Better opportunities for the Swedish Tax Agency to perform data analyses and selections in population registration activities

Boriana Åberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating the report Better opportunities for the Swedish Tax Agency to perform data analyses and selections in the population registration activities, as well as a number of motions related to the area of population registration.

The proposed legislative amendments aim to reduce the number of errors in the population registration activities. In short: the Swedish Tax Agency shall be able to process personal data to perform data analyses and selections for the purpose of detecting, identifying, and preventing incorrect data in the population registration. For the data collected for analysis and selection, it is proposed that a specific database be created, and to reduce the infringement on personal privacy that the proposal may entail, a number of provisions are introduced.

Mr. Speaker! Population registration is a topic that engages. Being registered at an address in Sweden is often a prerequisite for receiving benefits and compensations from the public sector. Therefore, there must be order and clarity in the population registration, and therefore the Swedish Tax Agency needs sharper tools to combat the widespread fraud.

When the Director General of the Swedish Tax Agency, Katrin Westling Palm, visited the Committee on Taxation some years ago, she compared the lack of powers to perform selections to looking for a needle in a haystack.

The information regarding Daesh terrorists who traveled to Syria to murder and torture while simultaneously receiving housing allowances and child allowances, as well as the revelation about Iraq's then defense minister al-Shammari, who inflated the minister's salary with contributions from Sweden, has shown how important correct population registration is.

But there are also a number of lesser-known cases where people registered in Sweden receive guaranteed pensions and housing allowances even though they have in reality moved to their old home countries. There are also cases where the recipient of the guaranteed pension has died, but the pension continues to be collected by relatives. Fraud involving child allowance, multi-child supplement, maintenance support, and parental leave pay is also very extensive. People move abroad without deregistering and continue to collect benefits amounting to hundreds of thousands of kronor.

These are funds that are practically impossible to recover. In total, the state treasury is drained of between 8 and 20 billion kronor annually - money that could have gone to the common welfare and benefited people who truly need society's support.

But one definitely does not need to move abroad to commit crimes with the help of incorrect population registration. The ingenuity regarding what can be done here in Sweden is also great.

Recently, at a seminar on the census organized by the Expert Group for Studies in Public Economics, an official who had previously been active in Södertälje municipality described various crime schemes made possible due to incorrect population registration.

For example, it was mentioned that a couple who are falsely separated receive an extra apartment from the public housing company, which they rent out to people who are illegally in Sweden and who are exploited by criminal gangs for black labor, often under slave-like conditions.

When the waste situation outside the residences begins to signal that significantly more people live in the area than it is dimensioned for, something that leads to the landlords reacting, the waste is instead started to be thrown into the nearby forest. In addition to incorrect population registration, illegal subletting, undeclared work, and tax crimes, this case has therefore also resulted in an environmental crime.

The official also told about how criminals register their folkbokföring at incorrect addresses, where they show no visible income or belongings at all. Through this, they become entitled to receive both rent and maintenance payments. In order to avoid labor market measures, they obtain medical certificates from less scrupulous doctors. At the same time, these criminals live somewhere else, where they and their belongings are out of reach for both the police and the enforcement authority (kronofogden).

Mr. Speaker! Incorrect population registration causes much other misery. Children who grow up at an address where they are not registered must keep quiet about where they live, cannot take friends home, and are sometimes forced to attend a school very far from their residence in order not to arouse suspicion.

Those who are incorrectly registered in the population register do not tell the landlord when they see drug dealing taking place in the laundry room or when other crimes are committed. They also do not dare to testify for fear that their identity and incorrect population registration will be revealed. In addition to the crimes directly linked to the incorrect population registration, such as social security fraud, tax crimes, illegal rentals, etcetera, the incorrect population registration thus leads to a culture of silence and passivity towards crime occurring in the surroundings, which is thereby facilitated.

