Election platform

Parliamentary elections 2015

1. For an Open, Successful, International and Responsible Finland

In the Swedish People's Party the person is a priority. We believe in the individual and that a person is able and willing to be responsible to themselves and to others. We cherish a society that is built on compassion and solidarity. We will always look after those who are vulnerable or are at risk of being excluded.

A responsible, sustainable long-term economic policy is vital in order to be able to guarantee and develop Finland as a welfare state. The most important issue is the creation of new jobs, as work is what funds welfare. Through improved tax and employment policies we can make it possible for companies to invest in Finland, and enable them to develop their business and employ new people.

The Swedish People's Party says no to racism and hostility towards foreigners. Finland needs immigration and will accept its humanitarian responsibility for refugees. We do not tolerate discrimination based on sex, skin colour, religion, language, sexual orientation or background.

2. We All Support the Country - The State's Finances Are Our Responsibility

The economy is in an alarming state. As the population grows older, the need for health and social care increases. A sustainable economic policy is the best guarantee for functioning public services. Without a good economy, we will not have efficient care of the elderly, maternity services or top-performing schools.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to balance the economy during the government's term of office, reduce debt and implement necessary reforms
• municipalities to be strong enough and functional
• to reform administration in order to avoid overlapping, to increase accessibility and to make processes more flexible, more transparent and more target-oriented
• to reduce state ownership in non-strategic companies and to use the proceeds to invest in research and development, infrastructure and other investments which create growth
• to ensure legal protection for all citizens and ensure that the police, prosecutors and the judiciary have sufficient resources

3. We Need More Jobs - for Work and Entrepreneurship

Finland needs a new growth policy which encourages work, entrepreneurship, and investment in the future. It must be worthwhile to accept work and it must be worthwhile to employ.

We must increase the amount of Finns who are fit to work and we must therefore remove obstacles in the labour market.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• work to be the primary means of supporting oneself and that accepting work will always be worthwhile
• to raise basic and earned income deduction in order to lower the threshold of accepting work
• to keep corporate income tax at a competitive level
• taxation on work, pensions and entrepreneurship not to be tightened, but that the purchasing power of the Finnish people is preserved and strengthened
• to strengthen the position and freedom of consumer choice by promoting free competition in trade and services, and prevent choices that contribute to a monopoly-like position of a single or a few players.
• to reduce progression in taxation - one must always be allowed to keep at least half of what one earns
• to raise domestic help credit to a minimum of 3 000 euros per person per annum, and to develop its areas of use to ease people's daily lives and, at the same time, fight the grey economy and create jobs
• to ensure that dividend taxation of unlisted companies continuously reflects entrepreneur's risk-taking.
• to reform inheritance tax by replacing it with asset transfer tax when inheritance is realized
• to raise the upper limit of value-added tax relief scale for companies to 50 000 euros
• entrepreneur education to be offered in basic education and secondary education and for universities to offer studies in entrepreneurship in all education programmes
• to increase productivity in the public sector by, among others, systematically requiring innovation and language skills in the context of public procurement
• to improve smaller enterprises' and entrepreneurs' chances in public procurement. This will be done, for example, by the partial procurement of larger volumes and by taking environmental consequences concerning transport and distances into account
• to make Finland attractive for foreign investment and make sure that foreign investors are treated equally with domestic investors
• to abolish the means test for the hiring of foreign labour
• to coordinate and direct public business support to favour and promote growing enterprises and the commercialization of innovations
• to increase investments in national research and development
• the time of taxation of income that remains in a company to be pushed back, and tax to be paid only after income is distributed to the owners
• private entrepreneurs to be granted an entrepreneur allowance, with which only part of the business income (95 %) is liable for taxation
• to improve social security for entrepreneurs

