Suvi Lindén (cons), the Finnish transport minister, announced Thursday she would not carry forward the government's plan to replace the licence fee with a tax, citing a lack of backing in Parliament.

The minister said the matter would be postponed to the next legislative period, meaning after next year's general election.

The government had planned to fund the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) with a lump-sum tax it prefers to call the media fee.

The tax would have been levied from all households regardless of television or radio ownership.

Ms Lindén added the government had also shelved its plans to create an independent organ to oversee the public broadcaster.

STT

The Finnish government said in a statement Thursday it had decided to change the name of the education ministry to "the ministry of education and culture".

Pending Parliament's approval of the change, the new name will enter into force in May.

"Finnish ministries have been named in a way that best describes the key mandate of each ministry," the statement added.

"Cultural policy is a broad social policy area coordinated by the ministry of education. It covers areas such as cultural heritage, cultural exportation, multiculturalism and international cooperation."

STT

Finnish national daily Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday quoted a Taylor Nelson Sofres poll as indicating that the National Coalition party remained the country's biggest party with a rating of 23.1 per cent, down by a tenth of a percentage point from a similar poll carried out in November last year.

The poll gave the opposition Social Democrats 21.3 per cent, up by eight-tenths of a point, with the Centre party in third place with 19.9 per cent, down by a tenth of a point.

All changes fit in the margin of error, stated as two percentage points either way.

Commissioned by the paper, TNS interviewed about 2,900 people in February and March.

STT

Finnish Christian newspaper Kotimaa on Thursday quoted its poll as indicating that a slim majority of the country's lawmakers opposed same-sex marriage.

Kotimaa said it had asked all 200 MPs whether the Marriage Act, which dates back to 1929, should be amended to be sex-neutral.

The paper added that 54 per cent of the 126 MPs who took part in the poll had said they were opposed to a sex-neutral Marriage Act.

Matti Vanhanen, Finnish Centre party leader and the country's prime minister, and Timo Kalli, the Centre party's parliamentary group leader, have sent a statement to the justice minister saying that the president should continue to have the power to veto crisis management troop deployments, the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) reported Wednesday.

A cross-party committee led by Christoffer Taxell had proposed amending the constitution to read that Parliament and the government could decide to deploy troops with no say for the head of state.

Finland's Green League, part of the country's centre-right -led ruling coalition, said Tuesday that Finland should consider investment into energy efficiency and renewable sources as an alternative to new nuclear power stations.

The party added that "a nought option" should be on the table alongside the main ruling parties' plans to grant approval to between one and three new nuclear power stations.

The Finnish government said in a statement Tuesday it would close eight emergency response centres, with the remaining seven based in Kerava, Kouvola, Kuopio, Oulu, Pori, Turku and Vaasa.

Anne Holmlund (cons), the interior minister, took the decision on which emergency response centres would be axed.
The eight centres are to be closed by 2015.

The government decided to reduce the number of emergency response centres in 2007.

Suvi Lindén (cons), the Finnish communications minister, was quoted as saying by regional daily Kaleva on Tuesday that the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) fee, a lump-sum tax that will replace the licence fee, should be set at between 190 and 195 euros a household a year.

"This is a reasonable level and will safeguard the Broadcasting Company's current operations," Ms Lindén was quoted as saying.

The YLE fee is to enter into force in 2012 and is to be paid by all households and businesses regardless of television or radio ownership.

A social affairs and health ministry working group is currently mulling reduced rates for low earners. According to Kaleva the working group is set to hand its proposal in a fortnight's time.

Ms Lindén repeated that YLE's management and the public broadcaster's oversight must be separated.

STT

The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Monday quoted the Green League, part of the centre-right -led coalition, as saying that pupils should have the right to choose when to begin learning Swedish, an official language in the country alongside Finnish.

Ville Niinistö, the chairman of the Greens' parliamentary faction, told YLE that he understood why some people in eastern Finland were frustrated that pupils could not opt for Russian instead of Swedish in the early forms of primary school.

Mr Niinistö said pupils should be allowed to choose whether to begin attending Swedish lessons in fifth or eighth form.

At the moment most Finnish-speaking pupils attend Swedish classes from seventh form, as required by the law.

Henna Virkkunen (cons), the education minister, has proposed that obligatory Swedish tuition should begin in fifth form.

STT

Jyri Häkämies (cons), the Finnish defence minister, told the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Saturday that the construction of new nuclear power generating capacity was the most important single issue facing the government.

Speaking days before the government was to debate the nuclear power issue, Mr Häkämies went on to defend his party's line to grant approval to all three utilities planning building nuclear power stations in Finland.

By contrast, the Centre party has argued for a single permit.