announced his support for enacting an energy subsidy to serve heavy industry's use of oil and coal as a compensatory measure for the expenses arising from the EU's Emissions Trading System.
[15] Sipilä's government has struggled with Finland's poor economic performance,[16] caused according to Paul Krugman and others by the constraints of its eurozone membership and aftershocks from the European debt crisis,[17][18] but also by the decline of the paper industry, the fall of Nokia and a diminution in exports to Russia.
[26] After a protracted negotiation, the "competitiveness contract" (Finnish: kilpailykykysopimus) was eventually agreed upon in summer 2016, with a coverage of 90% of wage earners and an estimated effect of 4.2% on the cost of labor.
[27] In 2017, according to Bank of Finland and SAK economists, the contract proved to be largely successful, with a significant improvement in competitiveness, a 3% growth rate, reduced unemployment, and increased exports.
Annual Finnish tax losses in 2017-2016 were over 10 million euros from Caruna electrical grid company in Finland based on interest exemption.
[37] In December 2015, Minister of Finance Alexander Stubb claimed that 90% of civil servants consulted supported a controversial law proposal concerning securities holding, while only 10% had done so.
[45] The ombudsman's report stated in that Sipilä's children did not get any special benefit from the decision to grant Terrafame additional government funds.
[47][48] The Council for the Mass Media in Finland (JSN) ruled that Sipilä had curbed freedom of speech when he bombarded journalists with emails complaining about the story.
Finland's media watchdog gave Yle a reprimand over its reporting of a potential conflict of interest in Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's handling of the state-owned mine Terrafame.
[49] During an official trade promotion trip to India organized by Team Finland in February 2016, a conflict of interest arose from the inclusion of Chempolis, a company in which the Prime Minister's grown up children hold a 5% stake.
[50][51] The Finnish Chancellor of Justice received four separate complaints from private citizens regarding the Prime Minister's role in promoting Chempolis in India.
[52] Deputy Chancellor of Justice Risto Hiekkataipale has stated that the Prime Minister did not act improperly in regard to Chempolis.
[53] According to the Chancellor of Justice of Finland in December 2016, the Sipilä cabinet's law proposals have had major constitutional problems.
The move has been criticized due to Trafigura's connections to tax havens, as well as the Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä's (kesk.)
[57][58] On March 13, 2018, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced that starting on July 1, 2018, a subsidy of €400 would be granted to any Finnish citizen purchasing an electric bicycle.
Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner (C) proposed the subsidy as an incentive to raise the combined modal share of bicycle- and walking-based commuting to 30% nationwide.
[61] Berner declared that the ministry would continue to pursue the program's launch, substituting the €400 flat rate with a percentage-based model similar to those in practice in Norway and Sweden.
The complex investigation concerns among others real estate and land deals and bribe claims and companies Forma-Futura, HOK-Elanto and Seepsula in Vantaa.