About the site
The revised Government website was opened on 13 March 2006. The Government website at www.valtioneuvosto.fi and the media service at media.valtioneuvosto.fi (in which registration is required) have been renewed as regards their technical implementation, visual image and contents. New functions include a press release subscription service, an event calendar and a larger image bank. The reform will continue. During year 2007, for instance, materials of Government sessions will be made available on the website.
The Government Communications Unit, located in the Prime Minister’s Office, is responsible for the website and for updating its contents. The graphical appearance has been designed by Digitaalinen Mainostoimisto Byroo Oy. Responsibility for technical implementation rests with Mermit Business Applications Oy, which has worked in cooperation with the Government Information Management Unit.
The website provides service in Finnish, Swedish and English. The Finnish-language pages have the widest range of information.
Contents
The section for Current issues, that provides the key topical contents of the website, includes press releases issued by the Government and ministries, information on Government decisions and speeches by the Prime Minister and other ministers. E-mail press releases can be subscribed by subject area. The section for current issues includes an event calendar and recordings of the Government’s key press conferences. The image bank contains photographs of Government premises and ministers of the cabinet in office.
Approximately 15,000 topical documents have been restored from the old website. Certain materials, especially some links, might not work properly at once but they will be fixed gradually.
The section on the Cabinet in office provides access, for example, to ministers' CVs, contact details and information on their special advisers. It also contains information on the division of labour between the ministers, their substitutes and memberships in cabinet committees and councils. The section titled Government activities provides information on topical material regarding the work of the Government including the Government’s weekly programme, information on Government decisions plus reports, communications, statements by the Prime Minister and answers to parliamentary interpellations. Central information on the Government’s three policy programmes is also available here.
The website also contains general facts about the Government and its history including a list of all cabinets and their terms in office since Finland became independent in 1917. The Government information system on ministers has a search function for detailed information on all Finnish cabinets and ministers. The Ministries section provides an access to all ministries’ own web pages and a guide on the ministries’ mandates.
There is separate section for European Union affairs. All press releases, speeches and other topical materials concerning EU affairs, as well as materials related to the weekly EU press briefings, are available in this section. The pages also contain information on the handling of EU affairs in Finland plus the frequently visited EU jobs section.
The Directories offer an alphabetical index and links that help to find information. There are also certain subject areas that have been filed in their entirety, such as the special website about the crisis in Asia and the Future Forums.
Each page provides an access to the search function, directories, Finnish and Swedish pages, feedback, contact information, sitemap and the presentation of the website (About the site).
Technical data
Use of the website requires an Internet browser. The site has been created with the XHTML technique, and is best viewed with the latest browser versions. The website can be viewed with earlier browser versions and text-based browsers as well, but then the pages may look different and you may not be able to make full use of all features provided by the services.
The site also contains PDF documents and audio files. To read PDF files, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader programme, which can be downloaded free from the Adobe website: www.adobe.com.
For listening to audio files, you need software that is able to play RealMedia files, such as the RealMedia Player.
Terms of use
Copyright
The Prime Minister’s Office, or the provider of information mentioned in connection with the material, owns the copyright to the texts and images published on the website. For instance, the copyright to press releases and speeches is held by the ministry mentioned in the publication data.
The text materials can be used and linked freely as long as the source is acknowledged. Use of the material for commercial purposes requires prior agreement with the Prime Minister’s Office.
The terms of use of the separate image bank are explained in conjunction with the image bank.
Legal notice
The Government Communications Unit, located in the Prime Minister’s Office, is responsible for the website. Each Ministry is responsible for the contents of the press releases and speeches that they have released for publication in the service.
In making the contents available, every effort is made to keep the information up-to-date and accurate. The Prime Minister’s Office is not responsible for any expenses or damage incurred by the user because of errors that might exist on the site. Nor is the ministry responsible for any harm caused by technical errors or by any material published by external parties and linked to the site.
Handling of personal data
The Prime Minister’s Office is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of visitors to the site, as required by the Personal Data Act. We do not collect data that would make it possible to identify individual visitors. We only need e-mail addresses or other contact data in order to answer questions or feedback.
No personal data about visitors to the site are collected. The information collected on the use of the site consists of general statistical data that are used for developing Internet services. These data are
- the user’s IP address,
- time of day,
- the pages viewed,
- browser type.
Further information
Further information on the website is available from the Government Communications Unit at info@vnk.fi.