Defence Ministry would be sole authority to grant expropriation permits: WG

A Working Group (WG) proposed that only the Ministry of Defence would grant expropriation permits, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release on Wednesday.

The Working Group formed in December, 2024 to examine the need to amend the Act on the Expropriation of Immovable Property and Special Rights to Ensure National Security and related legislation.

The objective was to draw an overview of how the current legislation should be amended to ensure fair and effective safeguarding of real estate critical to national security.

The current Act on the Expropriation of Immovable Property and Special Rights to Ensure National Security enables the expropriation of real estate to safeguard Finland’s security, security of supply and critical infrastructure.

The working group examining the need to amend the expropriation legislation found that it has been difficult to apply the current act as each ministry is responsible for granting expropriation permits in their respective branch of government.

The group made the proposal as the ministry has the widest experience of assessing real-estate related threats, and it is already responsible for supervising foreign real estate ownership and for preparing proposals for the state’s use of its pre-emption right, both tasks being closely related to expropriation for reasons of security.

The group further argues that the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with other branches of government, should be responsible for maintaining a situational picture of real estate that pose a potential security threat.

The working group also proposed that the right to obtain information under the current act be extended and updated so that other branches of government could issue statements in matters concerning expropriation.

The group maintained that appropriate sanctions for violating the prohibition of measures under the act should be introduced and that a prohibition of measures should be issued as soon as a potential need for expropriation is identified.

It should be possible to abandon voluntary transaction as a primary objective in urgent cases and to depart from the obligation to consult other authorities during the permit procedure if the matter is urgent or if the consultation is deemed not necessary for resolving the matter.

The relevant authorities should also have wider possibilities to take temporary possession of real estate.

The working group proposed that compensation for expropriation for reasons of security be aligned with compensation payable under the Act on the Expropriation of Immoveable Property and Special Rights. Funding for expropriation for reasons of security should be pooled and taken into account in budgets.

The report is an unanimous view of the working group. The group had representatives from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Defence Command Finland, the Finnish Border Guard, the National Land Survey of Finland, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and the National Bureau of Investigation.