Government bills21
- HE 30/2026 vpPassed with amendments
Restricting logging during bird nesting season
Obligations and restrictions will be added to the Forest Act and the Nature Conservation Act to safeguard bird nesting in forestry. Timber harvesting will be prohibited during the bird nesting season in lush deciduous-dominated forests, spruce mires and riparian forests, and trees important to birds must be retained during logging.
27 May 2026 · 3 votesClosest vote · Valiokuntaan lähettäminen: puhemiesneuvoston ehdotus JAA / Anne Kalmarin ehdotus EI
140 jaa25 ei - HE 91/2026 vpPassed with amendments
Introducing biodiversity markets and restoration plan
Finland will introduce rules for drafting the EU national nature restoration plan and enable the trading of nature-enhancing actions for companies' voluntary corporate responsibility work. At the same time, provisions on wolf protection will be transferred entirely from the Nature Conservation Act to hunting legislation.
25 Jun 2026 · 14 votesClosest vote · Proposed statement 7
100 jaa75 ei - HE 157/2026 vpIn progress
Stricter penalties for environmental offences
Legislation on environmental offences will be tightened and several new environmental offence categories will be added to the Criminal Code. At the same time, penalties imposed for the acts and corporate fines imposed on companies will be raised considerably.
18 Sep 2026 · no votes yet - HE 173/2025 vpPassed with amendments
Permitting wolf hunting
The year-round protection of wolves will be discontinued, and wolf hunting will be permitted during a defined hunting season. Quotas can be set or hunting licences issued for hunting without strict derogation procedures.
17 Dec 2025 · 6 votes135 jaa35 ei - HE 203/2024 vpPassed
Closing Friendship Park visitor centre
Operations at the Petola visitor centre and research centre of Friendship Park in Kuhmo will be discontinued, and the state-owned property will be sold. At the same time, an obsolete mention of cooperation with the Soviet Union will be removed from the statutory purpose of the park.
9 Apr 2025 · 1 vote144 jaa17 ei - HE 104/2024 vpPassed
Updating animal damage compensation references
Technical updates will be made to the act on the compensation of damage caused by protected animals. References in the act to EU State aid rules and the Nature Conservation Act will be corrected to correspond to current legislation.
6 Nov 2024 · passed without a vote - HE 42/2025 vpPassed with amendments
Speeding up renewable energy permitting
Permitting for renewable energy plants will be accelerated by setting binding processing time limits for authorities. In addition, renewable energy acceleration areas will be established in Finland, where environmental assessments and permit processes for projects will be streamlined.
23 Jun 2025 · passed without a vote - HE 41/2025 vpPassed with amendments
Centralising and streamlining environmental permits
Environmental permit and assessment procedures will be brought together under the new national Licensing and Supervisory Agency, allowing different permits to be processed at once in the same place. The reform will accelerate and streamline permitting for investments and extend the priority processing of green transition projects.
19 Jun 2025 · 6 votesClosest vote · Proposed statement 2
121 jaa62 ei - HE 41/2024 vpPassed
Facilitating renewable energy construction
Rules concerning renewable energy projects will be added to the Nature Conservation Act in accordance with an EU directive. The construction and operation of renewable energy will be deemed to be in the overriding public interest.
14 Jun 2024 · 4 votesClosest vote · Lausumaehdotus, mietintö / Mai Kivelä 2
112 jaa53 ei - HE 270/2022 vpPassed with amendments
Updating rules on old nature reserves
Protection provisions for national parks, strict nature reserves and other protected areas established before 1996 will be elevated from decree level directly into acts of Parliament. The boundaries and main rules of use for the areas will remain largely unchanged, but they will be aligned with the new Nature Conservation Act.
14 Mar 2023 · 3 votesClosest vote · Lausumaehdotus, mietintö / Heikki Autto
105 jaa80 ei - HE 288/2022 vpPassed
Clarifying derogation permits for protected game
The conditions for granting derogation permits for protected game animals will be clarified to correspond to the interpretation of EU law. A derogation permit may only be granted if it does not prevent the maintenance or achievement of a favourable conservation status for the species.
8 Mar 2023 · 2 votesClosest vote · Lausumaehdotus, mietintö / Jenni Pitko 2
64 jaa95 ei - HE 76/2022 vpPassed with amendments
Strengthening biodiversity conservation
A new Nature Conservation Act will be enacted in Finland to enhance the protection of endangered species and natural habitat types and combat biodiversity loss. At the same time, provisions will be added to the act on voluntary ecological compensation and adaptation to climate change, among other things.
21 Dec 2022 · 4 votesClosest vote · 28. lakiehdotus, 2 luvun 11 §, mietintö / Emma Kari
98 jaa86 ei - HE 154/2021 vpPassed with amendments
Reforming protected animal damage compensation
Damage caused by protected animals will be compensated under a new act, and government grants can be applied for to prevent such damage. The change clarifies the application procedure for compensation and improves the position of business operators.
16 Dec 2021 · passed without a vote - HE 43/2017 vpPassed with amendments
Extending environmental leave to appeal
Appeals to the Supreme Administrative Court in environmental, water and construction matters will require leave to appeal. The reform will speed up the processing of cases and the finalisation of decisions.
18 Dec 2017 · 1 vote124 jaa57 ei - HE 197/2020 vpPassed
Media fee deductibility and environmental exemptions
Companies in Åland will be permitted to deduct the region's media fee in their taxation in the same way as the public broadcasting tax in mainland Finland. In addition, support for nature conservation and water protection received in non-monetary form will be made tax-exempt.
7 Dec 2020 · passed without a vote - HE 116/2020 vpPassed
State aid for restoring natural habitats
Landowners can receive state support for management and restoration work that improves biodiversity. Instead of monetary grants, the support is provided directly as concrete services or goods, such as clearing work or fencing supplies.
26 Oct 2020 · passed without a vote - HE 72/2019 vpPassed with amendments
Extending leave to appeal
The rules on appeals in environmental and housing matters will be aligned with the general rules of administrative courts. Appeals against decisions of an administrative court to the Supreme Administrative Court will, as a rule, require leave to appeal.
12 Dec 2019 · passed without a vote - HE 269/2018 vpPassed with amendments
Coordinating and streamlining environmental permit procedures
At the applicant's request, different official permits for projects with an environmental impact may be coordinated in time on a one-stop-shop principle. The reform will combine consultations, requests for statements and processing stages for several permits into a single unified process.
22 May 2019 · passed without a vote - HE 146/2015 vpPassed
Easing administrative procedures in nature conservation
The obligation to mark nature conservation areas in the terrain will be eased, and separate decisions on flying squirrels issued by the ELY Centres (Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment) will be discontinued. The objective is to dismantle administrative burdens and target environmental authority resources more effectively.
10 Mar 2016 · 1 voteOnly vote · 72 a §, mietintö / Satu Hassi
141 jaa21 ei - HE 82/2015 vpPassed with amendments
Preventing the spread of invasive species
The import, breeding and sale of invasive alien species will be prohibited in Finland to safeguard biodiversity. Property owners and sector businesses will be required to prevent the spread of invasive species.
21 Dec 2015 · passed without a vote