Abolishing university pharmacy compensation
Act repealing section 75, subsection 3 and section 92 a of the Universities Act
The state will end the special compensation paid to the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland for the taxes and pharmacy fees paid by their pharmacies. The change will reduce the central government funding received by these universities.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 22 Oct 2015
- Latest event
- 17 Dec 2015
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 33
- Confirmed
- 30 Dec 2015
- Statute
- 1707/2015
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
Provisions in the Universities Act under which the state has compensated the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland for corporate income taxes and pharmacy fees paid on their pharmacy operations will be repealed.
What it means
The act will enter into force on 1 January 2017, bringing annual savings of approximately 31.7 million euros to the state. The abolition of funding affects the University of Helsinki (approximately 30.5 million euros) and the University of Eastern Finland (approximately 1.2 million euros), reducing their appropriations for teaching and research. The universities' right to operate a pharmacy and retain its profits will remain unchanged.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 15 Dec 2015Parliament passed the act by 113–71.
Government yes, opposition no. 15 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. The seating plan at the time of this vote is not archived, so MPs are grouped by party in indicative seats.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 30 Dec 2015.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
33 speeches · 3 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate centred on abolishing pharmacy compensation for the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland as part of central government spending cuts. The opposition strongly opposed the proposal, viewing it as endangering education and university autonomy, as well as discriminating against the two universities. The government parties defended the savings act as necessary for fiscal consolidation, but expressed hope that replacement funding would be found later.
- Does abolishing pharmacy compensation treat universities unequally?
- Do the cuts jeopardise the statutory duties of universities and the quality of teaching?
- Does the proposal infringe on the constitutional autonomy of universities?
- Was the impact assessment of the proposal sufficient?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour with reservations
The group supported the savings act in line with the government programme, but considered the additional adjustment for the two universities challenging and called, through a committee statement, for separate replacement funding to be sought in future budgets.
”Apteekkikompensaatio oli ehkä yksi tämmöisistä hankalimmista asioista, jossa jouduttiin kohtaamaan se, kohdistuvatko säästöt oikeudenmukaisesti Helsingin yliopiston ja Itä-Suomen yliopiston näkökulmasta.”
— Sanna Lauslahti - Centre PartyIn favour
The group considered the act a necessary measure given Finland's economic situation, transitioning to a unified university funding model, and hoped replacement funding could be found without undermining the position of other universities.
”Tässä on käyty hyvää keskustelua siitä, että tiedetään, että tämä on myös vakava säästöesitys ja säästölaki ja johtuu nimenomaan tästä Suomen vakavasta taloustilanteesta.”
— Marisanna Jarva - Social DemocratsAgainst
The group opposed the proposal because it directs unreasonably large additional cuts at two universities, weakens top-level research, leads to extensive redundancies, and interferes with university autonomy.
”Apteekkimaksun poistaminen on poissa Helsingin ja Itä-Suomen yliopistojen perusrahoituksesta.”
— Eeva-Johanna Eloranta - GreensAgainst
The group called for the rejection of the bill because it weakens operating conditions for traditional universities, winds down academic disciplines, and imposes unequal additional cuts on education.
”Tämä hallituksen esitys, joka kohdistuu Helsingin ja Itä-Suomen yliopistoihin, on jälleen yksi valitettava ja suora lisäleikkaus koulutukseen, osa hallituksen valtavia koulutusleikkauksia.”
— Hanna Halmeenpää - Left AllianceAgainst
The group proposed rejecting the act, considering that it erodes basic research and treats higher education institutions unequally in the name of short-sighted austerity policies.
”Tämä lakiesitys on yksi osa tätä tutkimuksen, osaamisen ja sivistyksen tuhoamispolitiikkaa, mitä tämä hallitus harjoittaa.”
— Li Andersson - Christian DemocratsAgainst
The group supported rejecting the proposal due to inadequate impact assessments, the endangering of universities' core tasks, and the unfair allocation of cuts.
”Kun näitä seikkoja ja monia muita asioita tässä ei ole otettu huomioon, niin ei oikeastaan ole vaihtoehtoja kuin olla tämän hylkäysesityksen kannalla.”
— Antero Laukkanen
This digest was generated by AI from 33 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin sivistysvaliokuntaan, jolle perustuslakivaliokunnan on annettava lausunto.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 76/2015 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 22 Oct 2015Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö
- 10 Nov 2015Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 9 Dec 2015Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sivistysvaliokunta
- 10 Dec 2015Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 15 Dec 2015Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 16 Dec 2015Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki yliopistolain 75 §:n 3 momentin ja 92 a §:n kumoamisestaHyväksytty · 1707/2015 · 30 Dec 2015
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki yliopistolain 75 §:n 3 momentin ja 92 a §:n kumoamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti säädetään:
1 §
Tällä lailla kumotaan yliopistolain (558/2009) 75 §:n 3 momentti ja 92 a §, sellaisina kuin ne ovat laissa 1117/2010.
2 §
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 2 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.