Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK has prepared a long list of objectives for the 2027 Parliamentary Election. In practice, the objectives stem from extensive discussions between TEK’s decision-making bodies, namely the board and its committees, as well as experts employed by TEK’s office.
Some of the objectives go back decades, while others are recent additions to the list. All the objectives have been approved by TEK’s board.
The new programme of election objectives focuses on four main themes. These are divided into 12 sub-themes, and the number of actual objectives is 34.
TEK had 18 objectives for the previous election in 2023.
TEK’s Director of Public Affairs Juhani Nokela, why has the number of objectives shot up?
“We engaged our decision-makers in extensive preparatory talks last year, which gave us new insights and allowed us to identify new ways in which we want to make a difference. Examples include leveraging artificial intelligence in work settings and giving international professionals a voice in Finland.”
What does TEK have to do to achieve all its objectives or even communicate them to future Members of Parliament?
“We intend to meet with key members of the various parties to share our thoughts. Not all our ideas are relevant to everyone, which is why we will, for example, only talk about higher education with those individuals who are responsible for their party’s education policy. We want to engage current and future Members of Parliament in particular, but we will also be talking to employees of the various parties and to other background operators who contribute to party policies and programmes.”
What are TEK’s priorities?
“For us, the most important objectives are raising the standard of higher education, increasing funding for research and development and strengthening the position of salary-earners.”
Which objectives could be considered less important?
“None of the objectives that make it to these lists are unimportant.”
Why are pensions not mentioned at all?
“From TEK’s perspective, the laws governing our pension system are actually more or less up to date, and we are not aware of any significant legislative weaknesses in the system itself. The well-being of the labour force, on the other hand, needs urgent attention to enable as many people as possible to continue working until they reach retirement age. We feel that investing in workers’ well-being is the best way to ensure the future performance of both our pension system and the entire welfare state.”
What can regular TEK members do to spread TEK’s message?
“We encourage our members to visit TEK’s website ahead of the election to identify topics that they themselves consider important and then go out and talk to the candidates. Challenging the candidates in a constructive spirit is one way to find common ground on how to make Finland better in the future. Members who want a more active role can get involved in the election campaign of a fellow TEK member or another candidate. Although the parties naturally have pre-election manifestos, the policies that will ultimately be promoted depend on who is actually elected and what their priorities are.”
Which objectives were achieved last time around?
“Great progress was made in respect of policies promoting research and development in particular. The current government’s tax policy and especially the lowering of income tax also align well with our objectives.”
TEK’s programme of objectives for the 2027 Parliamentary Election is set out on TEK's website. The logic behind each objective and a list of contact persons can be found via the link.