Sipilä's cabinet
Sipilä's cabinet | |
---|---|
74. Cabinet of the Republic of Finland | |
Prime Minister | Juha Sipilä |
choice | 2015 |
Legislative period | 37. |
Appointed by | President Sauli Niinistö |
education | May 29, 2015 |
The End | March 8, 2019 |
Duration | 3 years and 283 days |
predecessor | Cabinet Stubb |
successor | Cabinet gutter |
composition | |
Party (s) | since June 13, 2017: KESK , KOK , SIN to June 13, 2017: KESK , KOK , PS |
representation | |
Finnish Parliament | 104/200 |
Opposition leader | Antti Gutter ( SDP ) |
The Sipilä cabinet was the 74th cabinet in the Republic of Finland . It was formed following the 2015 general election and sworn in by President Sauli Niinistö on May 29, 2015 . As of June 2017, the cabinet consisted of a coalition of the Finnish Center Party , the Blue Future and the National Collection Party . The Prime Minister of the Cabinet is Juha Sipilä . A few weeks before the upcoming parliamentary election , the cabinet resigned on March 8, 2019 due to a dispute over future health policy, but remained in office until the formation of the Rinne cabinet on June 6, 2019.
In the parliamentary elections on April 19, 2015 , Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's conservative rallying party dropped to second place behind the Center Party under Juha Sipilä . At the same time, the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset ("Basic Finns") was able to assert itself as the third strongest force. The Social Democrats switched to the opposition after a disappointing result. According to the coalition talks , a government of the three biggest was center-right -Parteien, the Center Party, the National Coalition Party and the base Finns formed. The Center Party returned to government after four years of opposition and the right-wing populist grassroots were part of a government for the first time, at the same time it was the first time since 1979 that the Swedish People's Party was left out of the government. The center-right coalition had a total of 124 seats (62%) in the 200-seat parliament . On June 22, 2016, grassroots politician Maria Tolppanen joined the Social Democratic Party , which reduced the government's seats in parliament to 123.
After the elections for the party leadership based Finns 2017 due was sedition convicted Jussi Halla-aho new party chairman. On June 12, 2017, Prime Minister Sipilä and Finance Minister Orpo declared that they saw no reason to continue working with the grassroots, thus announcing the imminent dissolution of the cabinet. They cited differences of opinion in the values of the parties and the fact that the MEP Halla-aho wants to lead the party from Brussels . On the following day, June 13, 2017, a group, including all cabinet members, split off from the Basic Finns and formed a parliamentary group called the Blue Future (initially New Alternative ) and agreed to continue the government work with its members and the agreed program . As a result, the Blue Future was included in the cabinet and the coalition with the grassroots Finns was terminated. There was no reshuffle of the cabinet. The cabinet had 104 seats in the Finnish parliament.
The Sipilä cabinet consisted of 17 ministers, eleven male and six female, which makes 35 percent women.
Government negotiations
The government negotiations began on May 8, 2015 between the Center Party , the Basic Finns and the National Assembly Party in Helsinki . At the beginning of the negotiations, working groups were set up on four different topics. These were the Strategic Group, the foreign and security policy group , the group of immigrants and the EU policy group . Working groups for work , education , bioeconomy , reforms, sustainable public finances , taxes and internal security were later set up. After the negotiations it was decided to set up a working group for housing construction .
The governing parties had agreed that the government program will be significantly shorter, earlier than programs governments. The goal was a strategy paper about 5 to 10 pages long. However, the result of government negotiations was a 74-page government program with very detailed decisions.
Government negotiations went smoothly and the parties quickly found a common position on many issues. During the negotiations it was decided, among other things, to charge tuition fees from students from countries outside the European Union and the European Economic Area . In terms of immigration policy, it was decided to leave the refugee quota unchanged compared to the demands of the basic Finns. With regard to taxes, the parties agreed that the overall tax rate will not increase during the election period and that there will be both tax cuts. However, as part of the social agreement, the compulsory payments by wage earners have been increased: the unemployment insurance contribution is transferred to the employee by 0.85 percentage points and the income-related pension contribution by 1.2 percentage points.
The parties estimated the need for an adjustment of € 6 billion by the Treasury Department, which would cut four government spending and € 2 billion in local spending. If the social agreement envisaged by Sipilä can be formed, the government is ready to cut billions in income tax. The Strategic Government Program was published on May 27, 2015 and the new government was sworn in by President Sauli Niinistö on May 29, 2015 .
