisto told Yle that Finland is working behind the scenes to calm the situation.
 "Finland has had active ties with the Iranian capital Teheran and we have communicated [the need for] moderation in this situation in different ways to the current Iranian regime, saying that any kind of military action could trigger responses by other states," he explained.
 Finland "not necessarily in first place" as possible summit location
 A veteran peace negotiator, Haavisto said that he would like to expand Finland’s role as a peace envoy. He said that Finland should provide good diplomatic services whenever possible.
 "In the case of different conflicts, there’s sometimes a need to find a peaceful place in a country that’s not involved in any kind of conflict. In that regard, Finland is an excellent location. Other Nordic countries such as Norway and Sweden have also used this option actively. Of course Finland could be among this group as well," the minister declared.
 However Haavisto said that Finland is not envisaging a summit between Iran and the US at the moment. He added that as a militarily non-aligned country, Finland would not necessarily be at the front of the queue when it came to speculation about possible peace negotiations.
 "If a country is not a member of a military alliance, in some cases that can be seen as a benefit as that country could be considered more neutral. On the other hand, countries that belong to military alliances do a lot of peace work quite successfully. It’s mostly a question of being active and being able to provide good services," he continued.
 The minister stressed that it is not especially important where negotiations take place, "as long as they happen."

Finnish Foreign Minister: "Real risk of war" between US and Iran


Summary: Jussi Halla-aho said that his election as party leader in 2017 did not influence his decision to resign from Suomen Sisu.

Chair of the immigration-sceptic Finns Party  Jussi Halla-aho  says he has terminated his membership in  the nationalist organisation Suomen Sisu , according to the daily Helsingin Sanomat.
 The disclosure came as the paper interviewed the immigration hardliner about his links to so-called ethno-nationalists, among whom the Finns Party youth wing and Suomen Sisu count themselves.
 According to HS, ethno-nationalists use a definition of Finnishness which emphasises genetic factors. Additionally, Finnish news agency STT noted that many ethno-nationalists ascribe to the view that "Finnish people mainly comprise the descendants of the groups that settled in Finland in prehistoric times."
 On its website, the group says that it "supports the preservation of national states and European heritage", among other things.
 Halla-aho had been an honorary member of the group from 2000, according to his own reckoning. However the Finns Party chair was reticent about his reason for leaving.
 "I don’t think I’ll comment on that issue," he told the paper.
 No challengers to Hall-aho's leadership
 When HS pressed him on whether or not he resigned before or after  he became party leader in 2017 , Halla-aho said that it was after his election. However he stressed that his instalment as chairman was not related to the decision to quit the organisation.
 Halla-aho is set to continue to hold the reins of the party, as no one has stepped forward to challenge his leadership at the party's annual congress, which begins in Tampere on Saturday.
 The chair of Suomen Sisu is Finns Party MP  Olli Immonen . He  made headlines back in 2015  when he called for a "fight against the nightmare of multiculturalism". A police investigation later found his comments  did not constitute a criminal offence .
 The party's third vice chair, MP  Juha Eerola , had also been a member but he left in 2012.
 The group had previously declared an intention to set up a network of local chapters to serve its growing membership. It currently has around 15 regional organisations.

Daily: Finns Party chair quits ethno-nationalist group


Summary: Millions were spent renovating the once-threatened landmark, which is now home to one of the city's most popular museums.

