Swedish Parliament

The Kingdom of Swedenhas a single-chamber parliament called “the Riksdag”. Legislative power lies with the parliament, as set out in the Instrument of Government, one of Sweden’s four fundamental laws. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995.

THE RIKSDAG AT A GLANCE
Every four years, Swedish nationals over the age of 18 who live, or have once lived, in the realm elect the members of the Riksdag. The Riksdag is composed of 349 members. Parliament has its seat in Stockholm.

EU-MATTERS
The general aim is that the Riksdag shall play a central part in the handling of EU matters. The Riksdag shall be involved as early as possible and shall continuously monitor the legislative work at Union level throughout the decision-making process. There are a number of formal procedures in this respect.

The parliamentary committees are the core of the Riksdag’s handling of EU matters. They monitor activities in the European Union and call on the Government to provide information and deliberate with them in matters concerning European Union business. The parliamentary committees assess the compliance of draft legislative acts with the principle of subsidiarity as well as examine other strategic consultation documents. Only the Chamber is competent to make decisions on behalf of the Riksdag, for instance, to submit a reasoned opinion.

The Committee on EU Affairs is the Riksdag body responsible for consultations with the Government regarding the conduct of negotiations in the Council of the European Union prior to decisions in the Council. The Government shall also consult the Committee prior to meetings of the European Council.

Positions taken by the parliamentary Committees and the Committee on EU Affairs are not binding for the Government in a formal sense. However, the Government is always accountable to the Riksdag for its actions.

SCRUTINY – HOW DOES IT WORK?
Practical case – Reinforcing economic policy coordination (The “Six Pack”)

To illustrate how the Riksdag’s scrutiny of EU matters works in practice, a short retrospective is given below on the matter of economic policy coordination. To complete the picture one should bear in mind that, besides the formal procedures, there is a constant exchange of information and informal cooperative dialogue between the Government and the Riksdag.

The Commission’s Communication COM (2010) 250, Reinforcing economic policy coordination, was adopted in May 2010. The Communication was referred by the Chamber to the Committee on Finance for examination after decision by the Speaker and consultations with the parties of the Riksdag. The Committee on Finance presented an account of its examination to the Chamber in a written statement, 2010/11:FiU40. The statement was debated and decided on by the Chamber in late June. The statement was then submitted to the Commission for information within the political dialogue between the Commission and the national parliaments. A couple of days later, the Commission adopted a subsequent Communication, COM (2010) 367, which was taken note of by the Committee on Finance.

In late September, the Commission adopted the legislative package, COM (2010) 522–527. The proposals (besides document no. 523 which concerns a non-legislative act) were referred to the Committee on Finance for assessment of compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. As part of its assessment, the Committee called on the Minister for Finance for deliberations. The Committee concluded its assessment in mid-November, stating that the five proposals were in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. The Committee informed the Chamber of this decision via an extract from the minutes of the relevant meeting.

Prior to the first policy debate on the “Six Pack” in the ECOFIN Council at the beginning of February 2011, the Minister for Finance consulted the Committee on EU Affairs on the matter.

Meanwhile, consideration of the matter of economic policy coordination proceeded in the Committee on Finance. Its consideration resulted in the adoption of a committee initiative report, proposing that the Riksdag should issue an announcement to the Government to submit a written communication on the matter prior to the European Council meeting in March. This proposal was, however, rejected by the Chamber.

Prior to the second round of discussions on the “Six Pack” in the ECOFIN Council in mid-March, the Government once again consulted the Committee on EU Affairs. A majority in the Committee supported the Government position on the Council’s agreement on a general approach.

A week later, the Committee on Finance called on the Minister for Finance once again for deliberations, this time with special reference to the handling of reinforced economic policy coordination and the Euro Plus Pact by the spring European Council. The Prime Minister, on more general terms, consulted the Committee on EU Affairs prior to the European Council meeting.

In May, the “Six Pack” appeared for the third time on the Council agenda. Consequently, the Minister for Finance consulted the Committee on EU Affairs on the matter prior to the Council meeting.

In September, the Committee on EU Affairs was consulted by the Government according to a written procedure on the compromise on the legislative package reached by the European Parliament and the Council. Shortly afterwards, the Minister for Finance consulted the Committee on EU Affairs once again prior to the political agreement on the “Six Pack” reached by the ECOFIN Council on 4 October.

The final step was taken by the Committee on EU Affairs when approving to the Government’s position regarding the list of A-items for the ECOFIN Council on 8 October 2011, where the “Six Pack” was up for adoption. During consultations prior of the ECOFIN Council meeting the Committee on EU Affairs also gave its support for Council Conclusions on the scoreboard regarding the alert mechanism for the early detection of macroeconomic imbalances.(Information updated on 08.04.2019)

Follow-up of the Riksdag’s application of the principle of subsidiarity 2017 266 KB / 25/02/2019

Konstitutionsutskottets betänkande EU-arbetet i riksdagen 836 KB / 01/04/2019

Monitoring compliance with the principle of subsidiarity - Swedish Riksdag 72 KB / 14/05/2020

Consideration of documents coming from the EU - Swedish Riksdag 66 KB / 14/05/2020

IPEX broschyr SV version 1 MB / 25/02/2019