On Friday 21 December, representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Sámi Parliament gathered to discuss the content of the report on the Arctic Rail Line project, drafted in working groups. The final report will be published in January 2019.
Based on section nine of the Act on the Sámi Parliament, the Sámi Parliament had requested negotiations on the work of the Finnish-Norwegian working group preparing the report and on the content of the working group's final report and of the sub-groups' reports.
In the negotiations, representatives of the Sámi Parliament expressed their views on the content of the final report. It was concluded that a further meeting must be convened to finalise the negotiations. The date of that meeting will be 25 January 2019.
The working group's final report is a preliminary report of the Rovaniemi-Kirkenes railway routing. No decision on the construction of the railway or the choice of routing has been made either in Finland or in Norway.
Background
A temporary Finnish-Norwegian working group was established on 9 May 2018 to clarify the Arctic Rail Line. The working group's term ended on 14 December 2018. It examined such key issues relating to the railway routing as funding and financing models and costs, questions relating to the environment and the Sámi and planning and permit procedures.
The Finnish members of the working group represented the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of the Environment, Finnish Transport Agency, Regional Council of Lapland, Sámi Parliament, and Skolt Village Assembly, and Norway's representatives were from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Norwegian National Rail Administration and Finnmark. Other stakeholders were also heard in the process.
Inquiries:
Vice chair of the working group, Director Sabina Lindström, Ministry of Transport and Communications, tel. +358 40 527 6103, [email protected], Twitter @LindstromSabina