Helsinki city councillors approved that the city sell off its remaining shares in the downtown landmark building Lasipalatsi ('Glass Palace') to a subsidiary of Konstsamfundet ,  an art foundation which operates the modern art museum  Amos Rex  at the site.
 Because the price tag for the remaining roughly 30 percent of the shares is so steep - about 33.5 million euros - transfer of the property still needs approval from the city board.
 It is expected to consider the matter in August at the latest, and will likely approve the sale, according to council member  Marcus Rantala .
 "Due to the fact that there's such a large majority of city councillors on the board, it looks like the decision will be approved by a large majority in August," Rantala said after the council made its decision on Monday.
 "Additionally, this is a logical decision in light of the city's strategy to sell off properties it doesn't need or that don't have strategic importance," he continued.
 Story continues after photo.
 Long queues prevailed for months after Amos Rex museum opened its doors in 2018. Jouni Immonen / Yle
 The city currently owns 30.85 percent of Lasipalatsi while the art foundation's subsidiary Mercator Real Estate owns the remaining 69.15 percent. If the sale goes through, Mercator would have sole ownership of the historic building.
 Föreningen Konstsamfundet(roughly: the Art Foundation Association) supports cultural efforts of Finland's Swedish-speaking minority.
 Foundation CEO  Stefan Björkman  said buying the remainder of the shares in the building was a natural progression.
 "[The foundation] has invested 50 million euros in the construction of Amos Rex and the re-building of Lasipalatsi. As the property's main owner, we have carried the responsibility for development of the structure. In this situation it's natural that we should buy the city's minority share. Our goal is to make Lasipalatsi into an even more important meeting place for art and city culture," Björkman said in a city press release earlier this month.
 Glass Palace history
 Construction ofLasipalatsi (Glaspalatset in Swedish) was completed in 1935, first serving as an office building in the heart of downtown Helsinki. In addition to the  wildly popular Amos Rex museum , the sprawling structure became home to several restaurants, cafes, shops and an historic cinema, Bio Rex.
 When it first opened, the movie theatre was among the largest in the city and hosted many Finnish film premieres over the decades. However the structure fell into disrepair and as recently as the 1980s, there were controversial plans to tear it down.
 Story continues after photo.
 Aerial photo of Lasipalatsi in winter 2016, before renovations of the sprawling structure began. Yle/Petter West
 But toward the end of the last millennium the building was reborn, given protected status by the Finnish Heritage Agency and repaired. Several businesses, cafes and restaurants moved in, and even became home to Yle's morning show Aamu-tv for several years, with hosts sitting by the large storefront-style windows, giving viewers glimpses of pedestrians and cars along the city's main thoroughfare Mannerheimintie in the background.
 The building went under major renovation in 2016 and the modern art museum Amos Rex opened its doors in 2018.

Group behind Amos Rex museum to buy rest of 'Glass Palace' from Helsinki


Summary: The Labour Force Survey says that 29,000 more men and 2,000 more women were employed in May compared to a year earlier.

Men in the labour market were able to narrow the gap with women as male-dominated industries such as transportation rallied to employ 10,000 more male job-seekers between May 2018 and May 2019. By contrast sales jobs — which employ more women than men — contracted, displacing 9,000 women over the same period.
 The number of employed people in Finland was 32,000 higher in May this year than at the same time last year, according to Statistics Finland's latest  Labour Force Survey.
 The survey reported the number of unemployed persons in Finland as 249,000, some 12,000 fewer than a year ago.
 In May 2019, the employment rate among persons aged 15 to 64 was 73.1 percent, which was 0.8 percentage points higher than in May the year before. The unemployment rate was 8.8 percent, half a percentage point lower than the previous year.
 The number of employed people in May was reported at around 2.6 million.
 Statistics also revealed that the number of employed men increased in May 2019. The data registered 133,000 unemployed men and 116,000 women — about 29,000 more employed men and 2,000 more employed women than in May 2018.
 Male-dominated industries performed better
 The employment rate of men aged 15 to 64 rose by 1.4 percentage points to 74.3 percent while that of women edged up 0.2 percentage points to 71.8 percent.
 This could be due to changes in industry trends, according to  Petri Syvänen , adviser with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
 "In almost every industry, we can see little changes towards a better direction. However, the biggest change has been in the transportation industry where the number of men employed has increased by 10,000 since last May, making it one of the most important figures contributing to the increase in employed men," Syvänen said.
 Syvänen attributes these changes to economic growth in certain sectors.
 "While it is difficult to give an exact reason for the increase in the employed, it can be said that when the activity in the economy is at a higher level, the employment rates of industries such as transport goes up," Syvänen told Yle News.
 Little impact from activation model
 The previous  government's 'activation model'  could have only had a small impact on these numbers, according to Syvänen.
 "As a whole, the activation model could have had a little impact on the better employment figures, but it is difficult to say how much. Last year, Statistics Finland had studied the impact of the activation model on the employment figures and they found almost nothing. Even if it had a little impact, in the big picture, the effect is very small," Syvänen said.
 However, the data show that employment among women has not risen significantly since last year.
 "The number employed in sales has decreased by 9,000 since May last year. These small changes across all industries for women has led to these numbers," Syvänen added.
 However, men still trail women slightly when it comes to the unemployment rate. Between May last year and this year the unemployment rate among men nudged down by a tenth of a percentage point to nine percent, and that of women by 0.9 percentage points to 8.5 percent.
 At 8.8 percent, the overall unemployment rate in May was half a percentage point lower than a year earlier.

