Not quite ready for action

There is a lot going on in politics in 2022 and it pays to be active in social decision-making.The political year kicks off with a bang with the regional elections in January. The regional elections will be the starting point for the parties' preparations for the parliamentary elections in spring 2023. Party meetings in the summer will already be used to outline the parties' content for the post-election negotiations on the government programme. In the autumn, the parties will be finalising their own objectives and preparing their election plans.

Businesses and organisations are working feverishly on lobbying plans for the future government programme. The best window for lobbying is already open well before the government programme negotiations. The objectives need to be clarified in early spring, and then communicated to key party and civil servants.

The government is in a real hurry to finalise its decisions in the coming spring and early autumn before the parliamentary recess. The rush comes as the interest rate crisis continues to disrupt normal legislative work and internal government wrangling has delayed matters beyond the planned deadline. There is a risk that much of the government's self-imposed targets will remain unfinished and lapse. As the difficulties increase towards the end of the parliamentary term, it is worth keeping a close eye on the government's capacity to act, especially during the spring.

The early part of the year will see EU stimulus funds being channelled to different sectors. Many companies have been preparing project plans for new investments over the past year. These are not small projects or small amounts of aid, as the stimulus package is expected to trigger investments worth hundreds of millions of euros. Several industrial investment announcements can be expected around Finland during the spring.

The launch of the Well-being Regions will be prepared throughout 2022. The regional councils, which will start work immediately after the regional elections, will work with the administration to prepare the strategies and operating models for the new Well-being Region organisations. It's a lot of work, with tens of thousands of workers to be transferred and reorganised in 21 regions. The new regions will be operational from the beginning of 2023.

All in all, 2022 is sure to be a busy year for social impact. At Blic, the year is already off to a flying start and we have been able to launch several new client engagements. Looking forward!

Niilo Mustonen

The author is a managing partner at Blic.