Extending the halving of fairway dues
Act amending the entry into force provision of the Act amending and temporarily amending the Fairway Dues Act
Maritime fairway dues will be collected at half rate also throughout 2021. The measure supports maritime transport and foreign trade amid the economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 5 Oct 2020
- Latest event
- 25 Nov 2020
- Votes
- 2
- Speeches
- 36
- Confirmed
- 11 Dec 2020
- Statute
- 997/2020
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The temporary halving of fairway dues levied on merchant vessels, which has been in force since 2015, will be extended until the end of 2021.
What it means
Shipping companies and their transport customers will avoid an estimated 35.6 million euros in fairway dues in 2021, preventing increases in freight rates and passenger ticket prices. Correspondingly, the state will forego an equivalent amount of fee revenue. The amendment will benefit all cargo and passenger vessels calling at Finnish ports, as well as export and import businesses.
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 / Ville Kaunisto
Yes won by 33–25.
Government yes, opposition no. 141 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 11 Dec 2020.
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.
36 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed extending the halving of maritime fairway dues for 2021 to support export industries and maritime transport. The government parties considered halving the dues a functional and balanced solution, while the opposition demanded the complete abolition of fairway dues to strengthen Finland's competitiveness.
- Should fairway dues be abolished altogether instead of halved?
- How will icebreaking services and conditions for winter navigation be funded and secured without fairway dues?
- Does abolishing the dues provide enough assistance to Finnish export industries relative to the costs to central government finances?
- Social DemocratsIn favour
The Social Democrats supported the proposal and considered halving the dues to support shipping and exports as part of the overall response to the coronavirus crisis. The group pointed out that a full abolition of the dues would burden central government finances and also benefit foreign shipping companies.
”Tästä syystä valiokunta pitää hallituksen esitystä kannatettavana ja myönteisenä muuttamattomana.”
— Suna Kymäläinen - Centre PartyIn favour
The Centre Party considered the proposal an excellent way to safeguard export industries and security of supply during a difficult pandemic situation, highlighting the significance of maritime transport for the economy of the entire country.
”Tämän takia tämä hallituksen esitys on erittäin kannatettava ja erittäin hyvä.”
— Hannu Hoskonen - Swedish People's PartyIn favour
The Swedish People's Party supported continuing the halving, as the fairway dues system incentivises vessels to maintain a high ice class and regular traffic, as well as funding vital icebreaking.
”Förslaget om fortsatt halverade farledsavgifter är viktigt och stöder finländsk export och sjöfart samtidigt som det stöder just exporten när avgifterna blir lägre.”
— Mats Löfström - National Coalition PartyIn favour with reservations
The National Coalition Party considered merely continuing to halve the dues insufficient and demanded the complete abolition of fairway dues to lower the logistics costs of Finnish export industries and improve competitiveness.
”Väylämaksut tulivat voimaan vuonna 2005, ja ne puolitettiin vuonna 2015. Nyt on viimeistään hyvä aika poistaa ne kokonaan.”
— Ville Kaunisto - Finns PartyIn favour with reservations
The Finns Party supported backing exports during the crisis and joined the demand for the complete abolition of fairway dues.
”Sen takia me perussuomalaisetkin olemme tästä tehneet monistelausuman, että poistetaan koko väylämaksu.”
— Sheikki Laakso - Christian DemocratsIn favour with reservations
The Christian Democrats viewed continuing the halving as merely upholding past practice and called for the complete abolition of fairway dues to improve the competitive position of companies.
”Toivonkin, että tässä päästäisiin siihen, että meillä tulevaisuudessa tosiaan pystyttäisiin kokonaisuudessaan poistamaan nämä väylämaksut.”
— Sari Essayah
This digest was generated by AI from 36 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.
- 5 Oct 2020Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö
- 7 Oct 2020Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 3 Nov 2020Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · liikenne- ja viestintävaliokunta
- 11 Nov 2020Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 18 Nov 2020Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 23 Nov 2020Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki väylämaksulain muuttamisesta ja väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta annetun lain voimaantulosäännöksen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 997/2020 · 11 Dec 2020
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 904/2018, seuraavasti:
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Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä tammikuuta 2015. Lain 6 ja 8 § ovat voimassa 31 päivään joulukuuta 2021.
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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.