Social agreements and competitiveness
Before the government negotiations began in May 2015, Sipilä wanted to have a "social agreement" signed in order to improve Finland's productivity and competitiveness. The first version of the social agreement was written by Mikko Alkio . The aim was to improve productivity by 5%. The Finnish Industry Association, municipal employers, SAK, Akava and STTK as well as Finnish entrepreneurs took part in the consultations.
In order to increase productivity by 5%, it has been proposed to increase working hours without increasing costs. In the press, the agreement was even referred to as "extortion" because the government had announced that it would achieve additional savings of 1.5 billion euros and not implement any conditional tax cuts.
After the initial negotiations, the project was known as the "Competitiveness Agreement". By early June 2016, almost all unions had agreed to an agreement that cut labor costs by 4.2 percent per hour. According to the agreement, all contract wages were frozen for one year, annual working hours were extended by an average of 24 hours without remuneration and vacation pay for public employees was reduced by 30%. In addition, employers' earnings-related pension and unemployment insurance contributions were cut and salaries increased.
European politics
A Greek loan program was recorded in the government program, according to which Finland's payments should not be increased. When the Greek loan was only granted a few weeks after the formation of the government, Foreign Minister Timo Soini announced on July 10, 2015 that Finland would no longer grant loans to Greece . On July 12, 2015, Finance Minister Alexander Stubb announced that Finland's position in the Greek negotiations is constantly changing. On July 16, 2015, it became known that Finland had granted Greece an additional loan of 1.5 billion euros without collateral. After the government's support package, Finland's share of Greece's debt rose to the fifth largest in Europe.
minister
At the beginning of the term of office there were a total of 14 ministers in the cabinet: six ministers from the Center Party and four ministers each from the National Collection Party and four from the Basic Finns. In April 2017, the government decided to split some areas of expertise into three new departments in order to reduce the workload for individual ministers. Each party received an additional ministerial post.
On June 13, 2017, the five cabinet posts of the Basic Finns were filled with members of the Blue Future . In doing so, Timo Soini had to leave the office of vice premier to the now second largest coalition partner, the gathering party.
Office / department | photo | Surname | Political party | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prime Minister | Juha Sipilä | KESK | ||
Deputy Prime Minister |
Timo Soini until June 28, 2017 |
PS | ||
Petteri Orpo since June 28, 2017 |
COOK | |||
Minister for Foreign Affairs | Timo Soini | SIN | ||
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development |
Lenita Toivakka until June 22, 2016 |
COOK | ||
Kai Mykkänen June 22, 2016 to February 12, 2018 |
||||
Anne-Mari Virolainen since February 12, 2018 |
||||
Minister of Justice |
Jari Lindström Minister for Justice and Labor until May 5, 2017 |
PS | ||
Antti Häkkänen since May 5, 2017 |
COOK | |||
Minister of Labor | Jari Lindström has only been Minister of Labor since May 5, 2017 |
SIN | ||
Minister of the Interior |
Petteri Orpo until June 22, 2016 |
COOK | ||
Paula Riskko June 22, 2016 to February 12, 2018 |
||||
Kai Mykkänen since February 12, 2018 |
||||
Minister of Defense | Jussi Niinistö | SIN | ||
Minister of Finance |
Alexander Stubb until June 22, 2016 |
COOK | ||
Petteri Orpo since June 22, 2016 |
||||
Minister for Local Authorities and Administrative Reforms | Anu Vehviläinen | KESK | ||
Minister of Education | Sanni Grahn-Laasonen | COOK | ||
Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport |
Sampo Terho since May 5, 2017 |
SIN | ||
Minister of Agriculture |
Jari Leppä since May 5, 2017 |
KESK | ||
Minister for Transport and Communication | Anne Berner | KESK | ||
Minister for Economy |
Olli Rehn until December 29, 2016 |
KESK | ||
Mika Lintilä since December 29, 2016 |
||||
Minister for Social Affairs and Health |
Hanna Mäntylä until August 25, 2017 |
PS | ||
Pirkko Mattila since August 25, 2017 |
SIN | |||
Minister for Families and Social Services |
Juha Rehula until July 10, 2017 |
KESK | ||
Annika Saarikko since July 10, 2017 |
||||
Minister for Housing, Energy and the Environment | Kimmo Tiilikainen | KESK |
politics
energy
In September 2016, Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn announced his support for the enactment of an energy subsidy for the use of oil and coal in heavy industry as a compensation measure for the costs of the EU emissions trading system. The subsidy would cover around 100 industrial plants, with forestry being the main benefit .
