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Finland’s public administration comprises:
Highest organs of Government
State administration covers central, regional and local State administration. Indirect State administration supports and complements the official duties of the country’s public administration.
Local government covers municipal self-government, regional municipal administration and cooperation between municipalities at the regional level.
The most important tasks of public administration are general administration, maintaining of public order and safety and the provision of welfare services such as education, health care and social services.
There will be changes in regional state administration from the beginning of year 2010. New regional state administrative bodies will start operating: the Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY).
There will be several alterations in the structure of public administration in turn of the year.
Finland is a consitutional republic whose highest state organs are the Parliament, the President of the Republic and the Government.
State administration includes e.g. ministries and the State's bureaus and agencies.
The ministries function as administrative and political experts and prepare Government decisions within their mandates.
Authorities in Finland's 90 State Local Districts carry out both general and special administrative tasks.
State regional authorities enable ministries to carry out their responsibilities at a regional and local level.
Municipalities and local government are the most important system of self-government in Finland. Municipalities provide their residents with statutory basic services.
In addition to municipalities, the right to self-government is granted to the Åland islands, churches and religious communities, and universities.
The State's business activities includes state-owned business and state-owned companies.
Indirect State administration supplements and supports the authorities in managing the tasks of the welfare society.
Finnish courts of law are independent from other administration. They base their decisions solely on the law in force.
Responsibility for the monitoring and preparation of EU affairs rests with the ministries. The Government must enjoy the Parliament's trust also in EU affairs.
Made up of its Member States, the European Union (EU) is a union established on common treaties and institutions.
This diagram shows the structure of the public administration. The various levels and elements of administration are shown in relation to each other.
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You can find public administration organisations and their contact information through the search function and in the A-Z index.
You can find contact information for local authorities through the search function and in the index. You can also use the map to search for local authority contact information.
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Page updated on 26.03.2010 | Suomi.fi editorial team | State Treasury
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