sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state =

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Both ...

, polity = , country = , address = Government Palace
Snellmaninkatu 1 A,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...

, appointed =

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...

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€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

55.8 billion (2018) , main_organ = Prime Minister's Office , ministries = 12 ( list) , responsible =

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

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government.fi
The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

and

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, which directs the

politics of Finland The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Sauli Niinistö, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of ...

and is the main source of legislation proposed to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility and represents Finland in the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

. In the incumbent Marin Cabinet, the Government comprises 19 ministers leading 12 ministries.

Majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

s have become the foundation of the Finnish Government; apart from a few historical exceptions, a Government is usually assembled by the representatives of two major parties and a number of smaller parties.

Composition

The Government is the most important

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

body of Finland composed of the ministers. Its supreme powers are based on Section 3, Chapter 1 of the

Constitution of Finland The Constitution of Finland ( fi, Suomen perustuslaki or sv, Finlands grundlag) is the supreme source of national law of Finland. It defines the basis, structures and organisation of government, the relationship between the different constitutio ...

(and the subordinate Government Act of 2003):

The governmental powers are exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government, the members of which shall have the confidence of the Parliament.

Cabinet and ministers

The Government is led by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, considered practically the most powerful single office holder in Finland and often the leader of the largest political party. The Government is composed of 11 ministries plus the Prime Minister's Office. Each ministry is led by at least one minister. Unlike the varying number and portfolios of ministers, the number and names of the ministries are fixed in law. All ministers sit in the Government. The Government itself proposes the number of ministers and their roles for the

to confirm, and it is possible to reshuffle portfolios during the life of a Government. There are no senior or junior ministers, and

ministers without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

are no longer permitted under the 2000 constitution. Ministers are not required to be Members of Parliament (MPs), although they often are. Each minister is assisted by a secretary of state (; ), a

political appointee According to the United States Office of Government Ethics, a political appointee is "any employee who is appointed by the President, the Vice President, or agency head". As of 2016, there were around 4,000 political appointment positions whic ...

who serves at the pleasure of the minister. Although ministers' portfolios are divided among the participating political parties, the Government has collective ministerial responsibility, and the ministers are expected to follow a government programme agreed upon during government formation talks.

List of the ministries

Ministerial committees

The Prime Minister may sit with a subset of the Government in a

ministerial committee A ministerial committee is a committee consisting of ministers of various government portfolios. A joint ministerial committee usually refers to committee consisting of ministers from different governments. Australia The term is used in both ...

(cabinet committee), when it is not necessary or desirable to have the entire Government convene. There are government-specific and optional ministerial committees in addition to the four statutory ministerial committees: * Ministerial Finance Committee (); *

Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy The Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy (abbreviated hutva or utva, fi, hallituksen ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittinen ministerivaliokunta) is one of the four Ministerial committee, ministerial committees of the Finnish Government, e ...

(; officially since 1922 and unofficially before that); * Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy (; officially since 1977 and unofficially before that); and * Ministerial Committee on

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Affairs (; established in 1995 to replace the Ministerial Committee on

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

Affairs).

Legislation

The Government initiates the majority of

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

. A proposed act (; ) is drafted in the respective ministry under the direction of its minister, after which it is reviewed by the Government and forwarded as a government proposal (; ) to Parliament for processing and possible amendments. However, since

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

s have become the norm in Finland, the parties represented in the Government usually form the majority in the parliament, making the process somewhat more harmonious. Since 1957, all governments have been

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

s. Before a proposal is enacted into law, it must be confirmed by the

. As such, the president has the power of a delaying veto as a check against majority politics and potential violations of international agreements. Periods of cohabitation, wherein the president and the government represent different political positions, can create strife. The president's veto can be overridden by the Parliament, although this is in practice not done. Parties can also agree to not to vote along party lines but to leave the decision to individual MPs, although this is uncommon. Smolna - Marit Henriksson

While the Parliament passes acts, the Government or an individual ministry issues decrees (; ) as delegated legislation. Decrees clarify, specify, and guide the implementation of an act of Parliament, but cannot contradict it. They are similar to US standing executive orders. A typical example is specifying the actual monetary sums for benefits described in general terms in an act. Decrees form an important body of law alongside acts of Parliament.

Budget

State funds can be spent only in the framework of the state budget (; ), which must be confirmed by Parliament. The Government drafts the annual budget and introduces it to Parliament for discussion and approval. If the Government requires more funds mid-year, they have to submit an additional budget proposal to Parliament. For 2018, the central state budget was €55.8 billion, not including municipal budgets and non-departmental bodies like

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

Incumbent government

The current Marin cabinet is Finland's 76th Government, which was inaugurated on 10 December 2019. It consists of 19 ministers and 5 parties:

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, Centre Party,

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

, Left Alliance and Swedish People's Party.

Ministers

The incumbent 19 ministers and their associated portfolios are listed below.

List of governments

The following is a list of all Finnish governments since 1917.

References

External links

*
Finnish Government Termbank Valter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnish Government Cabinets of Finland

Finnish Government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

Politics of Finland Finland politics-related lists