economy
Sipila’s government has struggled with Finland’s poor economic performance, which, according to Paul Krugman , was caused, among other things, by the constraints of its membership in the euro zone and the European debt crisis , but also by the decline of the paper industry , the decline in exports to Russia and the decline in popularity of Nokia . Attempts to address the issues by cutting government spending and lowering labor costs have been controversial, particularly in relation to spending on education, which has been seen as a threat to Finland's successful public education system. These austerity measures were partly implemented under pressure from the European Commission , which asked Finland to better comply with the Stability and Growth Pact and to reform its labor market to improve competitiveness . On July 22, 2015, Sipilä announced the government's commitment to cut Finnish labor costs by 5% by 2019 in order to increase competitiveness. After lengthy negotiations, the "competition contract" (Finnish: kilpailykykysopimus) was finally agreed in the summer of 2016, covering 90% of wage earners and an estimated impact of 4.2% on labor costs. According to data from the Central Bank of Finland , the contract turned out to be largely successful in 2017, with a significant improvement in competitiveness, a growth rate of 3%, a reduction in unemployment and an increase in exports.
There were protests against the government's austerity measures.
Individual evidence
- ↑ President appoints Sipilä government (Swedish) ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Hufvudstadsbladet, May 29, 2015.
- ↑ mho / dpa: Finland: Government resigns due to dispute over health policy. In: Spiegel Online . March 8, 2019, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/sipila_opts_for_right-leaning_government/7979421
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/a1466560151525
- ↑ https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9665365
- ^ Parliamentary groups riksdagen.fi (Swedish), accessed October 21, 2018.
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/kolmen_assan_humppa__seuraa_hallitusohjelmavaantoa_smolnassa_hetki_hetkelta/7978517
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1431307946176
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1431400064743
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1431741933281
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/pernaa_kokoomus_ja_perussuomalaiset_samassa_hallituksessa_tarkoittaisi_politiikan_mannerlaattojen_siirtymista/7576968
- ↑ http://valtioneuvosto.fi/sipilan-hallitus/hallitusohjelma
- ↑ http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2015052319742220_uu.shtml
- ↑ http://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/palkansaajille-jattilisamaksut-tyva-maksu-ja-tyel-maksu-nousevat/721391/
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/sipila_jos_yhteiskuntasopimus_saadaan_tuloverotus_kevenee_miljardilla/8021274
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1431566958088?ref=hs-art-new-1
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1430876020232
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1430881663923
- ↑ http://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/artikkeli/sipila-tarjous-yhteiskuntasopimuksesta-ei-ole-kiristys/5133086
- ↑ http://www.talouselama.fi/uutiset/soini-is-lle-kreikasta-suomen-vastuut-eivat-saa-kasvaa-3479353
- ↑ http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art-2000000959446.html
- ↑ http://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/artikkeli/86-miljardin-tukipaketti-tiukat-ehdot-suomi-silmatikkuna-mita-tiedamme-kreikan-tilanteesta/5222494
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/soini_vastaan_ei_kannata_aanestaa__suomessa_olisi_hallituskriisi/8160780
- ↑ http://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/talous/saksalaislehti-suomi-karkimaksajien-joukossa-kreikka-tuessa/702125/
- ↑ http://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/sipilan-hallitus-nimitettiin?_101_INSTANCE_3qmUeJgIxZEK_groupId=10616
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_appoints_new_cabinet/8027680
- ↑ Kalle Jokinen: Hallitukseen kolme uutta ministeriä iltalehti.fi, April 25, 2017.
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/economy_minister_rehn_stands_firm_on_contested_electricity_subsidy_for_heavy_industry/9163039
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35656150
- ↑ https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/northern-discomfort/
- ↑ https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/the-finnish-disease/?_r=0
- ↑ https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/132860
- ↑ http://bruegel.org/2015/12/finland-and-asymmetric-shocks/
- ↑ https://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21689751-nordic-laggard-can-forge-ahead-reforms
- ↑ http://www.politico.eu/article/finland-economy-crisis-alexander-stubb-finnish-education/
- ↑ http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2016/csr2016_finland_en.pdf
- ↑ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/whats-happening-to-finland-economy/
- ↑ https://www.ksml.fi/kotimaa/Suomella-ei-ole-enää-erityistä-kilpailukykyongelmaa-sanoo-SAKn-pääekonomisti/1042659
- ↑ https://www.suhdanne.fi/artikkelit/kilpailukykysopimus-ja-suomen-viennin-viimeaikainen-kehitys-onko-tahti-parantunut-verrattuna-muihin-eu-maihin/
- ↑ http://www.oecd.org/economy/finland-economic-forecast-summary.htm