Finnish Transparency Register Act (unofficial translation)
Legally binding only in Finnish and Swedish (430/2023).
Section 1
Finnish Transparency Register
The Finnish Transparency Register, based on a disclosure procedure, has been established to increase the transparency of decision-making and to register long-term and systematic lobbying targeted at decision-making and professional consultancy related to such lobbying.
Section 2
Lobbying targets, lobbying and lobbying consultancy
Lobbying targets include:
Members of Parliament, parliamentary assistants and the staff of parliamentary groups;
ministers, special advisers to ministers and state secretaries appointed for ministers' term of office;
the Parliamentary Office;
ministries and rapporteurs appointed by them.
Lobbying refers to communicating with a lobbying target on one's own account with a view to influencing the preparation and decision-making in a matter by promoting a specific interest or objective.
Lobbying consultancy refers to professional lobbying carried out on behalf of a client or providing support to a client in lobbying.
Section 3
Obligation to register with the Finnish Transparency Register
A legal person and a private entrepreneur engaged in lobbying or lobbying consultancy (an actorsubject to the disclosure obligation or discloser) shall submit a registration to the Finnish Transparency Register.
However, the following actors are not subject to the disclosure obligation:
a private entrepreneur who does not engage in full-time lobbying or lobbying consultancy;
a housing company as referred to in the Limited Liability Housing Companies Act (1599/2009);
an authority of the central government, a wellbeing services county, a municipality or the Province of Åland, an independent institute governed by public law other than a university and an unincorporated state enterprise;
the Parliamentary Office, the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Human Rights Centre, the National Audit Office of Finland and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (the research institute of international relations and the EU);
a public body or actor performing statutory tasks other than those referred to in paragraph 3, as regards the performance of its statutory tasks;
a representative of a foreign state, the European Union or an international intergovernmental organisation;
a political party or party association as referred to in the Act on Political Parties (10/1969), a parliamentary group as referred to in the Act on Parliamentary Groups (979/2012) and a support association of a candidate in an election;
lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys as regards legal advice they provide to their clients when performing tasks referred to in chapter 17, section 13 of the Code of Judicial Procedure or when performing tasks involving processing of information referred to in section 5c of the Act on Lawyers (496/1958) or section 8, subsection 1, paragraph 4 of the Act on Licensed Legal Counsels (715/2011).
However, lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys shall submit a registration to the Finnish Transparency Register and, notwithstanding the secrecy obligation, disclose the information referred to in section 8, subsection 3, if they engage in such lobbying on behalf of their client or provide their client with such lobbying consultancy that is not related to determining the client's legal status, assisting the client in an administrative matter, providing advice on the application of the legal provision or other legal consultancy related to the client's activities.
Unorganised civic activities, the activities of constituency associations of candidates in elections or the activities of private individuals are not registered with the Finnish Transparency Register.
Section 4
Exceptions to the obligation to register with the Finnish Transparency Register
By way of derogation from the provisions of section 3, subsection 1, a registration does not have to be submitted to the Finnish Transparency Register if the actor carries out only the following activities:
lobbying where there are no more than five individual contacts with one or more lobbying targets during a calendar year (small-scale lobbying); an individual contact can have one or more lobbying targets as the recipient;
ordinary dealings at government agencies;
data collection for journalistic purposes;
participation in working groups set up by the authorities or regulated by law, in advisory boards or similar multi-member bodies set up for a public task and in such hearings organised by Parliament or the ministries where the participation is documented;
communication that is part of central government ownership steering;
contacts made by an affiliated entity of a political party with the Members of Parliament of the same political party and their parliamentary assistants, the staff of the same political party's parliamentary group, the same political party's ministers and their special advisers and the same political party's state secretaries appointed for the term of office of a minister;
public appearance or attendance of a representative of an actor subject to the disclosure obligation at a public event or meeting referred to in the Assembly Act (530/1999) or at a similar official event organised by a public body;
mass communication as referred to in the Act on the Exercise of Freedom of Expression in Mass Media (460/2003) and sending of newsletters, customer letters or similar messages to a specific target group;
communication the disclosure of which might endanger public or national security;
lobbying consultancy provided to actors referred to in section 3, subsection 2, paragraphs 1–7;
acting as a rapporteur appointed by a public authority.
