Anti-corruption strategy
Government of Finland has adopted the first national anti-corruption strategy in May 2021.
The short-term objective of the strategy is to reinforce the prevention and combating of corruption. The vision and long-term objective of the strategy is to build a society where corruption cannot take hold or go unnoticed.
The Strategy is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda) and the recommendations issued by the UN, the OECD, the Council of Europe and the European Union to Finland to reinforce its anti-corruption work.
Strategy aims to commit public administration and political actors to combat corruption effectively, to promote the identification of corruption and the transparency of decision-making, and to improve the ability of authorities to hold those who have engaged in corrupt practices accountable for their actions. In addition, the aim is to facilitate the creation of national situation awareness of corruption.
Studies show that there is structural corruption in Finland. Structural corruption is more difficult to detect than open street-level corruption occurring in many other countries. High-risk sectors are the construction sector, public procurement, community planning and politics.
Aims of the Strategy
The aim of the Strategy is to intensify the fight against corruption in the short term, and in the long term to build a society where corruption has no chance of success.
The aim of the Anti-Corruption Strategy is to:
1) commit public administration and political actors to combat corruption effectively;
2) promote the identification of corruption and the transparency of decision-making;
3) seek to improve the ability of authorities to hold those who have engaged in corrupt practices accountable for their actions;
4) facilitate the creation of national situation awareness of corruption
Measures will be implemented in extensive cooperation
The implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy is supported by the Action Plan for 2021–2023. The measures include, among others, improving cooperation between the authorities, raising awareness of corruption, exposing cases of corruption, examining the functioning of anti-corruption legislation and promoting research. No separate funding has been allocated for the implementation of the Action Plan.
The Action Plan contains 77 scheduled measures. Key development areas for the combating of corruption are:
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Reinforcement and clarification of the official structures for preventing and combating corruption and improvement of cooperation between the parties involved
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Raising awareness of corruption
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Increasing transparency
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Promoting the exposure of corruption
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Examination of the functioning of anti-corruption legislation and the development of legislation
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Promotion of research related to corruption and its prevention
Finland needs a designated anti-corruption actor or agency with sufficient resources for coordinating, supporting, following and initiating anti-corruption measures.
More resources must be allocated for the exposure and investigation of corruption cases. The corruption-related knowledge and skills of public officials participating in the investigation of suspected cases of corruption should be improved.
Involving a wide range of actors in anti-corruption work is another area where improvement is needed. It should be ensured that tools for the prevention of corruption are taken into use in the practical work and that all parties know where the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour lie.
The practical implementation of anti-corruption measures requires well-functioning and permanent official structures.
Finnish society needs more information on the following issues:
- corruption as a phenomenon
- norms related to anti-corruption efforts
- tools for anti-corruption work.
Special focus should be placed on the identified risk sectors:
- construction sector
- public procurements and competitive tendering
- community planning
- political decision-making and funding.
The capacity of public officials to recognise and combat corruption should also be improved.
Openness and transparency of decision-making are considered important in Finnish society. Yet well-structured public information is often difficult to come by.
Improving different actors' access to information and increasing their opportunities for participation reduces opportunities for corrupt practices and strengthens democracy. Increased openness helps prevent corruption.
A more open approach is required especially in the following areas:
- funding of political parties and election campaigns
- personal interests of political representatives and public officials
- recruitments and appointments to public offices
- public procurement
- town planning
- corporatisation and business activities.
Exposure of corruption cases can be intensified by raising awareness of corruption and developing the relevant parties' competence in the area.
In certain cases, exposure can be enhanced by improving enforcement officials’ access to information or by obliging certain actors to report on matters in more detail.
Enabling anonymous or at least confidential reporting of suspicions of corruption and protecting reporting persons from various forms of retaliation are also essential. Furthermore, authorities' opportunities to report suspicions of corruption should be improved.
Legislation is an integral part of comprehensive prevention of corruption.
The functioning of the legislation related to the prevention of bribery offences and other forms of corruption should be analysed and, when necessary, improved. The legislation must be effective enough, serve the purpose it was designed to serve, and have a preventive effect.
We still know only a little about corruption taking place in Finland, because it usually occurs away from the public eye. Very few corruption cases come to the attention of the authorities or the public.
Very little research on corruption is conducted in Finland. It would, however, be of paramount importance to regularly collect qualitative and quantitative information on the different forms of corruption and their prevalence. This would help ensure that the bodies engaged in anti-corruption work have access to up-to-date information so they can focus their efforts on the right issues with regard to corruption in Finland.
The draft strategy includes a plan of action outlining the practical measures to be taken to achieve the objectives set out in the strategy. The parties responsible for each measure are also defined. A joint effort of several authorities, businesses and organisations is required to combat corruption successfully.
The draft strategy (in Finnish) is available at the Institutional Repository for the Government.