Extensive efforts are required to combat crime. Giving Skatteverket better opportunities to perform analyses and selections in the population registration activities is something that Skatteverket has long desired and which is a matter of course to accommodate. In order to be able to work effectively, functioning and modern tools are required to identify who should be checked.

Mr. Speaker! I vote in favor of the bill.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Boriana for the speech.

The picture of the problems with the population register that Boriana Åberg shares with us fits very well, and here we are in complete agreement. Sweden has perhaps been somewhat naive when it comes to welfare crime. The Riksdag has discussed this issue many times and also made relatively many decisions to rectify the problems. It concerns stricter rules for coordination numbers, improved quality in the population register, which now means a mandatory visit to the tax office for the issuance of coordination numbers, the possibility for the Swedish Tax Agency to conduct home visits, rejecting false addresses and using biometric data. Now it is proposed that the Swedish Tax Agency should be allowed to perform targeted selections and analyses, which is very good, and this proposal has been developed exemplary quickly by the government.

Almost a year ago, the Riksdag made a decision by a one-vote majority on a notification to the government regarding a referendum. I believe it would have been a three-vote majority now if the same parties were behind it today.

My question to Boriana Åberg is: Given the decisions that have already been made in the chamber, is it the Moderaternas view that a national census is still needed in accordance with last year's announcement?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! Let me clarify the concept of census, as it can have two meanings.

One is to produce statistical and demographic data on the number of people, where they live and so on. This has been done in Sweden in previous censuses through letters that were sent home and where each person was expected to fill in information in good faith.

Now we live in a different reality where internationalization, digitalization, and uncontrolled migration have put Sweden in a situation we cannot handle. The explosions and shootings that occur practically every week are largely due to crimes that have their root in incorrect and deficient population registration and in the fact that people are in Sweden without having the right to be.

The second meaning of the census is to implement measures that ensure a correct population registration, and it is this that the Tidö parties have promised to carry out. The Government will return with proposals for a battery of measures. Skatteverket has been tasked with proposing in what way and with what supplementary measures an assurance of correct registration of everyone in the country shall be carried out.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Since 1990, a traditional census with survey letters has not been carried out in the way the member described. Instead, following certain legislative changes, in-depth register-based controls have been conducted according to a model used in large parts of Europe.

I will not ask how a national census is to be conducted, as the member states that the government will return. But I still venture to ask what tasks it is that the Moderaterna and the other Tidö parties think are missing - given all the decisions that have been made in the chamber? What are the additional tasks that the Moderaterna want to be developed in order to address the problems that the member quite accurately describes? What are the tasks that are missing?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! We still do not know how many people there are in Sweden, who these people are, and how many are using a false identity.

The Swedish Tax Agency has initiated a measure involving targeted controls through door-knocking in areas where incorrect population registration is suspected. The Finance Minister himself participated in such a control in a one-room apartment where several men were registered. It turned out that one was in Syria, another in Turkey, and a third probably did not even have the right to be in Sweden.

This effort shall be supplemented by people who have arranged conditions approving their tasks via BankID.

Information is needed on how many people there are in Sweden, how many of them do not have the right to be here, and how many use false identities to obtain benefits and entitlements from the public sector.

With these measures, we want to prevent theft of public funds and curb crime.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sofie Eriksson (S)

Mr. Speaker! A big thank you to Boriana Åberg for an engaging speech. I think Boriana Åberg describes the problems that exist in a very meritorious way, and I really want to thank her for that.

I want to further address the issue of the census. It is interesting to hear the shift that is occurring in this room right now. During the election campaign and the previous parliamentary term, the Moderaterna and other parties in the front row demanded a large-scale national census. In interpellations, motions, in general shared images on social media, and in election promises, this has been demanded. One has also many times condemned the policy that my party has implemented, that is to say a change of course in the area which has been very justified – and this report is a continuation of this.

I note now that one no longer speaks of a large-scale national census where every single toothbrush and every single toothbrush in the country is to be counted. Now it is a process. There is no end date. The quality of the registers shall be strengthened.

