Discretionary government grants

Discretionary government transfers are discretionary funding granted from State funds that is used to support projects and activities deemed socially necessary. 

In the administrative branch of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, discretionary government grants are awarded in accordance with the Government Programme for projects and activities that promote economically, socially and ecologically sustainable growth, employment and integration. 

Primarily, government agencies and other state aid authorities have been tasked with the granting of discretionary government grants in the Ministry’s administrative branch. ELY Centres, Energy Authority, Innovation Funding Agency Business Finland, regional councils and Nuclear Waste Management Fund grant discretionary government grants in the administrative branch. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment performs the duties of a state aid authority itself only in certain limited cases in accordance with legislation and the budget. 

The budget determines the purposes for which discretionary government grants may be awarded. Discretionary government grants may be awarded upon application only and they are discretionary. The calls for applications for discretionary government grants always include more specific conditions, which the applicant must fulfil. The use of discretionary government grants is monitored and audited. 

The calls for grant applications of all state aid authorities are available in the State Treasury’s online service.

Improving government grant activities

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment participates in the development work on government grant activities led by the Ministry of Finance and the State Treasury. As a result of this work, the central government will gradually adopt a common operating model for government grant activities and introduce common online services to support them. 

Discretionary government grants – Ministry of Finance (vm.fi)

The government grant activities include three online services:

  • Applyforgrants.fi for applicants and beneficiaries of grants,
  • Exploregrants.fi for state aid authorities for the administration and processing of government grants; and
  • Managegrants.fi for all those interested in knowing how much, to whom and for what purposes discretionary government grants have been awarded.

The development of government grant activities and the new operating model aim to 

  • improve the effectiveness of government grant activities,
  • increase the openness and transparency of government grant activities,
  • ease the application for and awarding of discretionary government grants and make the process more efficient, and
  • harmonise the practices for discretionary government grant activities

The online services for discretionary government grants are developed and maintained by the State Treasury, which is also responsible for the technical support of the service. As before, the state aid authorities are responsible for the conditions of the grant applications and the awarding of grants.

Government grant services | State Treasury

Publicity of grant information

Information on discretionary government grants awarded by all state aid authorities is published in the online services for discretionary government grants, which supports the openness and transparency of government grant activities.

The minimum information concerning the calls for government grants is available at the Applyforgrants.fi service and the minimum information on government grant applications and decisions can be found at the Tutkiavustuksia.fi service. This is based on the statutory obligation of all state aid authorities to provide minimum information on discretionary government grants. 

Applying for discretionary government grants

Beginning in autumn 2024, applications for discretionary government grants of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be processed by the online service for discretionary government grants. All discretionary government grants that can be applied for can be found at applyforgrants.fi.

A description of the impact chain must be appended to the application for discretionary government grants submitted at applyforgrants.fi.

Standard terms of the discretionary government grants of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has introduced new standard terms for discretionary government grants starting on 16 September 2024. The standard terms are applied to new calls for discretionary government grants made by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment through the online service for discretionary government grants. 
The standard terms are part of the calls for applications published at the applyforgrants.fi service and the decisions on awarding discretionary government grants. Any exceptions and additions to standard terms related to specific discretionary government grant applications will be detailed under Additional terms/Application-specific exceptions to standard terms in the call for applications.

Inquiries:

Questions concerning a specific call for grant applications:

  • contact person mentioned in the call for applications

Questions concerning a specific grant:

  • presenting officer/provider of additional information mentioned in the grant decision

Development of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s government grant activities:

  • Jenni Hyvärinen, Ministerial Adviser, Project Manager for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s project to develop and launch government grant activities, Steering Unit, tel. +358 295 049 288, [email protected]