Social welfare and health care is the most extensive local government function and a central part of the Finnish system of welfare services. The right to social welfare and health services is a basic and fundamental right of the whole population. Local authorities are responsible for performing the

The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities has published a programme for the European elections 2019 and its goals for Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. Finland will hold the Council Presidency during the latter half of 2019. The priorities for the Finnish Presidency will

‘As a decision-maker, I have heard the words local service, customer orientation and the third sector countless times. They are words that are constantly used to justify different things. Less frequently, it is asked what they mean, and perhaps even less often, they can be justified in ways that

Municipalities are building their own future: they shape their operating environment through their actions and choices. Self-governing municipalities promote a sense of belonging, well-being and vitality in the community. Well-being is essentially linked to vitality. The well-being of municipal

Local councillors and deputy councillors are elected to the local council in local elections held within the municipality every four years. The latest elections on mainland Finland were held on 9 April 2017. The new Local Government Act (Section 16) gives the local council more freedom to decide the

Local government in Finland is based on local self-government by the people. The Finnish Constitution safeguards the central features of local self-government: Residents elect the supreme decision-making body, the municipal council. The council has the general decision-making authority in local

Finnish local authorities spent EUR 42 billion in 2016 on arranging services and promoting the welfare of residents. Social and health care services account for almost a half of the total expenditure and education and culture almost one third. Local authorities finance their services with taxes,

The Finnish Local Government Act requires that municipalities advance the well-being of their residents and promote sustainable development in their areas. Gender equality, non-discrimination and the observance of human rights are central to well-being and socially sustainable development. As the

Town twinning is the cornerstone and the oldest form of international activities of municipalities and regions. In the Nordic countries, town twinning started already in the late 1930s, making it one of the world’s oldest municipal cooperation arrangements. Up north, the idea behind twinning was