Extending the halving of fairway dues
Act amending the entry into force provision of the Act amending and temporarily amending the Fairway Dues Act
The halving of fairway dues levied on merchant shipping vessels will continue in 2022 and 2023. The measure supports the maritime transport sector and foreign trade in recovering from difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 27 Sep 2021
- Latest event
- 29 Oct 2021
- Votes
- 2
- Speeches
- 27
- Confirmed
- 19 Nov 2021
- Statute
- 1000/2021
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The temporary halving of fairway dues will be extended by two years to cover 2022 and 2023, keeping the dues at a reduced level without a return to the previous full tariff.
What it means
The amendment will enter into force on 1 January 2022 and applies to merchant vessels and shipping companies operating in Finnish waters, as well as their transport customers. Shipping companies and the business sector will save an estimated 36 million euros per year in both years, which will reduce central government revenue from fairway dues by a corresponding amount compared to full dues.
How Parliament voted
The act ultimately passed without a vote: no MP proposed rejecting it in the final reading. The votes concerned details of the act.
Lausumaehdotus, mietintö / Jouni Kotiaho
Yes won by 101–73.
Government yes, opposition no. 25 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. The seating plan at the time of this vote is not archived, so MPs are grouped by party in indicative seats.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 19 Nov 2021.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
27 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed extending the halving of fairway dues for merchant shipping into 2022 and 2023 to support exports and the business sector. The government parties considered extending the halving to be a necessary and responsible measure. The opposition felt that halving the dues did not go far enough and proposed abolishing fairway dues entirely to strengthen competitiveness.
- Should fairway dues be abolished entirely or should their temporary halving be extended?
- How would the potential abolition of fairway dues affect central government tax revenues, security of supply and the domestic shipping industry?
- Social DemocratsIn favour
The group supported extending the halving of fairway dues to support the export industry and maritime transport. Completely abolishing the dues would take away too much central government tax revenue and weaken security of supply as well as incentives for ice-strengthened vessels.
”Tällä hallituksen esityksellä tuetaan teollisuutta ja elinkeinoelämää vientiyritysten kilpailukyvyn sekä kuljetuskustannusten näkökulmasta.”
— Paula Werning - Centre PartyIn favour
The group supported the proposal as an important measure to ease costs for industry and exports. At the same time, it called for a long-term and predictable solution instead of repeated temporary decisions.
”Mutta yhtä kaikki, mielestäni esitys on erittäin kannatettava.”
— Joonas Könttä - Left AllianceIn favour
The group considered extending the halving to be the right conclusion to improve predictability for industry and maritime transport in the current situation.
”Sinällään on pakko sanoa, että hallitus juuri tässä tilanteessa on tehnyt sen oikean johtopäätöksen, että puolitusta jatketaan.”
— Jari Myllykoski - National Coalition PartyAgainst
The group opposed the government proposal as insufficient and called for fairway dues to be abolished completely in order to significantly improve the cost competitiveness of Finland's export industry and transit traffic.
”Kokoomus on kannattanut sitä, että väylämaksut poistettaisiin kokonaan.”
— Matias Marttinen - Finns PartyIn favour with reservations
The group considered halving fairway dues to be supportable in itself, but proposed a statement that would oblige the Government to abolish fairway dues entirely over the longer term.
”Kannatan edustaja Kotiahon tekemää esitystä.”
— Sheikki Laakso
This digest was generated by AI from 27 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 27 Sep 2021Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö
- 29 Sep 2021Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 14 Oct 2021Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · liikenne- ja viestintävaliokunta
- 20 Oct 2021Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 27 Oct 2021Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 28 Oct 2021Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki väylämaksulain muuttamisesta ja väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta annetun lain voimaantulosäännöksen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1000/2021 · 19 Nov 2021
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki väylämaksulain muuttamisesta ja väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta annetun lain voimaantulosäännöksen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan väylämaksulain muuttamisesta ja väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta annetun lain (1214/2014) voimaantulosäännöksen 1 momentti, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 997/2020, seuraavasti:
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä tammikuuta 2015. Lain 6 ja 8 § ovat voimassa 31 päivään joulukuuta 2023.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 2 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.