Background information

To mitigate the effect of rising energy costs caused by the war in Ukraine, the government of Finland has decided to temporarily compensate fuel costs for land transportation companies. The government wants to support transportation companies and ensure the security of fuel supplies by compensating transportation companies for their fuel costs.

The parliament passed the Act on Temporary Fuel Cost Support for the Transport Sector [Lakikuljetusalan yritysten määräaikaisesta polttoainetuesta] 763/2022 on 4 August, 2022. The act will be in force between 1 September and 31 December 2022. The aid is also subject to the Act on Government Aid [Valtionavustuslaki] 688/2001.

Content of measure

The support measure targets transporters of goods and people by land. The companies can have 5% of their fuel costs compensated for the period of February 2022 to April 2022. The law will apply to all forms of fuel and electricity energy, except fuel oil, which is banned for transport use. Each transportation companies can receive a maximum of €400,000 in support. Applications for support amounting to less than €250 will not be considered.Applications to receive support had to have been submitted by 30 November 2022.

The government has earmarked €75 million for this measure. The support is administered by the State Treasury [Valtiokonttori].

Use of measure

Around 150,000 people earn their living in the road transportation sector in Finland. There are around 9,000 companies in the road goods transportation business. They generate a total of €6 billion. There are around 800 bus and coach transportation companies. They generate a total of €1.1 billion.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners were consulted in the formulation process of the temporary Act.

Views and reactions

The Finnish Confederation of Industries (EK) commented on the government’s proposal, stating that even though they support the aim of the measure, the eligibility criteria is questionable since a variety of sectors have been negatively impacted by the increase in fuel prices.

The trade union for taxi services Suomen Taksiliitto criticised the measure because taxi services were excluded form the measure. The measure is focused on supporting larger transportation companies.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 02 July 2021: Temporary cost support for transportation companies)(Kuljetus­yrityksille määräaikainen polttoainetuki) (www.hs.fi)
• 08 June 2022: Statement from the Finnish Confederation of Industries regarding the fuel cost support (www.eduskunta.fi)
• 22 June 2022: Parliamentary response 83/2022 (Eduskunnan vastaus EV 83/2022vp) (www.eduskunta.fi)