OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2025

Recent Finnish governments have successively prioritised strengthening the rule of law, democracy, participation, and trust in society. Recent reforms aim to increase guidance and offer practical support to regulators in their application of a whole-of-government strategy on better regulation, extending stakeholder engagement to children and youth, and introducing ex post evaluations.

Several stakeholder engagement platforms exist in Finland to inform the public of regulatory drafts and solicit feedback. Lausuntopalvelu.fi, an online service for public statements, and the Governments Registry for Projects and Initiatives, which publicly provides information on the ministries’ development projects, legislative preparation and various institutions, were recently complemented by new guidance to broaden target groups. RIAs are required and conducted for all primary laws and some subordinate regulations. The RIA Guidelines were renewed in 2022, and are expected to extend requirements to include assessment of macroeconomic, financial, and indirect costs. Meanwhile, ex post evaluation is not mandatory, and its principles do not specify impact categories as they build on the RIA guidelines for simplicity.

The Finnish Council of Regulatory Impact Analysis (FCRIA) is Finland’s regulatory oversight body. It reviews selected RIAs for significance and representativeness before approval of the regulation, providing advice and formal opinions on quality but has no sanctioning power. The FCRIA chairs a government competence network for impact assessment, in place since 2021 to support law drafters in preparing RIAs. The FCRIA also has a mandate to review ex post evaluations. In addition, a government‑wide working group aims to improve law drafting and enhance co‑ordination across ministries and promote the uptake of best practices.