More men in Finland finding work, but still lagging behind women


Summary: According to Posiva, the decision will lead to the world's first safe final disposal system for nuclear waste.

Nuclear waste firm Posiva is to spend some 500 million euros on a production facility for spent fuel handling at its underground Onkalo site, adjacent to the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Eurajoki, southwest Finland.
 The company plans to build a final disposal facility and an encapsulation plant, which it says will allow spent nuclear fuel rods to be stored safely for millennia.
 Posiva is owned by the utilities TVO and Fortum, which plan to use Onkalo to store waste from Olkiluoto and Loviisa nuclear power plants.
 Olkiluoto has two reactors, with a long-delayed third one due to begin operations sometime next year, more than a decade behind schedule. Plans for a fourth reactor have been shelved. Loviisa has two reactors built in the late 1970s.
 Posiva has said there is  no room at Onkalo  for waste from the proposed Fennovoima plant in northern Finland, which has  yet to receive a construction permit .
 "World's first"
 Sections of the Onkalo storage cave that have already been dug out will be upgraded with systems needed for begin the final disposal procedures.
 According to Posiva CEO  Janne Mokka , the investment decision paves the way for the world's first safe final disposal system for nuclear waste.
 "In Finland, full life-cycle management is a precondition for the production of climate-friendly nuclear electricity. Posiva will execute the final disposal of the spent fuel of its owners’ Olkiluoto and Loviisa nuclear power plants responsibly," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
 The firm estimates that the half-billion-euro construction project will generate some 2,500 person years of employment.
 "We expect to award contracts for the most significant works in the near future," Mokka added.

Nuclear waste firm plans big investment at Olkiluoto final disposal site


Summary: Travellers in Finland report that they haven't received train tickets purchased from VR's online store.

Customers of Finland's state-owned railway company VR reported glitches in its ticketing services on Tuesday. Passengers have complained about not receiving train tickets after purchasing them from VR’s online store. They have also reportedly faced issues while using VR ticket vending machines across Finland.
 As of Tuesday afternoon, railway authorities had not yet estimated how long the problems would persist.
 An error message was posted on their website — "Our sale systems may experience malfunctions. VR regrets any inconvenience this may cause you."
 VR is currently in the process of upgrading its ticketing system. The disruptions do not seem to have affected its newer vending machines and its  beta online store , from where customers were able to successfully purchase tickets on Tuesday.
 Long haul train passengers who face difficulty purchasing tickets can directly buy them from conductors in the trains without having to pay an extra charge, according to VR's communications department.
 Passengers can purchase tickets for VR’s commuter services on a separate mobile application as usual.
 The ticketing issue was first reported by the daily Helsingin Sanomat.

VR passengers unable to purchase tickets from web store, vending machines


Summary: The labour market group says that higher alcohol taxes will cause diners to stay home, leading to restaurant job cuts.