4. Those Who Want Should be Allowed to Work Longer

An earlier entry into working life and a later retirement are, together with activating the unemployed, the most effective way to increase work. Employees who are well and healthy are more creative, more innovative and more efficient. The Swedish People's Party wants to create space for individual solutions in order to improve both the quality of work as well as to make work more productive.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to invest in welfare in the workplace so that more people will have the opportunity to lengthen their working life
• to develop occupational health care, life-long learning and to make work arrangements more flexible
• to make it possible for pensioners to participate in work according to their ability and will, without this having a negative effect on their income
• to work towards that active efforts are made by employment agencies in the beginning of unemployment or straight when an employee faces temporary dismissal
• to develop income support for the unemployed so that it will always be economically beneficial to accept work
• to develop unemployment benefits by raising both allowances and shortening pay periods
• to invite to tender and develop labour exchange in order to be able to make better use of real recruiting know-how
• to create incentives to keep senior employees in work
• to develop opportunities for earners with partial work ability to remain in and return to work
• to give more adolescents an opportunity for summer work and to gain work experience with the help of vouchers which compensate part of employer costs
• to improve the coordination of services targeted towards young people
• to make sure that youth guarantee is realized and to ensure sufficient resources for outreach youth work and youth workshops
• to ensure that all young people get a secondary level degree and to introduce an apprenticeship system where young people are given work and vocational education at a workplace
• to narrow the wage gap between women and men by binding commitment from labour market organisations, with equal pay for equal work as a goal
• to increase the practice of individual salary negotiations at work

5. Knowledge and Education - Finland's Trump Card

We need to invest in knowledge and education in order to get by in the global economy. Our goal is to become one of the world's leading knowledge nations.

Free, high-grade education is the most significant precondition for that everyone has equal opportunities to succeed in life. We want schools to stress the importance of equality, compassion and respect for the environment and to thwart prejudice, racism and bullying.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• schools to be a safe and comfortable place for pupils, teachers and staff alike
• to develop student influence and strengthen communication between schools and homes
• schools to take into consideration individual ways of learning which require flexible teaching methods
• to establish a creative atmosphere at school which will strengthen student social skills, creativity and readiness to express themselves
• to start foreign language teaching earlier, to invest more in language immersion courses and to stress the importance of spoken language skills
• to secure the Sami people's right to their culture, language and traditional means of earning a living
• to emphasise equality at school so that pupils will have enough courage to make decisions on careers and studies without being hindered by traditional customs
• courses dealing with equality and gender to be part of teacher and kindergarten teacher training as well as of further education for teachers
• to develop the process of entering an educational institution and invest in study guidance in order to speed up degree completion
• to intensify and boost cooperation between universities, as well as on an international level, in order to achieve a higher level in education
• to speed up entry into the labour market by strengthening the matriculation examination's position and to renew competence requirements at work so that practices are similar to our competitor countries and those countries on the same level as us
• adult education and further education services to match the needs of the labour market
• to ensure the possibility to study full-time all year round, by developing university examination and guidance plans
• to attract overseas students who have completed their degree in Finland to remain and work in Finland by eliminating the sixmonth rule in the residence permit following graduation
• immigrants who no longer are in school age to have the opportunity to complete basic education to the same extent as other people
• to secure the community sector's possibility to function by the avoidance of bureaucratic surcharges at authorization and notification process
• to make sure that everyone is allowed an equal opportunity for doing sports and other spare time activities
• to preserve the Finland-Swedish sign language through the implementation of the new plan of action

6. We Care for Each Other - Responsibility and Well-being Belong Together

The Nordic welfare model, which is based upon social responsibility and equal opportunity to receive

