FINLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Tarja Pirinen, Fiiu Linninen, Malin Holm and Jaakko Klemettilä, HPP Attorneys Ltd
Introduction of New Permitting Authority and Single-Window Approach to Speed Up and Streamline Permit Processes The Finnish government has acknowledged that smooth permit procedures are a prerequisite for attracting investments and especially for transi - tioning into a clean economy. Projects with envi - ronmental impacts may require many separate permits or approvals, which are currently applied for and granted by different authorities as gov - erned by different environmental laws. Subse - quently, the Finnish government proposes sev - eral measures to tackle the current problem of prolonged and expanding permitting processes. One of these planned solutions is the establish - ment of a new national permit and supervisory authority. In the new draft legislative proposal, it is proposed that the new authority would replace the current permitting authorities and supervi - sory authorities with a single national permitting and supervision authority. A legislative proposal to integrate various permit application processes is also being prepared, with the aim of making the permitting process faster and more efficient. This includes introduc - ing a “single-window approach” ( yhden luukun periaate ), allowing multiple permit applications for the same project to be processed in one combined process. The intention is that this streamlined approach will enforce joint hearings for different permits and result in a single permit decision and appeal process, instead of sepa - rate ones for each permit. The draft legislative proposal also highlights the existing challenges related to the ever-expand - ing scope of the environmental impact assess - ment (EIA) procedures and the excessive level of detail required in documents related thereto. The draft proposal calls for significant develop -
ment in practices, which could be implemented as a part of the single-window approach project. The aim is to ensure that the EIA procedure focuses only on the significant environmental impacts of projects, thereby speeding up the procedure and reducing the administrative bur - den placed both on the operators and relevant environmental authorities. Further, co-ordination of the permit procedure and the EIA procedure is promoted by expanding the scope of the joint hearing of the EIA report and the permit appli - cation. The current estimation is that the new national environmental authority will be established on 1 January 2026, in conjunction with the enforce - ment of the single-window approach legislation. Binding Environmental Objectives for Water Management and Process for Deviating Therefrom The legislative change regarding environmental objectives for water management and related deviations was entered into force on 1 January 2025. The binding nature of the environmental objectives for water management as set out in the EU’s Water Framework Directive (2000/60/ EC) was recorded in law as outlined in the court practice of the Court of Justice of the Euro - pean Union. The objective is to achieve good groundwater status and good ecological status or, where relevant, good ecological potential of a body of surface water and to prevent deterio - ration of the status of a body of surface water or groundwater. This is also expressly regulated as a condition for granting of an environmental or water permit which cannot be granted for a project that endangers the achieving of these objectives.
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