Freezing index increases to Yle funding
Act temporarily amending section 3 of the Act on the State Television and Radio Fund
No annual cost-of-living increase will be made to state funding for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) in 2016. The funding received by the company will remain at the same level as the previous year.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 28 Sep 2015
- Latest event
- 4 Dec 2015
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 112
- Confirmed
- 17 Dec 2015
- Statute
- 1501/2015
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The statutory index adjustment to the appropriation paid from the State Television and Radio Fund for the public service costs of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yleisradio Oy) will be temporarily waived for 2016.
What it means
The change concerns Yleisradio Oy, whose appropriation will remain at 507,948,000 euros in 2016. Without the freeze, an estimated index increase of 1.2 per cent would have increased funding by approximately 6 million euros to 514 million euros. Keeping funding unchanged will require the company to adjust its operations to cover rising costs. The act will be in force from 1 January to 31 December 2016.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 2 Dec 2015Parliament passed the act by 102–59.
The Christian Democrats voted with the government. 38 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 17 Dec 2015.
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.
112 speeches · 4 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate concerned the temporary freezing of the index increase in state funding for the Finnish Broadcasting Company and the parliamentary nature of the decision-making. The government parties considered the savings necessary as part of public finance consolidation, while the opposition opposed the proposal on the grounds that it jeopardised Yle's independence and traditional parliamentary consensus. The proposal sparked an exceptionally heated dispute and led to a proposal for rejection by the opposition.
- Does the Government break the tradition of parliamentary preparation regarding the Finnish Broadcasting Company with its proposal?
- Does freezing the funding and moving it under the spending limits jeopardise the independence of the Finnish Broadcasting Company?
- Should the Finnish Broadcasting Company participate in public sector savings efforts?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The Finnish Broadcasting Company must participate in savings efforts in a difficult economic situation just like other actors, and freezing the index prevents an increase in the Yle tax.
”Kysehän on nyt siitä, että vuodeksi ollaan jäädyttämässä Ylen indeksiä, ja vastaava ratkaisu tehtiin yhteisesti aikaisemminkin.”
— Arto Satonen - Finns PartyIn favour
The cut is necessary and reasonable in the state's difficult economic situation, although shortcomings were acknowledged in the parliamentary procedure of the preparation.
”Leikkaus on mielestäni nykyisessä taloustilanteessa välttämätön.”
— Lea Mäkipää - Centre PartyIn favour
Freezing the index increase is a justified measure in the economic situation, and a cut of under one per cent does not jeopardise the independence or regional mission of the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
”Itse näen tässä tilanteessa, että alle prosentin muutos Ylen rahoitukseen ei vie Ylen riippumattomuutta ja Yle säilyy kyllä eduskunnan radiona.”
— Markku Pakkanen - Social DemocratsAgainst
The Government is breaking decades of parliamentary consensus culture by bringing cuts to Yle's funding to Parliament without joint parliamentary preparation, which jeopardises the company's independence.
”Parlamentaarinen yksimielisyys on unohdettu, ja päätöksiä viedään nyt eteenpäin hallituspuolueiden enemmistöpäätöksellä.”
— Katja Taimela - GreensAgainst
Decisions on the funding and independence of the Finnish Broadcasting Company must be made through a joint parliamentary agreement of the entire Parliament rather than unilateral government budget decisions.
”Ei ole samantekevää se, missä Ylen rahoituksesta päätetään.”
— Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto - Left AllianceAgainst
Subjugating Yle's funding to government dictation and central government spending limits weakens the operating conditions of a media outlet trusted by citizens and breaches earlier parliamentary commitments.
”Nyt ollaan otettu tämä parlamentaarinen yhdessä tekeminen hallituksen omiin käsiin, ja tällä päätöksellä kyllä näyttäytyy, että Yleisradio on hallituksen radio.”
— Jari Myllykoski - Swedish People's PartyAgainst
Bypassing decisions concerning the Finnish Broadcasting Company without genuine parliamentary consensus is unviable in principle and dangerous.
”Frågan om den parlamentariska beredningen i Yle-frågor är alldeles fundamental och jag tycker att här har använts bra och kloka inlägg om den här saken.”
— Mikaela Nylander
This digest was generated by AI from 112 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record. The longest speeches were shortened in the digest's source material.
Keskustelu pöydällepanosta päättyi. Asia pantiin pöydälle 13.10.2015 pidettävään täysistuntoon.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin liikenne- ja viestintävaliokuntaan.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 44/2015 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 28 Sep 2015Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö
- 14 Oct 2015Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 19 Nov 2015Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · liikenne- ja viestintävaliokunta
- 26 Nov 2015Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 2 Dec 2015Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 3 Dec 2015Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki valtion televisio- ja radiorahastosta annetun lain 3 §:n väliaikaisesta muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1501/2015 · 17 Dec 2015
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 valtion televisio- ja radiorahastosta annetun lain 3 §:n väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti lisätään valtion televisio- ja radiorahastosta annetun lain (745/1998) 3 §:ään, sellaisena kuin se on laeissa 395/2003 ja 475/2012, väliaikaisesti uusi 3 momentti seuraavasti:
3 §Valtion televisio- ja radiorahasto ja sen varat
Mitä 2 momentissa säädetään määrärahan suuruuden tarkistamisesta vuosittain, ei sovelleta vuonna 2016.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 ja on voimassa 31 päivään joulukuuta 2016.
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.