Finland's restaurant and tourism sector enjoyed significant growth in the beginning of the year, but the Finnish Hospitality Association (MaRa) has warned that planned alcohol tax hikes could hurt workers in the sector.
 The restaurant and tourism industry grew by more than five percent last year. Growth was particularly brisk in the fast food business, with sales increases of 7.1 percent during the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period a year ago.
 But, MaRa, a hospitality industry trade and labour market group, said it is worried that  planned tax increases  on booze will hurt that growth. Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 'snew government plans to raise alcohol taxes by about 50 million euros.
 The labour market group said that higher alcohol taxes will cause consumers to stay at home to imbibe rather than go out, saying that it would lead to job cuts in the restaurant and bar industry.
 MaRa's deputy general manager,  Veli-Matti Aittoniemi , said the country's alcohol taxes are already high.
 "Finland is already at the top of the EU regarding its alcohol tax levels. If government raises taxes again it will result in alcohol increasingly being consumed on park benches," Aittoniemi said.
 According to industry figures, alcohol consumption at Finland's restaurants and bars has decreased by one third since 2003. Juha Hintsala / Yle
 According to industry figures, alcohol consumption at Finland's restaurants and bars has decreased by one third since 2003.
 Roughly during that same period - from 2003 to 2018 - the personal import of alcohol has increased by 61 percent, while domestic booze sales in shops and bars have decreased by 13 percent and 32 percent respectively.
 An increase in personal imports is again expected later this summer, when  Estonian booze taxes  will be slashed by 25 percent on 1 July. Over the past few years Estonia has been raising alcohol taxes steadily but instead of drinking less, residents - and visitors - increasingly headed south to Latvia where alcohol taxes are lower.
 Among EU countries, Finland has the highest tax levied on beer, and the second-highest taxes on spirits and wine. Finland raised alcohol taxes by 30 million euros annually at the beginning of this year and the government plans to further increase taxes by 50 million at the beginning of next year.

Planned booze tax hikes would hurt restaurant sector, lobby warns


Summary: The eagerly-awaited strawberry harvest peaks over the next couple of weeks, with a bumper crop in store this year.

The main strawberry harvest season is just beginning, says the farming organisation ProAgria. So far this summer's weather has offered ideal growing conditions, so producers expect a large, high-quality crop of the berries, which are considered an  emblem of the Finnish summer .
 ProAgria says that strawberries are very sweet this summer thanks to the sunny weather and temperature variations. However significant rainfall is needed in southern Finland to ensure a good harvest, as plants have begun to suffer from dryness.
 New potatoes at their best
 Farmers in the south and along the southwestern coast are now gathering strawberries grown under nets or fabric, while open-air berries will soon be ready for picking.
 Strawberry harvesting is also getting underway this week in other parts of southern and central Finland. The main harvest is expected to begin in earnest during the first week of July.
 Harvesting conditions for new potatoes and other early vegetables are also reaching their best. In general, crops in southern Finland are more than a week ahead of the average schedule, with those in the east and north on a normal timetable.

Strawberry growers: This summer ideal for a sweet crop, but rain needed soon


Summary: An innovative method of cleaning Finland's lakes, city councillor deemed 'offensive', and Helsinki's selfie trail

