Streamlining of regulation

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment seeks, as part of its own activities and across central government administration, to streamline legislation and regulations affecting businesses.

More streamlined legislation means a regulatory environment that works better for companies, citizens and public authorities alike. It can be achieved by making legislation more understandable, clear and predictable. Moreover, legislation should not add to the costs for or administrative burden on companies and citizens.

Regulatory burden means costs imposed on companies, consumers, public authorities and others through legislation and compliance with regulatory obligations. Different kinds of statutory obligations to report and provide information (administrative burden) or the need to invest in brand new machinery or equipment (material compliance) are examples of regulatory burden.

Bill drafting that strives not to introduce obligations that would add to the regulatory burden may contribute to boosting productivity and competitiveness.

‘One in, one out’ principle

According to Programme of Prime Minister Orpo’s Government, “the Government is committed to ensuring that the administrative burden of companies will not increase during the government term.” To meet this goal, the entire government has applied the ‘one-in, one-out’ principle as of 1 February 2024. Based on this principle, Government-proposed increases in regulatory burdens on companies must be matched by equal reductions in regulatory burdens elsewhere. The Government has also pledged to abolish at least 300 norms that harm companies and citizens during its term.

The amount of administrative burden is monitored with the help of burden balance and published annually in the Government’s burden report. On the basis of the reports, the Government decides on the necessary measures to reduce the administrative burden.
The principle applies to national legislation or legislation exceeding the EU minimum regulation. The scope of application excludes taxes, fines and penalties, terms of contracts, emergency legislation resulting from exceptional circumstances or for the purpose of averting danger, the opening of markets to competition, the promotion of competition and the prevention of the abuse of monopoly power. More detailed definitions and exclusions of the principle are laid down in the application guide.

A cross-government steering group for deregulation and reduction of administrative burden is responsible for directing and coordinating the principle. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment develops tools for assessing the regulatory burden, and supports other ministries in the assessment. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has applied a similar principle since 2017.

• Steering group for deregulation and reduction of administrative burden (in Finnish)
   

 

Regulatory burden reports

From 2024, the “one in, one out” principle has applied to the entire Government, i.e. all government proposals submitted by ministries. Previously, similar reporting was only applied to government proposals submitted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The Government proposals submitted in 2024 reduced the annual administrative burden on companies by approximately EUR 119.5 million in total. The proposals of 2025 further reduced the burden by around EUR 0.4 million per year. In other words, the annual administrative burden on companies has been reduced by approximately EUR 120 million since 2024.

Government proposals submitted in 2024–2025

Change in regulatory burden 2024–2025

Year	Change in regulatory burden (EUR)
2025	−119,500,000
2024	−400,000

Annual burden reports for the whole Government based on the ‘one in, one out’ principle

• 2025 (in Finnish)
• 2024 (in Finnish)

Government proposals of national origin issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in 2017–2023

Change in regulatory burden 2017–2023

Year/years	Change in regulatory burden (EUR)
2022–2023	+3,300,000
2021	+8,500,000
2019–2020	−490,000
2018	+500,000
2017	−150,000

More information on the background and results concerning the ‘one in, one out’ principle and its application is available in the final report of the pilot project of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment completed on 19 December 2017, and in the final report of the Working group on streamlining regulation 2020–2023.

Annual reports of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on changes in regulatory burden 2017–2023:

• 2022–2023: Final Report of the Working Group on Streamlining Regulation (in Finnish)
• 2021 (in Finnish)
• 2019–2020 (in Finnish)
• 2018 (in Finnish)
• 2017: Final report of the pilot project (in Finnish)

Better regulation in the EU

Simple, light and fast regulation is one of the conditions for European competitiveness. The EU’s better regulation principles and tools aim to ensure that EU-level regulation is effective, appropriate and knowledge-based. The Commission’s impact assessments and comprehensive consultations at the legislative drafting stage are key elements of better regulation. By simplifying regulation, the EU strives to make the existing laws and obligations clearer and administratively lighter. 

The European Commission has issued several proposals for simplifying EU regulation (e.g. Omnibus proposals) aimed at reducing the administrative burden on companies and public authorities. The goal is to reduce the burden at the EU level by 25 per cent in general and for SMEs by 35 per cent. In euros, the Commission’s target is to reduce regulatory burden by EUR 37.5 billion by the end of its term of office in 2029.

The Commission consults interest groups as part of its implementation dialogues and reality checks. These consultations aim to identify practical problems arising from EU regulation or its national implementation. The Commission’s Have your Say portal to gather views from interest groups is also still in use. 

More information

• Better regulation | European Commission
• Simplification of EU rules | European Commission
• Commission’s implementation dialogues and reality checks | European Commission
• Share  your views on EU policies | European Commission