Section 5
Obligation to submit a disclosure of activities
An actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall report its lobbying or lobbying consultancy to the Finnish Transparency Register by submitting a disclosure of activities. However, a disclosure of activities does not have to be submitted on activities referred to in section 4, subsection 1.
An actor engaged in lobbying consultancy shall also submit a disclosure of activities on communication with a lobbying target outside the client relationship if the aim of the communication is to create such contacts with lobbying targets that benefit the carrying out of lobbying consultancy or to exchange information with the lobbying targets.
Section 6
Information in the register
The Finnish Transparency Register contains the following basic information on actors subject to the disclosure obligation:
the business name of a private entrepreneur or a legal person, any auxiliary business name, the Business Identifier or, in the absence thereof, another corresponding identifier, and as contact information, the email address or postal address and telephone number;
information on the main line of business and an overview of operations;
memberships in associations engaged in lobbying;
date of registration;
information on such requests issued under section 9, subsection 3 that have been reinforced by the imposition of a penalty payment;
information on the submission, content and date of the disclosures referred to in section 7, subsections 2 and 3.
The Finnish Transparency Register also contains the following information:
in the case of lobbying, the lobbying targets, the subjects of lobbying and the main methods of communication;
in the case of lobbying consultancy, the client's business name, any auxiliary business name, Business Identifier or another corresponding identifier and, as contact information, the email address or postal address and telephone number, the targets of lobbying carried out on behalf of the client as well as the subjects and main methods of communication and information on the type of support provided to the client;
the targets of communication referred to in section 5, subsection 2 that is related to lobbying consultancy and the subjects and main methods of communication;
the total number of persons involved in lobbying during the previous calendar year and the person-years spent by them on lobbying, the costs in euros of outsourced lobbying consultancy and lobbying-related marketing and representation costs (financial information on lobbying);
the turnover in euros of lobbying consultancy (financial information on lobbying consultancy).
Information on the participation in formal hearings of Parliament and the ministries and in working groups officially set up can be made available in the public data network on the website of the Finnish Transparency Register. The registration authority may also add other material related to the transparency of public administration to the website of the Finnish Transparency Register.
The discloser shall submit the information in electronic format, unless the registration authority, for a specific reason, accepts the disclosure of the information on paper. The discloser is responsible for the information content. The registration authority shall publish the information disclosed by the discloser without delay in the Finnish Transparency Register.
The registration authority can issue more detailed regulations on how the financial information on lobbying and lobbying consultancy shall be compiled.
Section 7
Registration and notifications of changes
An actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall register no later than on the date on which lobbying or lobbying consultancy is started. The registration submitted to the registration authority shall include the basic information referred to in section 6, subsection 1, paragraphs 1–3.
Actors subject to the disclosure obligation shall without delay notify the registration authority of any changes to the basic information they have disclosed to the register.
In addition, actors subject to the disclosure obligation shall notify the registration authority if they permanently discontinue their lobbying or lobbying consultancy or if their lobbying activities become small-scale. A notification of lobbying activities becoming small-scale can be made only if the activities have remained small-scale during the calendar year in question. When submitting notifications referred to in this section, the actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall ensure that the obligations related to the disclosure of activities referred to in section 8, subsections 6 and 7 are fulfilled.
Section 8
Disclosure of activities
A disclosure of activities shall be submitted during the disclosure period from the beginning of January to the end of February and during the disclosure period from the beginning of July to the end of August. The disclosure of activities shall be made for the six months preceding the disclosure period (reporting period). The first disclosure of activities shall be submitted during the first disclosure period following the registration. However, if the lobbying does not include more than five contacts referred to in section 4, subsection 1, paragraph 1 during the first reporting period of the calendar year, the lobbying carried out during the entire calendar year shall be disclosed in the first disclosure period of the following calendar year.