Jyväskylä daily Keskisuomalainen leads with the story of a  Stand Up Boarding (SUP) enthusiast who is using his hobby to clean up local lakes . The paper details how local man  Perttu Walkeajärvi  decided to act after finding two car tyres at the bottom of a lake, and has now turned his board into a small waste barge.
 The paper spent two hours with Walkeajärvi as he paddled around on a lake near the village of Haapasaari in Central Finland, during which time he pulled a variety of plastic materials, tarpaulins, cans and other waste from the water.
 "I spend a long time looking through the coves of the Jyväskylä environment, and the situation is the same in every location," Walkeajärvi told the newspaper.
 The littering of Finland's lakes is especially evident when the water level is low, as it can be during drier summers, according to Keskisuomalainen.
 "Human waste" judgement
 Tabloid daily Iltalehti reports  that a speech by a Centre Party politician in the northern city of Oulu , which referred to underprivileged people in the city as “human waste”, has been declared ‘inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive’ by the Deputy Ombudsman  Maija Sakslin.
 City councillor  Riikka Moilanen  made the controversial comments in a question to a City of Oulu council meeting in September last year. The following day her then-employer, the social and healthcare service provider Pihlajalinna, dismissed her from her position as CEO of the company, citing the inappropriateness of her comments.
 Helsinki's most popular selfie locations
 Finally, Helsingin Sanomat has  taken to the streets of the capital to find the city’s most popular selfie locations . The paper quotes Helsinki Marketing Content Producer  Riitta Kokkonen  as saying that the top three locations for selfie-taking in Helsinki are the sea fortress islands of Suomenlinna, the Lutheran Cathedral on Senate Square, and the colourful Art Nouveau neighbourhood of Huvilakatu in the Ullanlinna district.
 Other popular selfie locations which make the list include the Sibelius Monument in Töölö, the Amos Rex Courtyard in Lasipalatsi (Glass Palace) Square, the Allas Sea Pool in the harbour area, and the newly-built Oodi Central Library.
 According to Kokkonen, there is also a noticeable difference between the locations popular with tourists, and those favoured by locals.
 “Tourists' selfies are often taken in the city centre and close to the sights, while locals find more of the city's hidden gems.”

Wednesday’s papers: Waste-collecting SUP boarder, judgement in “human waste” case, and Helsinki’s selfie hot-spots


Summary: Most taxpayers in Finland will receive rebates in August or September.

Rather than December as in the past, the state will this year begin reimbursing those who over-paid taxes on 4 July. Most of those owed money will see refunds pop up in their bank accounts on 6 August or 4 September.
 For the first time, the tax year ends on different dates for various residents. As a result, refund dates are also staggered.
 Those who have not informed the Tax Administration of their bank account numbers, or whose account numbers have changed, should update their info via the  MyTax website  or by using a paper form.
 The first to be paid back for excess tax, starting next week, will be 157,000 entrepreneurs and freelancers. They will be reimbursed a total of 169 million euros.
 €99bn in direct and indirect taxes
 Meanwhile another 43,000 businesspeople and freelancers owe the treasury a total of 17 million euros in outstanding taxes that are due in July. For these people, the first payment on residual taxes is next Monday, 1 July.
 For those who owe more than 170 euros in extra tax for last year, the sum is divided into two instalments, with the second due on 2 September.
 According to the Taxpayers' Association of Finland, last year the state collected 99 billion euros in taxes and tax-like fees.

Tax refunds paid early this year, starting next week


Summary: Beaches will have designated smoking areas, but there will be no outright ban on smoking.

New guidelines for smoking on beaches will be introduced in Helsinki this summer, directing puffers to new smoking areas on the edge of beaches. However, no actual smoking ban will be enforced.
 "Smoking is still possible anywhere at the beach, but we hope that people will go to the areas we have designated," explained  Jukka Lundgren , spokesperson forHelsinki city's Culture and Leisure department.
 The new measures are being introduced to ensure the comfort of all beachgoers across the city.
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 The new regulations on smoking at Helsinki beaches will be rolled out over the coming weeks Charlotte Lindberg / Yle
 "We are thinking about the comfort of people, mainly families with children, on the beaches. Some people find smoking very unpleasant," said Lundgren.
 Regulations to roll-out in coming weeks
 The new regulations will be introduced to the beaches of Helsinki within a few weeks as the city still needs time to order and install ashtrays, signpost the new smoking areas, and translate instructions into different languages.
 Additionally, lifeguards, cleaners and maintenance personnel will require training in the new regulations. The idea is that smokers on the beach will be asked to move to a designated smoking area, rather than instructed to go there.
 Regulations already in place elsewhere
 Helsinki is not the first municipality in Finland to introduce smoking regulations on beaches.
 The municipality of Sipoo, just east of Helsinki, has restricted smoking at beaches to designated areas. In Espoo, Helsinki's western neighbour, the city council recently launched an initiative which could lead to the banning of smoking at all beaches.
 Last year, a working group called 'Smoke Free Finland' established by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health suggested, among other recommendations, that smoking on beaches should be banned throughout the country.

