Dispute over grants: Rydman backs down on eligibility criterion, removes reference to “identity groups”

A reference to “identity groups” has been removed from Finland’s application notice for grants to social and health organizations, marking a new turn in a dispute that has occupied the government throughout the summer.

The updated notice for Stea grants will be published on Tuesday. The concrete change concerns a criterion that Minister Wille Rydman had included in the application process. The decision follows objections from government coalition partners, who became angry after Rydman independently set out his position on the criteria for grants to social and health organizations.

Rydman had previously insisted that neither the application notice nor its criteria needed to be changed. The latest version nevertheless removes the reference to identity groups. According to the description of the revised notice, Rydman says the other criteria remain in force as a guiding document.