Municipal initiative

Under the Municipal law, residents have the right to submit initiatives to the municipality on matters concerning its activities. You can submit a municipal initiative via the national initiative service. Initiatives can concern, for example, improvements to municipal services. The initiative can be free-form, as long as you make it clear what you want to influence with your initiative.

You will be informed of the estimated time needed to process your initiative no later than one month after it has been received. You will receive a reply to your initiative once it has been completed.

Your initiative does not require an electronic signature to become pending. However, the full name and address of the initiator must be made clear.

To whom and on what terms

The residents of a municipality, people who own or govern real property in the municipality, and communities and foundations that operate in the municipality have the right to submit initiatives on matters that concern the municipality  ’s activities. People who use the municipality  ’s services have the right to submit initiatives on matters concerning the service in question.

The community and foundation refer to parties that have ownership in the municipality or a connection to a service. Such a community or foundation may be local, regional or national.

Background information

An initiative usually concerns developing a service or tackling an issue at a general level. The competent municipal authority must consider the initiative as soon as possible. In all cases, the municipality must respond to the person who submitted the initiative and report on any measures taken as a consequence of it.

A minimum of five per cent of municipal residents eligible to vote can submit an initiative to organise a municipal referendum. If at least five per cent of the municipal residents eligible to vote jointly submit initiative to organise a municipal referendum, the council must decide without delay whether to hold a municipal referendum.

More information

Legal information