Helsinki introduces smoking regulations on city beaches


Summary: The economic affairs minister will challenge fellow cabinet minister Antti Kaikkonen for the post.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Katri Kulmuni , a second-term MP from Finnish Lapland, has become the second candidate to announce a bid for the post of Centre Party chair.
 In September, the party is to elect a new leader to replace current chair and former prime minister  Juha Sipilä .
 Now one of the party's deputy chairs, Kulmuni was sworn in as Minister of Economic Affairs three weeks ago. She threw her hat into the ring for the leadership at a press conference in Helsinki on Wednesday, saying that "exceptional situations call for exceptional solutions".
 Kulmuni is a 31-year-old from Tornio on the Swedish border in southwest Lapland. She was the northern electoral district's most popular candidate in April's parliamentary election, garnering more than 8,000 votes.
 Before being named as minister, she had held no major posts beyond chairing the Finnish Delegation to the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region. She has a master's degree in social sciences.
 Eyes on finance ministry
 So far the only other candidate for the post is MP and Defence Minister  Antti Kaikkonen , former CEO of the scandal-ridden Finnish Youth Foundation .  Mikko Kärnä , another second-term MP from Lapland, says he is seriously considering a run for the post.
 Kulmuni indicated that if elected she would be interested in becoming finance minister, the party's weightiest portfolio in the new cabinet, now held by  Mika Lintilä .
 "I think it is sensible and logical that power and responsibility are in the same place, so the party chair should also be the finance minister," she said.
 Kaikkonen, seen by many as Sipilä's choice as his successor, was widely expected to become finance minister but was instead named to the defence portfolio.
 Sipilä quits after 7 years
 Sipilä has led the party since 2012, during which time its popularity soared and then crashed, with a stunning collapse of support in this spring's parliamentary election. Nevertheless the party continued on into the new government coalition, with five ministers out of 19 in the cabinet. Sipilä said he would not become a minister and would step down from the party leadership,  becoming a backbench MP .
 Two other Centre politicians mooted for the post have said they will not run: deputy chair and Minister of Science and Culture  Annika Saarikko  and the leader of the party's parliamentary group,  Antti Kurvinen .
 The Centre has had two female chairs in its 113-year history, former prime ministers  Anneli Jäätteenmäki  and  Mari Kiviniemi , but neither served for a full legislative term.
 The Centre, formerly known as the Agrarian League, has scheduled a party conference for 7 September in the southeastern city of Kouvola.

Katri Kulmuni seeks Centre Party leadership


Summary: Occupational safety watchdog have received calls where employees suspect they were terminated due to sick leave.

