Government proposes enforcement of the amendments to agreement on taxi services across the Finnish-Swedish border

On 10 November 2022, the Government submitted to Parliament a legislative proposal on enforcing the amendments to the international agreement between Finland and Sweden on taxi services across the border. The agreement concerns taxi transport services across the Finnish-Swedish border.

The proposal would enforce the amendments made to the agreement. It would also amend the act bringing the agreement into force. The purpose of the amendments is to bring the agreement into line with national legislation. The amendments are mainly technical in nature. It is proposed that they enter into force on a date provided by government decree, at the same time as the amendments to the agreement enter into force.

The most important amendments concern the competent authorities defined in the agreement and the documents to be carried when providing taxi transport services under the agreement. The act bringing the agreement into force would be amended so that the obligations no longer included in the national taxi regulation would be removed from it, such as the obligation for a taxi to return to its zone of operation after each ride.

Another key amendment to the act concerns the administrative sanctions and penal provisions. The provisions would be amended to be in line with the national legislation so that minor offences be removed from the criminal justice system and included in the scope of administrative sanctions.

The amendment is based on the Act on Transport Services, which entered into force on 1 July 2018 and changed the national legislation on taxi services so that the obligations set for providing taxi services were eased.

The consultation process took place from 21 June to 31 July 2022.

What's next?

A referral debate on the government proposal submitted to Parliament will be conducted in a Parliament plenary session. Information on the date of the session will be available on the Parliament website. After the preliminary debate, the proposal will be referred to a committee. The committee will draft a report, which will then be discussed in a plenary session.

Inquiries:

Inka Näkkäläjärvi, Senior Specialist, [email protected], +358 50 475 2740

Emil Asp, Director of Unit, tel. +358 40 509 9757, emil.asp(at)gov.fi