After seven weeks of sometimes-fractious negotiations, a new government coalition led by Petteri Orpo (NCP) laid out the blueprint for its legislative term early Friday evening. Besides Orpo, the leaders of the three other parties explained at a press conference why they had decided to join the new right-leaning cabinet and which issues were their priorities.
Riikka Purra, chair of the Finns Party, the second largest in the new government and Parliament, said the cabinet would place sharp new restrictions on immigration policy and pursue what she described as a more balanced, realistic approach to energy and climate questions that would not raise costs for consumers.
Anna-Maja Henriksson, chair of the Swedish People's Party, will likely be the only minister from the outgoing centre-left government to carry over to the new cabinet. Her party, which had pushed back against the Finns Party in particular on some issues during the talks, said that she was somewhat surprised that her party had ended up in the coalition after all.
She said that the four parties were committed to maintaining the status of the Swedish language and to presenting a revised bill on the indigenous Sámi Parliament before the end of the year.
Sari Essayah, leader of the Christian Democrats, pledged that the new government would look after the needs of families with children as well as elderly and rural residents. For the latter, the government intends to tackle profitability problems in the farming sector and "create growth through sustainable forest policy" while improving transport links.
The administration promises a transport investment programme worth almost three billion euros, including infrastructure projects such as faster rail connections to Turku and Tampere.
The new coalition plans a tougher line on crime and a series of changes to working life that would generally benefit employers and weaken the position of workers and trade unions.
In a statement, the government set a target is to bring 100,000 people into the workforce, including senior citizens who wish to do so. It promised "significant reforms to social security and the labour market so that it will be easier and more profitable to find employment or work as an entrepreneur".
The cabinet plans to "remove barriers to employment and strengthen the operating conditions of small and medium-sized companies". It also committed to boosting Finland's research and development expenditure to four percent of GDP by 2030.
The new government will have 19 ministers: eight from the NCP, 7 from the Finns Party, 2.5 from the SPP and 1.5 from the CD, with the latter two smaller parties shuffling ministers halfway through the planned four-year legislative term. The parties are to name their ministers in meetings over the next few days.
The four parties have 109 seats in the 200-seat Parliament - a relatively thin majority if the nine-seat SPP opts to act as an internal opposition, as the Centre did toward the end of outgoing government led by Sanna Marin (SDP). She will be the opposition leader until September, when the SDP elects a new chair.
Tougher immigration and residence laws
The government programme devotes 10 pages to immigration and integration issues.
Its stated aim is to strengthen work-based immigration and integration and limit the arrival of refugees in Finland.
Among other things, the government will propose legislative changes so that those found to be in the country illegally could be either imprisoned or deported to third countries.
It set a goal that 5-10 percent of immigrants should be integrated by teaching them the Swedish language, as well as special conditions for the entry and integration of Ukrainians.
Among other changes, a work-based residence permit would expire if an individual fails to find a new job after more than three months of unemployment. Those with a student-based residence permits would not be allowed to rely on Finnish income support, while the tuition fees of Finnish educational institutions are to be reviewed.
The annual refugee quota is to be cut by more than half to 500 people, down from the present 1,050. Asylum would be granted for a maximum of three years , after which the need for international protection should be reassessed.
In future, obtaining a permanent residence permit will require six years of residence, a language proficiency test, a two-year work history without long-term unemployment or income support, and a requirement of an impeccable record.
Citizenship rules are also to be tightened, with the minimum residence requirement extended to eight years, along with an income requirement and mandatory civics and language tests.