One-stop shop for permitting in Finland
In Finland, the Ministry of the Environment launched a one-stop-shop project to streamline the permitting process. The coordination of environmental authorisation procedures will enable applicants to submit and process several authorisations electronically at the same time under the one-stop-shop principle.
A one-stop-shop, one-authority model would provide a functional and user-oriented one-stop-shop for the administration and application of permits. The aim is that by combining permit procedures, an application will in principle lead to a single administrative decision and a single appeal. A one-stop shop can reduce the need for further clarification and supplementary requests and help companies to implement investments on time.
What does coordination require?
Coordination requires that the project is subject to a permit under the Environmental Protection Act, the Water Act or the Soil Act. The applicant may request the permit processor (Regional State Administrative Agency AVI or municipal environmental protection authority) to coordinate the permits for their project if a permit is also requested under the Nature Conservation Act, the Land Use and Building Act, the Mining Act or the Act on the Safe Handling of Dangerous Chemicals and Explosives. Permits can also still be applied for separately.
The permit processor coordinates and coordinates the different permit procedures
In the case of co-ordinated projects, the AVI or the municipal environmental protection authority acts as a "co-ordinating authority" to co-ordinate the co-operation between the applicant and the authorities involved in the permitting process so that the different stages of the permitting procedures can be coordinated in time and, where possible, can always be dealt with at the same time.
Coordination of the progress of applications
1. Preliminary meeting between the applicant and the authorities
2. Electronic submission of permit applications at the same time
3. Supplementary information on permit applications is requested at the same time
4. Opinions and consultation on applications at the same time
5. Explanation by the applicant of the consultation feedback at the same time
6. Authorisation decisions by the authorities at the same time
The law aims to streamline and speed up the permit procedure
The Act on the Coordination of Certain Environmental Permitting Procedures has reformed environmental legislation to allow applicants to submit and process several permits at the same time by electronic means, the so-called "one-stop shop". The aim is to streamline and speed up the permit application process for the applicant.
An interoperability approach for public authorities
To support the work of the officials implementing the coordination, the Ministry of the Environment has put together an operating model for the coordination of environmental permitting procedures.
Read more here (in Finnish)
