Transport

The agency reform improved the conditions for effectiveness of the administrative sector of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, but competition in the digital services market did not emerge. The National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) recommends that the Ministry of Transport and Communications should clearly define the objectives and monitoring procedures for significant future reforms and improve Fintraffic's operational conditions.

The predictability of the permit process and ensuring the availability of skilled labour are critical factors for the growth of the Finnish battery industry. The Finnish Minerals Group has played an essential role in promoting investments in the battery industry. The National Audit Office recommends that the grants allocated to support the industry should be monitored in a centralised manner.

The use of project companies (special purpose entities) as the funding and organisation form for the planning of railway projects should be carefully considered and its selection should be justified transparently. Before going ahead with the implementation of major railway projects, the Government must make decisions on any major issues and ensure that significant risks are managed.

The economic, social, and ecological sustainability of mining has been a subject for discussion in Finland, in the EU, and around the world. All these aspects of sustainable mining can be important in view of the sustainable management of central government finances.

The state regulates mining operations in many ways, and a variety of different permits are required for mining. In connection with mines, reference is often made to a “social licence to operate”, which aims at preventing conflicts between the mine and local people.

The aim of the audit is to produce information on the current state of preparedness for exceptional circumstances and disruptions in Finland and to promote cost-effective resolution of problems arisen during the Covid-19 pandemic. The balance sheet of the National Emergency Supply Agency was slightly over EUR 2 billion at the end of 2019. In practice, the agencies and institutions of all administrative branches have expenditure related to security of supply. The actual audit focuses on the sectors that the Covid-19 pandemic is considered to have affected the most.

New investments and maintenance costs should be adapted to each other in the lifecycle management of the transport network. The volume of investments should be at a level that makes it possible to maintain an appropriate service capacity in the entire transport network even in the future.

Finland has pledged to meet the European-wide target under which the number of road deaths should be reduced and other road safety improvements achieved. The strategic steering of police traffic control should be enhanced so that the targets set for traffic control can be met. There has been a reduction in national steering and coordination over the past five years, and fewer road safety measures are also drafted in central government.

The aim was to ensure that the project assessment guidelines have been appropriately developed and that the audited project assessments have been carried out in accordance with the guidelines. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.

There is no comprehensive information available on the overall economic impact and effectiveness of the traffic safety work. The main issue in the audit was to determine whether traffic safety has been maintained and promoted in an economical and effective manner.

The audit examined the evaluation of the need for infrastructure management projects and sought to determine whether evaluations have been adequate and proper. The audit also strove to find out how the information presented as grounds for infrastructure projects could be improved so as to serve Parliament better. The audit was part of the broader audit theme of transport infrastructure management. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.