high-quality services, is an international ideal and has had a positive effect on our competitiveness. We want to treasure our well being, but we must be prepared to prioritise, find new working practices and to boost our businesses.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to work towards high-quality social welfare and health care across the country
• to develop freedom of choice in health care where the public sector sets the quality targets and certifies services while money follows the client
• to develop services close to the home within social services and health care through new work methods and to increase access with, for example, electronic and mobile solutions
• to strive to make it possible for everyone to be able to live at home as long as they want and are able to, with the help of domestic aid and health care taking place in the home
• to invest in preventative measures in health care and mental health care
• to support the physical, psychological, social and cognitive abilities and health of the elderly, as well as to prevent loneliness in active collaboration with the community sector
• to better take into account the situation of people living on their own in community planning and legislation
• to transfer the compensation for caring for close relatives to the Finnish Social Insurance Institution
• to develop respite care in homes so that people caring for close relatives could take advantage of their statutory three days off per month, convinced that the elderly people with difficult illnesses can receive care in an institutional setting when needed
• to guarantee that the new elder care law and the municipal council of elders have an important function in the development of senior services
• pensioners to be able to live life to the fullest with the help of a foreseeable and long-term pension system, as well as by being able to maintain an active way of life and feel a sense of belonging
• to incorporate technical and IT systems throughout the continuum of care
• to improve the accessibility and range of mental health
• to ensure accessibility of therapy and support services for families with young children
• to reform family policies by harmonizing the family leave system, the law on early childhood education and the costs of parenthood and home care subsidies, in order to increase equality
• to invest in work against violence within relationships, increase the amount of refuges and to secure their resources
• to invest in preventive care and different forms of support in outpatient care for families with children in order to minimize cases of children being taken into care
• to invest in proactive outreach youth work in order to prevent anyone feeling like an outsider
• to grant undocumented migrants the right for health care and education
• to develop patient and medicine payments through a cost-neutral redistribution, introducing a class where the patient is fully exempt from payment
• to create solutions which encourage people with lower abilities to function and take part in education, work and free time activities

7. We Are a Nordic and a European Country

The Swedish People's Party sustains the ideal of a border-free Europe where a person's safety and opportunities permeate political decision-making. We want to work for a Nordic agenda with our focus on openness, equality, functioning market and human rights. The EU needs a clearer definition of foreign policy.

Investments must be made in economic policy in order to ensure the functionality of the euro area and the future of the euro. Sense and reason must govern, so that rules that have been agreed on are followed and each EU member state takes responsibility for its own debt. Significant unanimous investments must be made in education, creativity and innovations in order to improve employment within the EU and to ensure the Union's competitiveness.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to raise allowances for research and education in the EU's budget
• to make a comprehensive free-trade agreement for the promotion of export and trade
• to add indications of origin to meat and dairy products in order to improve the safety of food supplies
• to implement a minimum level in corporation tax within the EU in order to reduce tax competition
• to realize a bank union within the EU in a uniform manner so that functioning control for all banks is realized and by establishing a mechanism for solving crises at times of financial difficulty
• a sustainable environment and climate policy to be seen as a chance for new work opportunities and business
• to realize a common European energy policy in order to ensure the gearing ratio
• national interpretations of common EU regulations and recommendations shall be the basis to create equal opportunities in the whole of the EU as well as for Finnish participants

8. The World Is Getting Smaller - We Need Each Other

Finland must take part in international collaboration. The Swedish People's Party wants to create a Finland that is competitive and, for its own part, takes responsibility for global development and migration policy. Finland must be open and welcoming to people in need of help and protection. Finland must take on greater responsibility than we do today. Sustainable immigration calls for a change in attitude and functioning integration.

Work and study are the best forms or integration. Discrimination based on background is never acceptable, and an active fight against racism is needed. We want to promote equality and diversity.

We must work towards the normalization of the political situation in Russia and its neighbouring countries. The Swedish People's Party's goal is to develop collaboration in trade, the environment, nuclear safety and the social domain to a favourable direction. At the same time, we cannot accept Russia committing crimes against international justice and aggression directed at its neighbouring countries.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• development politics to always be based on human rights and to support women's and children's right to education and the development of democracy
• Finland and Europe, in its development policy, to support countries in the deployment of a good and open administration which counteracts corruption
• to set the share of foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Income
• to create a fair trade policy to strengthen developing countries' business climate and trade, to create a partnership between economic life in developing countries and in Finland, as well as to clear away trade barriers
• to prevent tax avoidance by establishing clearer sets of rules for the country-by-country reporting of multinational corporations' profits and taxes, as well as the details of company owners accessible to national authorities
• everyone together to be responsible for the EU's refugee policy and that this responsibility is distributed more fairly between the member states, which presumes
• better possibilities of moving into the EU legally
• significantly increase the quota for refugees in Finland
• for the residence permit process to be fair, quick and flexible
• to improve the integration of immigrants by better language teaching, possibilities to work and study, housing policy and health care
• to offer integration in both Swedish and Finnish
• to emphasise the situation of women and children in crises as per UN resolution 1325.

