The paper represents the first part of a project dealing with the Finnish Pipunculidae fauna and focuses on certain taxonomic aspects of the genera Cephalops Fallen, 1810, Pipunculus Latreille, 1802 and Tomosvaryella Aczél, 1939. Tomosvaryella kalevala Kehlmaier spec. nov. is described as new to science and its male and female terminalia are figured. Lectotypes are designated for Pipunculus ater Meigen, 1824, Pipunculus calceatus Roser, 1840, Pipunculus campestris Latreille, 1802, Pipunculus chlorionae Frey, 1945, Pipunculus dentipes Meigen, 1838, Pipunculus elegans Egger, 1860, Pipunculus oldenbergi Collin, 1956, Pipunculus spinipes Meigen, 1830, Pipunculus thomsoni Becker, 1897, Pipunculus varipes Meigen, 1824, Pipunculus wolfi Kowarz, 1887 and Pipunculus zugmayeriae Kowarz, 1887. Pipunculus elegans and P. wolfi are resurrected from synonymy (stat. rev.). Pipunculus varipes is transferred to Cephalops (comb. nov.). The following new synonymies are proposed (syn. nov.): Cephalops semifumosus (Kowarz, 1887) = Cephalops varipes (Meigen, 1824), P. spinipes and P. thomsoni = P. campestris, Pipunculus balticus Kuznetzov, 1991 = Pipunculus tenuirostris Kozánek, 1981, Pipunculus phaeton Coe, 1966 and Pipunculus nartshukae Kuznetzov, 1990 = P. omissinervis Becker, 1889, Tomosvaryella magyarica Földvári & De Meyer, 1999 = Tomosvaryella minuscula (Collin, 1956). The European representatives of Pipunculus are characterized, their terminalia partly figured and the taxa keyed out in an dichotomous identification key. Tomosvaryella rossica Kuznetzov, 1993 and Tomosvaryella cilitarsis (Strobl, 1910) are partly figured and, together with T. kalevala Kehlmaier spec, nov., incorporated into the identification key of Földvári & De Meyer (1999).