Who should submit disclosures

The following actors should disclose their activities to the Finnish Transparency Register in the case of long-term and systematic lobbying or lobbying consultancy that targets Parliament or the ministries:

• legal persons (e.g. limited liability companies, registered associations, foundations and partnerships)

• private entrepreneurs, i.e. self-employed persons, engaged in full-time lobbying or lobbying consultancy.

An organisation must register with the Finnish Transparency Register if it contacts Parliament or a Ministry more than five times during a calendar year for lobbying purposes. If the lobbying is occasional and falls below the above limit, registration is not required. The registration obligation begins when the organisation starts to lobby or when its lobbying is no longer small-scale (up to five contacts per year).

Who do not have to submit disclosures

The following actors do not need to disclose their lobbying activities to the Finnish Transparency Register:

• private individuals, unorganised civic activity

• private entrepreneurs who do not engage in full-time lobbying or lobbying consultancy

• representatives of a foreign state, the European Union or international intergovernmental organisations

• the National Audit Office of Finland, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the Human Rights Centre, the Parliamentary Office

• central and local government authorities, provincial authorities of Åland, authorities of the wellbeing services counties

• political parties, party associations, parliamentary groups, candidates’ support associations and constituency associations

• public bodies that do not engage in lobbying outside their statutory tasks (read more under “Actors with lobbying tasks specifically laid down in the law”)

• unincorporated state enterprises and independent institutes governed by public law, including the Finnish Centre for Pensions, Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Municipal Guarantee Board, Finnish Forest Centre, Bank of Finland, Finnish Wildlife Agency and Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, with the exception of universities

• housing companies

• lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys when providing their client with legal advice referred to in the law (read more under “Lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys")

Actors with lobbying tasks specifically laid down in the law

If lobbying or lobbying consultancy is a statutory task specifically laid down for the organisation in the law, the organisation does not have to disclose these activities to the Finnish Transparency Register. However, if the organisation also engages in lobbying or lobbying consultancy activities that are not its statutory tasks, it should disclose these activities to the Transparency Register.

Whether an activity falls outside the scope of statutory tasks must be assessed case by case. Therefore, even if an actor has statutory tasks, it may still have to disclose other activities it carries out to the Transparency Register.

Different situations where the disclosure obligation must be considered

Actors with various statutory promotion, development and lobbying tasks comparable to the lobbying activities defined in the Finnish Transparency Register Act are subject to the disclosure obligation if the lobbying is related to representing the administrative organisation's own interests.

In practice, the extensive statutory tasks of universities, including promoting the societal impacts of research results and artistic activities, largely exclude academic activities from the scope of the disclosure obligation. In addition, research work is often regarded as private individuals’ activities, andthus it fallsoutside the scope of the disclosure obligation. However, universities are subject to the disclosure obligation if the university administration aims to influence, for example, legislative, budgetary or policy measures related to universities.

In addition to universities, the regulation is applied in the same way to the chambers of commerce and Sitra, for example, i.e. the disclosure obligation in relation to the Transparency Register applies only to the representation of the interests of the administrative organisation, not the performing of its statutory tasks.

Lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys

Lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys must themselves assess if they engage in government-level lobbying or if the client's assignment involves activities that should be disclosed to the Transparency Register.

Situations where the disclosure obligation applies

Lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys have the duty to register with the Finnish Transparency Register and disclose their activities to it if they engage in lobbying at government level on their own account or on behalf of a client or provide lobbying consultancy to a client.

Examples of lobbying consultancy include consultancy related to influencing a regulation or policy on a sector, or to bringing up shortcomings or development needs in the regulation applicable to a sector.

Examples of activities subject to the disclosure obligation:

• advising a client on how to influence a legislative amendment that is being prepared

• advising a client on how to influence tax guidance so that it would be advantageous for the client's business

• advising a client on how to influence the preliminary ruling procedure in taxation.

In other words, the aim of the activities to be disclosed is to ensure that the operating policy, legal basis and funding base or other similar matters concerning the sector would serve the client's interests in the future.

Situations where the disclosure obligation does not apply

Lawyers, licensed legal counsels and public legal aid attorneys have no disclosure obligation in relation to the Finnish Transparency Register if the consultancy provided by them concerns determining a client’s legal position, supporting a client in an administrative matter, providing advice on the application of a legal provision or similar legal consultancy related solely to the client's activities.

Examples of activities that do not fall within the scope of the disclosure obligation:

• handling an assignment related to court proceedings

• providing legal advice on the principal's legal position in a pre-trial investigation or other pre-trial proceedings

• providing legal advice on initiating or avoiding court proceedings

• other legal assistance in extrajudicial matters, such as drawing up a will or providing assistance in concluding a merger or acquisition by participating in contract negotiations and drawing up a contract

• advising a client on how a planned legislative amendment will affect the client’s business or how new tax guidance will impact the business of a specific company, or advising a client on a preliminary tax ruling or a competition law matter concerning the client.