9. Peace and Security - for Finland's Safety

Finland must be an effective player in international collaboration, working towards establishing peace, safety and stability. The Swedish People's Party will do this as an active part of Nordic, European and transatlantic collaboration and as a member of the UN and the OSCE. Collaboration between countries had become part of the development of defence.

Compulsory military service is at the core of Finnish defence and the quality of military training must be guaranteed.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to ensure a reliable defence with enough material capacity by raising the defence budget
• to deepen the Nordic defence collaboration and continue the integration of the Finnish and Swedish armed forces. Nylands Brigad has an important role in this work.
• That a parliamentary working group will analyse the pros and cons of a Finnish Nato membership
• That resources for civilian and military crisis management are guaranteed. Finland will continue to be an active builder of peace and democracy also in the future
• That all women who have turned 19 are contacted and informed in order to increase interest in voluntary military service
• To create a fourth area in the military for cyber security

10. Countryside and City - All of Finland Shall Live

The Swedish People's Party wants to create a modern area and countryside policy, which will give areas a possibility and encourage them to develop their own characteristics and strengths. The role of the state is to enable solid regional work, by, investing in infrastructure, for example.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• to guarantee good communications and infrastructure in and between regions and in the countryside in order to secure vitality and possibility for earning a living
• strong collaboration between the countryside, city and coastal archipelago policies in order to achieve synergy
• to create flexible services across administrative borders so that it will be possible to build, live and work in the countryside and coastal archipelago without extra bureaucracy
• to secure a functioning transport in the archipelago
• to ensure that we can maintain sustainable and cost-effective agriculture and forestry, domestic greenhouse production, fur trade and fishing industry
• to reduce the regulations which hinder operating conditions and increase production costs for primary industries so that in the long run we, can guarantee access to domestic food and ingredients
• permits for different forms of wildlife control to be made flexible and based on factual local conditions
• the possibility to use one's summer house as a permanent residence is the same across the country and that living in two residences are taken into account in municipal tax
• to simplify bureaucracy relating to applications to change planning as well as those requirements when drafting new master plans and street plans
• to promote versatile and vivid residential environments which reduce segregation, with different types of residences in land development
• to develop a competitive and flexible public transport system in big cities, based on rail solutions
• to guarantee everyone's right to mobility, so that people driving their own private cars, especially in areas with no comprehensive public transport system, are not affected unfairly
• to develop electronic solutions and electronic administration to simplify and to further improve public and local authority services, and to simplify access to information for citizens and firms
• to ensure opportunities for transport services in remote areas through tailored solutions

11. The Environment and Climate Are our Responsibility

The Swedish People's Party's long-term goal is a carbon neutral Finland where the burning of fossil fuels is not required. We need an ambitious, long-term and foreseeable climate policy, combined with economic success and an increase in human welfare. The environment knows no boundaries and therefore the EU plays an important role in climate policy, as does the need for a global system regulated in a comprehensive international climate agreement.

The Swedish People's Party wants:

• the Kyoto Protocol to receive continuation so that a new legally binding and international and fair climate agreement is included.
• to reduce emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, in accordance with EU targets
• to ensure a versatile energy supply and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, increase the share of renewable energy in the form of bio energy, water power, wind energy, solar energy and wave power, as well as introduce tax relief on these
• economic policy and strives towards economic growth is realized in an ecologically sustainable manner
• to contribute to the creation of jobs by continuing to promote domestic renewable fuels in Finnish energy production in order to in the long run to be self-sufficient as regards energy
• to increase Finnish energy and resource efficiency and reduce our energy requirement
• with the help of new technology and investments in research and development in the field of cleantech
• to introduce incentives in order to up the share of environmentally friendly cars and charging stations
• to create a global system for emission rights, in order to counteract the export of emissions outside of the EU.
• to implement environment and climate requirements in public procurement
• to collaborate with the Baltic region to uphold high quality oil destruction measures and to reduce eutrophication
• to preserve natural diversity and biodiversity through nature conservation and natural conservation programmes
• the environment to be the starting point in Arctic collaboration