News, 16.10.2023

Foreign Service reform underway

Finland’s Foreign Service will be reformed to support the new era of foreign and security policy, taking into account the additional obligations arising from Finland’s NATO membership.

On 30 August 2023, Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen appointed an internal working group at the Minister for Foreign Affairs to prepare the reform in accordance with the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government. The term of the working group runs from 4 September to 1 December 2023.

The working group has been active since the start of its term. It is tasked with reviewing all aspects that are central to the Foreign Ministry’s tasks, goals and practices:

  • management;
  • development of practices;
  • allocation of resource;
  • maintenance and development of staff competence;
  • organisational changes; and 
  • changes to the network of missions abroad.

The objective of the reform is to improve the Ministry’s efficiency in a constantly changing operating environment and to focus on Finland’s foreign and security policy interests, economic growth promotion, international economic relations, and technological development.

Staff consultations

The Foreign Service staff will be consulted, and the working group deems it very important to involve everyone in the work. The group has requested views on the reform from the Ministry’s departments and Finland’s missions abroad. It has organised Q&A sessions open to everyone working in the Ministry and the missions. The group has also sent out a Webropol survey to staff members, offering them an opportunity to comment on the reform anonymously.

The members of the working group will visit meetings of department management groups during the autumn. Representatives of personnel organisations and other key stakeholders will have a separate opportunity to be heard comprehensively.

Working group will prepare recommendations

The working group will draw up a report based on its review and give the Ministry’s management a set of concrete recommendations. It will submit the report to the ministers of the Foreign Ministry at the beginning of December.