Financial information on lobbying and lobbying consultancy shall be provided only in the disclosure of activities to be submitted during the disclosure period beginning in July. An actor subject to the disclosure obligation does not have to disclose the financial information on lobbying or lobbying consultancy if it has not carried out lobbying, lobbying consultancy or communication referred to in section 5, subsection 2 during the previous calendar year.
Notwithstanding trade secrets, an actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall disclose the following in the disclosure of activities:
in the case of lobbying, the information referred to in section 6, subsection 2, paragraph 1, specified by subject in such manner that the targets and main methods of communication are disclosed for each subject;
in the case of lobbying consultancy, the information referred to in section 6, subsection 2, paragraph 2, specified by customer;
in the case of such communication referred to in section 5, subsection 2 that is related to lobbying consultancy, the information referred to in section 6, subsection 2, paragraph 3, specified by subject in such a manner that the targets and main methods of communication are disclosed for each subject;
financial information on lobbying and lobbying consultancy.
The lobbying targets shall be specified in the disclosure of activities in such a manner that the person is named in the case of Members of Parliament, ministers, state secretaries and special advisers appointed for the ministers’ term of office, the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament, the permanent secretaries, permanent under-secretaries and directors-general of ministries and the rapporteurs appointed by ministries. In the case of parliamentary assistants and the staff of parliamentary groups, information on the parliamentary group shall be given. In the case of other public officials of the ministries, information on the department and unit shall be given. In the case of communication with other public officials of the Prime Minister's Office, information on the committee, department and unit or other corresponding part of the organisation shall be given.
If the actor subject to the disclosure obligation has not carried out lobbying, lobbying consultancy or communication referred to in section 5, subsection 2 during the six months preceding the disclosure period, the actor shall disclose this in the disclosure of activities.
If the actor subject to the disclosure obligation has submitted a notification referred to in section 7, subsection 3 of the discontinuation of lobbying or lobbying consultancy, the actor shall report the lobbying, lobbying consultancy or communication referred to in section 5, subsection 2 carried out between the submission of the notification and the start of the ongoing reporting period by a separate disclosure of activities in connection with the notification of discontinuation.
When submitting a notification referred to in section 7, subsection 3, the actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall, in a situation referred to in subsection 2 of this section, in a separate disclosure of activities, disclose the financial information on lobbying or lobbying consultancy for the previous calendar year if the discloser has not yet reported it.
When the lobbying or lobbying consultancy activities of the actor subject to the disclosure obligation have ceased permanently or the lobbying has become small-scale and the discloser has submitted the notification referred to in section 7, subsection 3, of this and has fulfilled the related obligations referred to in subsections 6 and 7 of this section, the disclosure obligations referred to in section 7, subsection 2 and in this section shall terminate.
Section 9
Tasks of the registration authority
The National Audit Office acts as the registrar of the Finnish Transparency Register and oversees compliance with the disclosure obligation. For this purpose, the National Audit Office shall
guide and advice the actors subject to the disclosure obligation to submit the disclosures specified in this Act;
verify that those actors subject to the disclosure obligation that have submitted their registration have submitted their disclosures of activities;
verify that the notification of permanent discontinuation of lobbying or lobbying consultancy or of lobbying becoming permanently small-scale meets the requirements laid down in section 7, subsection 3;
investigate suspected negligence related to registration, a notification of changes in basic information, a notification of permanent discontinuation of lobbying or lobbying consultancy or of lobbying becoming small-scale and a disclosure of activities;
if necessary, request the actor subject to the disclosure obligation to submit a new disclosure or notification, to supplement a disclosure or notification already submitted or to submit a report referred to in section 10, subsection 1;
maintain and develop an electronic register;
appoint the Advisory Board referred to in section 11;
prepare an annual report on the activities and oversight of the register;
submit a report to Parliament on the activities and oversight of the register each parliamentary term.
