Proposed law on border security termed tricky

Different organizations and professional bodies on Wednesday termed the proposal of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on border security legislation as problematic and claimed that the draft law places Finland at odds with the rest of the European Union.

Leaders of the organisations at a press conference made their opinions on the Communicable Diseases Act amendments drafted by the Ministry, said the organisations in a joint press release.

The cities of Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo, along with Finavia, the company operates country´s airports and national flag carrier Finnair held the press conference where the representatives of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) and the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) were also present.

They said that Finland cannot go against the general consensus of the EU and deviate from the goals and spirit of the EU’s green certificate by demanding additional testing and voluntary quarantine from those arriving in the country with a test certificate.

Finland must align itself with general European policies to enable health-secure travel instead of making it more difficult. Finland cannot afford to turn inwards, the observed.

They claimed that the government proposal entirely neglects free travel from countries where the pandemic situation is good and the incidence value is lower than 75, to which all Member States are committed with regard to free travel across the external borders of the EU.

The proposed operating model also causes concrete problems at the borders as the health certificates are not checked in the country of departure and must, instead, be presented by request on arrival, they said.

“The model planned by the Government cannot be practicably implemented at border control points. Without electronic advance registration, it is extremely complicated to find out who the arrivals in the country are or how to contact them afterwards,” said Mayor of Helsinki Jan Vapaavuori.

“The proposal does not take into account the view of the parties responsible for health security at the borders,” said Mayor of Vantaa Ritva Viljane.

“In addition to combating the coronavirus pandemic, we must ensure that Finland can restore economic growth after the crisis. In terms of international competitiveness, it is important that we adhere to the same international safety practices as other nations in terms of entry into the country and travel in general,” said Mayor of Espoo Jukka Mäkelä.

Kimmo Mäki, CEO of country´s airport operator Finavia, said, “health checks at airports increase the risk of spreading the disease, cause congestion, deteriorate the customer experience and impact the impression travellers have of Finland and how well things run in our country.”

A more feasible option would be to require airlines to check COVID-19 certificates in the country of departure before boarding, which is the policy in other EU countries. This improves health security and makes the entire process more straightforward for travellers.

Finnair CEO Topi Manner is concerned about the long-term effects that Finland refusing to permit the entry of foreign travellers in the same way as other EU Member States may have on fields that are dependent on air traffic and travel.

“SAK represents a wide range of people who work, either directly or indirectly, in logistics, the restaurant and accommodation sector, and the culture and events industry. Some have been on lay-off or out of a job for more than a year, which means that they are now among the long-term unemployed,” said SAK Chairman Jarkko Eloranta.

“Finland is at risk of being left on the sidelines as other EU countries accelerate towards burgeoning economic growth. We need to right our course and join the ranks of EU countries in terms of travel practices,” said EK CEO Jyri Häkämies.