In 2018, Finland's Occupational Safety and Health Authority received approximately 500 calls reporting discrimination in workplaces. Authorities investigated around 200 cases — one in three of these cases related to discrimination on the basis of health, according to a report published by the watchdog.
 Discrimination on the basis of health is becoming the most common reason stated in inspection requests, according to  Jenny Rintala , senior occupational safety inspector at the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland.
 "However, not all calls lead to investigations," she clarified.
 The report explained that in the majority of situations where an employer had terminated a job contract, the employee suspected that the reason had been absences due to illness.
 300 inspections reveal breach of Non-Discrimination Act
 The authority carried out 1,250 workplace inspections last year to monitor enforcement of non-discriminatory and equal opportunity policies. Approximately 300 inspections revealed employers who failed to comply with the Non-Discrimination Act, according to the report.
 The agency reported 21 suspected cases of workplace discrimination to the police in 2018.
 "The report covers a wide range of inspections including oversight of foreign labour recruitment and possible wage discrimination. It also reveals for instance, workplaces that have neglected to establish an equality plan, which is considered a shortcoming. The third topic was discrimination in job advertisements," Rintala explained.
 In addition, inspections were carried out on the basis of requests to investigate alleged discrimination against an individual worker or jobseeker.
 The report also said that most often, the caller wanted information about how to raise the issue in the workplace or sought an expert opinion on whether or not their experiences constituted discrimination.
 Religion, political activity and sexual orientation as grounds for discrimination gave rise to the fewest complaints in 2018.
 However, inspections also revealed 17 discriminatory work advertisements, where ethnic origin, language and nationality were the most common forms of inequality.

Report: Health most common basis for workplace discrimination complaints in Finland


Summary: Ahead of next week's visit by the European Commission, the PM said Finland will boost education and climate talks.

Finland's main goal during its EU presidency is for the Union to commit to climate neutrality by the year 2050, Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  announced on Wednesday.
 He said the aim is for the European Council to agree on the main elements of the plan by the end of this year.
 Finland takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July. It is the country's third presidency since joining the EU in 1995.
 "A key priority of Finland’s Presidency is the EU’s global leadership in climate action," Rinne told Parliament, adding that the EU should become "the world’s most competitive and socially inclusive low-carbon economy."
 3 EU members block climate target
 Agreeing on sharp emissions cuts has so far been difficult for EU member states. At last week's summit in Brussels, a net-zero carbon emissions target for 2050 was blocked by coal-reliant Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
 Rather than the 2050 target, the EU summit's final document said in a footnote that "for a large majority of member states, climate neutrality must be achieved by 2050."
 Backers had hoped for a strong EU stance heading into the UN Climate Action Summit to be held in New York in late September.
 Along with emissions, the Finnish presidency will aim to boost the EU’s social dimension and invest in education, training and skills.
 "We need to increase the exchange of students and other forms of cooperation between educational institutions. We should also explore the possibility of founding a networked European super-university and developing a ‘super-Erasmus’ programme for European researcher exchange," Rinne told lawmakers.
 Commissioners to Helsinki next week
 Also on Wednesday, the Council of State announced that the members of the European Commission will visit Helsinki on 4-5 July to meet with the Finnish cabinet ministers, in a traditional presidency opening event.
 Next Thursday evening, the commissioners and ministers will meet at Kesäranta, Rinne’s official residence in Helsinki's Meilahti neighbourhood. The next day he and Commission President  Jean-Claude Juncker  will meet one-on-one and in various groups of officials before holding a joint press conference.
 Also on Friday, the Commissioners will visit Parliament and have lunch with President  Sauli Niinistö . The following week, there will be  further EU meetings in Lappeenranta , near the Russian border.

Finnish EU presidency to seek deal on 2050 climate neutrality


Summary: Only one in five in Finland are prepared to cut their standard of living unless others do the same, a poll suggests.