The rectification of personal data is provided for in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). In addition, provisions on the correctness of public authorities' data are also laid down in the Act on Information Management Governance in Public Administration (906/2019).
The National Audit Office may request an actor subject to the disclosure obligation to submit a disclosure or notification laid down in this Act, correct an error or inadequacy or submit a report referred to in section 10, subsection 1. The National Audit Office may reinforce the request by imposing a conditional fine.
Section 10
The registration authority's right of access to information
Notwithstanding secrecy provisions, an actor subject to the disclosure obligation shall, upon request, provide the National Audit Office with the following:
a report of the subjects, methods and number of contacts between the discloser and the lobbying target specified by the National Audit Office, with the exception of activities referred to in section 3, subsection 2, paragraph 8, that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to registration, a notification of permanent discontinuation of lobbying or lobbying consultancy and a notification of lobbying becoming small-scale;
a report of the subjects, methods and number of contacts between the discloser and the lobbying target specified by the National Audit Office, with the exception of activities referred to in section 3, subsection 2, paragraph 8, that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to other information in a disclosure of activities than financial information on lobbying or lobbying consultancy;
a report on lobbying consultancy provided to clients other than lobbying carried out on behalf of the client, with the exception of activities referred to in section 3, subsection 2, paragraph 8, that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to registration or a notification of permanent discontinuation of lobbying or lobbying consultancy;
a report on lobbying consultancy provided to a client specified by the National Audit Office other than lobbying carried out on behalf of the client, with the exception of activities referred to in section 3, subsection 2, paragraph 8, that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to other information in a disclosure of activities than financial information on lobbying or lobbying consultancy;
information that verifies the accuracy of the financial information the discloser has provided on lobbying or lobbying consultancy and that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to the provision of financial information on lobbying or lobbying consultancy;
a report on changes in the basic information that is necessary for the investigation of suspected negligence related to a notification of changes in the basic information.
If the report provided by the discloser is not sufficient for the investigation of suspected negligence referred to in subsection 1, paragraphs 1 and 2, the suspected lobbying target shall, on request and notwithstanding secrecy provisions, provide the National Audit Office with a report of the subjects, methods and number of contacts between the lobbying target and the discloser suspected of negligence that is necessary for the investigation of the suspected negligence.
Section 11
Advisory Board and good lobbying practice
The National Audit Office shall set up an Advisory Board for the Finnish Transparency Register for three years at a time. The Advisory Board is tasked with monitoring the activities of the Finnish Transparency Register, taking initiatives to develop the activities of the register and acting as an official cooperation body for the stakeholders.
As members of the Advisory Board, the National Audit Office shall invite representatives of actors subject to the disclosure obligation, researchers with knowledge of the subject as well as public authorities in such a manner that at least the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the National Audit Office are represented in the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board shall elect a chair from among its members.
The Advisory Board shall draw up recommendations on good lobbying practice. A large number of actors outside the Advisory Board shall also be consulted in the drafting process.
Section 11 entered into force on 1 April 2023.
Section 12
Electronic register and publication of information
The information referred to in section 6 that is disclosed to the Finnish Transparency Register is published in the public data network.
The information in the Finnish Transparency Register shall be available in the public data network for a period of 10 years starting from its disclosure. Retention of information in the Finnish Transparency Register and disclosure of this information are otherwise subject to the provisions laid down in the Archives Act (831/1994) and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999).
Section 13
Entry into force
This Act enters into force on 1 January 2024. However, section 11 of the Act enters into force already on 1 April 2023.
By way of derogation from the provisions of section 7, subsection 1, an actor that is subject to the disclosure obligation before 1 April 2024 shall submit its registration by 31 March 2024.
By way of derogation from the provisions of section 8, subsection 1, the first reporting period shall be from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024.