The roots of the Finnish Greens as a political movement go back to the direct action tradition of the late 1970's when a growing awareness of the deterioration of the state of the enviroment found a counterpart in movements promoting alternative ideas in social policy and rejuvenating grassroots democracy.

The Finnish Greens first took part in parliamentary elections in 1983, running a handful of independent candidates. Contrary to the most forecasts, two Green MP's were elected.

Vihreä liitto was finally registered as a political party in 1988 after a lengthy debate about the pros and cons of a more fromal organisation. The first comprehensive Green Manifesto was drafted and approved in 1990.

Organization and finances

The party structure is based on regional and national Green associations which send delegates to the annual party congress. The party congress elects a chairperson, three deputy chairs and eight members of the executive committee and a party secretary, who are responsible for everyday politics of Vihreä liitto. The congress also elects the party council which has 40 members.

The party employs six people in its Helsinki headquaters. The regional and biggest local associations employ part-time organizers, but most of the local work is unpaid. The parliamentary group employs full-time collaborators whose salaries are paid by the state.

Vihreä liitto is mainly financed by the Finnish state through the party subsidy law: for each MP, all registered parties recieve about 63 000 euro per annum. The 2700 members pay a small membership fee, and local councillors and committee members give up pergentace of their meeting fees for their local groups.

Like other parties, Vihreä liitto recieves an additional state grant for financial support of a newspaper of periodical party choice. Vihreä liitto has allocated this money to the weekly paper Vihreä Lanka from the beginning. The circulation of the paper is about 4000.

Local councils

In local elections, Greens took part as independents until 1988 with some success mostly in the larger cities and towns. The latest local elections were held in 2004 and the greens gained 7,4 % of the votes and 314 councillor seats.

International affairs

Vihreä liitto joined the then European Green Coordination in 1989 and has been an active member since. The Federation of European Green Parties was established in Kirkkonummi, Finland in June 1993. 

International affairs in the party are managed by the International working group in cooperation with the Executive committee. Finns hold 14 seats in the European Parliament. The Greens' representative is Satu Hassi.

In Europe-policy Vihreä liitto wants to emphazize openness and democracy. Transparency and publicity must be strongly increased in the decision-making bodies of the EU. Finnish Greens support the expansion of the EU towards Eastern Europe which will strenghten the security of the whole Europe.

Permanently high levels of unemployment are the major threat to European societies. At the same time the public sector is struggling with serious economic problems. Vihreä liitto is calling for a European Tax Reform in which taxation of consumption of energy and raw material is progressively increased and correspondingly, taxation of work and labour-related costs are reduced.