Events | June 21, 2023

Roschier Insights Seminar: The new government program in Finland

The program of the new Finnish government was published on 16 June 2023. A couple of days later, we organized a breakfast seminar at our Helsinki office to analyze the government program, particularly from an industrial and competition policy perspective.

Roschier’s Mikko Alkio and Lasse Nordström hosted a topical discussion regarding the new government program, exploring its impact on industrial and competition policy. They presented the key elements of the new government’s economic policy, taking into account the current state of Finnish public finances.

The main focus of the seminar was on the new government’s competition and industrial policy, as well as amendments to public procurement rules. The government intends to introduce a number of new initiatives in this respect, including strengthening the competition authority’s ability to monitor anti-competitive behavior by public sector entities and tightening the public procurement rules in relation to so-called in-house entities.

“The new government clearly emphasizes the opening up of markets for competition and private service providers”, said Alkio and Nordström.

The speakers also discussed industry-specific regulation, such as alcohol policy, gambling, pharmacies, public service broadcasting, and social and health services. The new government intends to liberalize the regulatory framework in several of these sectors. For example, the government plans to introduce a license-based system for online gambling services by 1 January 2026.

***

Roschier continues to follow the implementation of the new government program and advise clients on industry-specific and related issues. We are happy to help you with any questions you may have regarding the potential impact on your business or in general.