> Social Affairs Minister Wouter Koolmees told Parliament there was little the government could legally do to force Booking.com to return the money because the bonus provision was not immediately included in the rules. He said it was more important to maintain a consistent government than to apply the bonus rule retroactively and without warning.

This sounds either lazy or corrupt. There’s no need to retroactively apply the rule, but there are consequences that could be applied in the future, like forbidding companies that used the money for bonuses to apply for other government grants. Doing nothing because it’s “more important to maintain a consistent government” is messed up.