The Act on the Screening of Foreign Corporate Acquisitions grants the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) the authority to screen foreign investments. According to Art. 3 of the Act, if the TEM believes that an FDI might conflict with a key national interest, the Ministry may refer the matter of confirmation or denial to a government plenary session for consideration. As defined in Art. 2, as amended in 2020, key national interest includes securing military, and national defence, functions vital to society, national security and foreign and security policy objectives, and safeguarding public order and security in accordance with Arts. 52 and 65 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, if there is a genuine and sufficiently serious threat to a fundamental interest of society.

Finland is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

There is no general principle for the use of copyright-protected material comparable to the fair use/fair dealing principles. Directive 2001/29/EC defines an optional but exhaustive set of limitations from the author´s exclusive rights under the control of the “three-step test” in line with the Berne Convention that establishes three cumulative conditions to the limitations and exceptions of a copyright holder’s rights. The Directive has been transposed by Member States with significant freedom.
The Finnish Copyright Act implements the Directive, with Chapter 2 of the Act enumerating the limitations on copyright protections.

The European Union and Finland have adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. The treaty was ratified on 14 December 2009 and came into effect on 14 March 2010.

According to the Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017, amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value-added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods, the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 174, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Art. 18 (2) of Directive (EU) 2016/1148 establishes a local presence requirement, through the designation of a representative, for digital services providers not established in the Union but offering digital services within the Union. The types of digital services for the purposes of Art. 18 (2), referred to in Annex III, are online marketplace, online search engine and cloud computing services.

Art. 27 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 requires a local representative for data controllers or processors not established in the EU.

According to Art. 13 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act), providers of intermediary services that do not have an establishment in the Union but offer services within the Union must designate, in writing, a legal or natural person as their legal representative in one of the Member States where they operate.
This obligation applies to providers of certain information society services, as defined in Directive (EU) 2015/1535, meaning any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient. In particular, it concerns providers of intermediary services, including services commonly referred to as ‘mere conduit’, ‘caching’, and ‘hosting’ services.

According to Art. 2 of Council Regulation (EU) No. 2023/1529 of 20 July 2023 Concerning Restrictive Measures in View of Iran’s Military Support of Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine, it is prohibited to sell, supply, transfer, or export, directly or indirectly, goods and technology that might contribute to Iran’s capability to manufacture Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as listed in Annex II, whether or not originating in the Union, to any natural or legal person, entity, or body in Iran, or for use in Iran.
Initially, the only relevant products included in Annex II were electronic integrated circuits, processors, and controllers (HS 854231 and HS 854239). However, the Regulation was amended in May 2024 to expand the list of restricted products, adding monolithic microwave integrated circuits, amplifiers, and devices (HS 854233) used in 5G, 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, and satellite communication systems; fixed capacitors (HS 853221, HS 853222, and HS 853224); and memory integrated circuits (HS 854232), which are semiconductor devices designed to store data or program code.

In February 2022, the European Union (EU) published the European Standardization Strategy, which, among other things, introduced amendments to Regulation 1025/2012 on European Standardization Organizations (ESOs). The amendment requires that ESOs limit the involvement of non-EU stakeholders in the development of harmonised European standards (EN). This change has a significant impact on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which specialises in information and communications technologies (ICT) and has historically allowed direct participation from foreign firms. Additionally, it has been reported that certain policies implemented by the European Commission, such as the refusal to reference standards developed outside Europe and the imposition of new restrictions on participation in expert advisory groups (including the newly established High-Level Forum on European Standardization), indicate a broader strategy to exclude non-EU participants, challenge the recognition of international standards developed in the United States, and promote European regional standards globally.

Self-certification is allowed under equal terms for foreign and domestic companies under Art. 14 and Annex II of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU.
EU legislation requires that the manufacturer of a CE-marked product issues an EU Declaration of Conformity for the product and draws up technical documentation. A Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is a document signed by a manufacturer or authorised representative confirming that the product placed in the market complies with applicable EU requirements and is required for all CE Marked products sold in the EU with few exceptions. The contents of the Declaration of Conformity shall follow the model declarations set out in Annex III to Decision 768/2008/EC or in annexes to applicable legislation. (CE-marked products signify that products sold in the EEA have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.)
The EU has concluded a number of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with third countries that allow national conformity assessment bodies to certify product conformity for the respective markets. The EU has signed 7 MRAs, 6 of which cover electromagnetic compatibility and interference as and/or radio and telecommunications equipment.

Through the amendment of Council Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2014/512/CFSP by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/350 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/351, the European Union imposed sanctions on a number of Russian television channels in response to “Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine.” These measures entailed the suspension of broadcasting licences and distribution agreements, including cable distribution. The legal acts prohibit operators from enabling or facilitating the broadcasting of content by the sanctioned channels through any means, including IP-TV, internet service providers, video-sharing platforms, and applications. As a result, these channels were delisted from online search results and their social media accounts rendered inaccessible within the EU.
The EU has progressively expanded its list of sanctioned media outlets since the introduction of broadcasting bans under Art. 2f of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, included by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/350 of 1 March 2022. The first restrictions were imposed in March 2022, when RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik, along with their subsidiaries, were prohibited from broadcasting or distributing content within the EU. The measures were extended in June 2022 to include Rossiya RTR (RTR Planeta), Rossiya 24 (Russia 24), and TV Centre International. In December 2022, the ban was broadened to cover NTV, NTV Mir, Rossiya 1, REN TV, and Pervyi Kanal (Channel One). Following the tenth sanctions package of 25 February 2023, which entered into force in April 2023, the EU added RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic. The eleventh package, adopted in June 2023, further expanded the list to include RT Balkan, Oriental Review, Tsargrad TV Channel, New Eastern Outlook, and Katehon. In May 2024, the Council announced the inclusion of Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, measures formally tied to the fourteenth sanctions package of June 2024.

Regulation 2021/821 establishes that the export of dual-use items used for both civilian and military applications is subject to control, and these goods may not leave the EU customs territory without an export authorisation. Annex I identifies a range of dual-use items that face either authorisation requirements or outright bans for exportation outside of the EU, which include electronics, computers, telecommunications and information security. Regulation 2021/821 replaces the previous regulation on the matter (Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009), as subsequently amended and implemented by Regulation (EU) No. 1232/2011 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1922, respectively.