The willingness of people in Finland to compromise their living standards in order to protect the environment is lower than it was ten years ago, according to a report by the Finnish business and policy think tank Eva.
 "During the spring parliamentary elections, climate policy in particular received great attention. In this respect, it is therefore surprising that there has been no increase in people's willingness to compromise on their own living standards," said  Sami Metelinen , Managing Director of Eva.
 According to Metelinen, the areas where people are least likely to make changes to their standard of living are in the use of cars and the eating of meat.
 Not willing to do it alone
 The survey garnered people's attitudes to the statement "I am ready to lower my standard of living in order to reduce pollution and environmental problems," with 55 percent of those surveyed agreeing with the statement. This figure remains unchanged compared to the previous measurement, carried out in 2014.
 The peak of the readiness to compromise on living standards was in 1992, when three out of four Finns agreed with the statement that they would be willing to make personal sacrifices in order to reduce the impact of climate change.
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 Despite growing concern about the impacts of climate change, people are unwilling to make personal sacrifices  Timo Jaakonaho / Lehtikuva
 The 2019 survey also found that it is important for citizens that they do not remain alone in changing their lifestyle, as 61 percent agreed with the statement that "I would be prepared to undertake climatic action if I had the assurance that other citizens would also be involved".
 However, only 18 percent of respondents said they would be willing to make changes for climate action, regardless of what others do.
 Economic cycles affect attitudes
 According to Eva, which has carried out value and attitude research in the area since 1984, economic cycles also affect people's attitudes towards the environment. Concern about the environment tends to increase the longer a boom lasts.
 This year's survey does not show such an increase, which Eva attributes to a long recession before the boom.
 The results are based on 2,059 responses surveyed from January to February 2019, with a margin of error of 2–3 percentage points. The data was collected via online survey by pollster Taloustutkimus, which says the sample was representative of Finland's population aged 18-70.

Poll: Few willing to make personal sacrifices for climate


Summary: Finns are the biggest coffee guzzlers in the world, and now more of it is sustainably and humanely sourced.

More than half of the coffee beans sold by the biggest producers in Finland last year were fair trade-certified, according to a fresh report from corporate responsibility watchdog Finnwatch.
 Last year's figures represent a marked improvement from a similar survey by the agency in 2016, which found that top producers like Paulig and Meira had been acquiring beans from plantations that had major shortcomings such as child labour exploitation, inadequate wages, discrimination and enormous worker recruitment fees.
 On average, each resident of Finland consumed the equivalent of 12 kg of coffee beans last year, according to  worldatlas.com , making it the biggest coffee consumer in the world. Coffee  imports rose  last year by 13 percent.
 However, more of the coffee being consumed is ethically grown and produced. According to Finnwatch, Finland's coffee producers bought 45 million kg more Fairtrade beans last year than it did just two years prior.
 The watchdog surveyed the practices of the country's four biggest coffee firms - Paulig, Meira from Finland along with Swedish companies Löfbergs and Arvid Nordquist.
 The group compared how much each of them sourced coffee from certified producers, including certifications from Fairtrade, UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance.
 Fairtrade "sets social, economic and environmental standards for both companies and the farmers and workers," according to the international non-profit group.
 Meanwhile, non-profit organisations UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance merged last year, and certification from these require good agricultural practices and living conditions as well as sound environmental practices.
 Story continues after photo.
 Packet of coffee with Fairtrade certification logo. Yle
 'Big coffee' in Finland
 The watchdog reported that the country's biggest coffee producer Paulig had made the biggest strides since 2015, when just 20 percent of its coffee was certified. Now that figure is 80 percent.
 Paulig markets many of Finland's favourite coffee brands including the nearly-ubiquitous Juhla Mokka, but does not publicly share the various certifications of its products.
 However Finnwatch reported that around 80 percent of Paulig's coffee beans were certified one way or another.
 The agency reported that Paulig bought 55 million kg of coffee beans last year, or about 10 percent more coffee than it did in 2015.
 Meira, which markets the popular Kulta Katriina line of coffees, purchased nearly 14 million kg of coffee (about an 11 percent increase over 2015). Around 22 percent of Meira coffee was UTZ certified and about two percent of it certified by Fairtrade and the Rainforest Alliance.
 About 52 percent of the 32 million kg of beans that Sweden's Löfbergs bought last year received certification, according to Finnwatch.
 Seventeen percent of its coffees were Fairtrade-certified, eight percent UTZ-marked and 27 percent Rainforest Alliance-certified.
 For its part, Swedish Arvid Nordquist has used Fairtrade certified beans exclusively since 2014, according to Finnwatch.

Fairtrade coffee on the rise in Finland, watchdog reports