Impact assessment is a part of the Finnish legislative drafting process. The main purpose of impact assessment is to deliver information to legislative drafters, decision-makers and stakeholders on the effects of regulatory options, the relevance of the impacts and the opportunities to reduce possible negative effects. The results of the impact assessment are written down in the statement of reasons in the Government Bill.

In Finland the ministry and the drafter responsible for the legislative drafting are responsible for the impact assessment of the proposed legislation and its content. When the legislative project is started and in the preparatory drafting stage the relevant impact areas and possible effects are identified. As the drafting process continues a more detailed assessment of the impacts of the regulatory options is made. Also follow-up of the effects of the implemented reform is a part of the impact assessment procedure.

The Government adopted the Guidelines for Impact Assessment in Legislative Drafting on 1 November 2007. These guidelines are followed in drafting of legislation and decrees and other binding legal rules. The guidelines are applied also in preparing EU provisions to assess their impact in Finland in the implementation of international obligations.

The guidelines concern assessment of economic impact, impact on public administration, environmental impact and social impact. The aspects then cover a number of different types of impact, such as the impact on households, businesses, fundamental rights, health, information society and crime prevention.

The guidelines include a checklist for impact identification, which serves as a support tool for the assessment, especially at the beginning of the drafting, when the various regulatory options and alternative solutions for implementation are identified.

Further information
The Impact Assessment Guidelines (PDF-file, 55 pages).Ministry of Justice publication 2008:4,

Regulatory impacts on business. Ministry of Employment and the Economy website

Ministry of Finance website

Human Impact Assessment. National Institute for Health and Welfare website

Impact on gender equality. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health website

Gender perspective in the law drafting process. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health website