Legislative project aims to safeguard the operational capacity of the Border Guard during incidents under normal conditions

The government proposal for amending the Act on the Administration of the Border Guard and the Border Guard Act has been sent out for comments. This legislative project seeks to deploy the human resources of the Border Guard more flexibly and ensure operational capacity during various incidents under normal conditions. Examples of such incidents could include a mass influx of migrants, hybrid influence activities, or a widespread epidemic of infectious disease for which the Border Guard would need additional human resources.

The status of the Border Guard as a contingency organisation and its prescribed national military defence functions and wartime requirements could be taken into account when filling certain civilian positions. A further aim is to prevent use of the official recruitment process for intelligence gathering. The project is related to the need of the Border Guard to develop the capacity to combat hybrid threats.

The legislative amendments could enable the use of cadets studying at the Border and Coast Guard Academy to support Border Guard operations, for example in discharging border security duties during incidents. The project also proposes the possibility of filling civilian positions that are essential for preparedness or national defence without a public application procedure if certain conditions are met. An exception could be made in practice for duties in cybersecurity, for example. A further aim of the project is to modernise the deputising arrangements for the Chief of the Border Guard.

The deadline for submitting comments is 19 May 2023.

Inquiries:
Sanna Palo, Chief of Division, Finnish Border Guard, tel. +358 295 421 601,  [email protected] Noora Nihtinen, Senior Officer, Finnish Border Guard, tel. +358 295 421 612, [email protected] (available starting on 8 May 2023)