But we are already doing this, and it has just begun. What do you say to all the voters who voted for these parties, partly because they think that every single toothbrush in the country should be counted? What is the reason for switching sides now?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Sofie Eriksson for the very emotional question.

What Sofie Eriksson refers to as "chest resonance" was our election promise, that is, to get rid of all crime - especially that which is rooted in incorrect population registration. It is not a promise that we have backed away from. On the contrary! We intend to fulfill all our election promises.

Then it was a question of whether we have failed the Social Democratic policy in this area. Yes, we have. Those who remember will remember when Magdalena Andersson gave directives regarding coordination numbers. At that time, her directive was how one could even more easily allocate coordination numbers to people who cannot be registered in Sweden. It is, among others, my party that has noted that coordination numbers are allocated easily; it is enough to buy a used car and send a poor copy of one's driver's license from abroad, and then one receives a coordination number in Sweden. There are reasons to be self-critical when one sees that we have failed an incorrect policy. For this, we have had good grounds.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sofie Eriksson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I note that the member is changing the subject and talking about coordination numbers, where we have already adopted two new laws in the area - submitted to the Riksdag by the previous government.

It is clear that the opinion has been changed in this matter. You went out to the voters and said that a large-scale national census would be carried out. You were going to go out and knock on doors and find out every single person in the country, and you did not want to say what it would cost - but you promised this to the voters.

The question now is what the voters think about the shift in position. What do the Sweden Democrats think, who continue to push on the issue? It seems to have become a sport to say things before the election – promise 10 kronor lower diesel prices and a high-cost protection for the winter – and then wave them away a bit as one pleases once one has come to power.

One must keep in mind that it was a question of a large-scale national census. There is a definition of what it is, namely a snapshot, a cross-section, of what the population looks like. The latest register-based census was carried out in 2021. Still, it has been said that it is a matter of something big, an enormous project with a deadline for delivery. But here and now we are told that it will not be done. Instead, the Social Democratic policy of strengthening the quality of the registers will continue—and that is positive. But we must be honest about what is happening in this moment.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Boriana Åberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! I want to emphasize once again that a census will be carried out in the sense of taking measures to ensure correct population registration. In some areas, this will involve knocking on doors, seeing who lives there, whether they have the right to stay in Sweden, and which addresses they should have in that case.

People with an unblemished record shall be able to verify their information via BankID. The census that Sofie Eriksson speaks about will be carried out, but not in the way that Sofie Eriksson tries to portray it as counting toothbrushes. No, one does not count toothbrushes, but rather ensures that people are correctly registered at the correct residential address. Those who do not have the right to be in Sweden shall be required to leave the country. Criminals who live in the wrong place or are registered at the wrong place shall have their belongings acquired through criminal activity seized by the Enforcement Authority. In that way, the criminals shall pay all the debts to crime victims that they have and which they are now avoiding paying, because they are registered in residences where there is nothing of value to be seized.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sofie Eriksson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Correct population registration is important for society to function. The information in the population registration forms the basis for many of our rights and obligations in Sweden.

According to the Expert Group for Studies in Public Finance, Swedish population registration maintains high quality in an international comparison, and it is positive to have good population registration compared to other countries. But in many ways it has become clear that there are also problems linked to the population registration. Fraud and errors are used to exploit systems, hide criminal activity, or evade in other ways. Therefore, a long series of measures have been implemented.

The previous government implemented a change of course regarding strengthening the control and quality in the population registration activities. Skatteverket has received more money and more opportunities to conduct home visits, the population registration crime has been reintroduced, and confidentiality barriers have been broken to achieve better information exchange between authorities. Skatteverket shall receive information from other authorities in case of suspicion of errors in the population registration, and a number of coordination numbers have been struck off.

The previous S-government also introduced a law on personal appearance and the use of biometric methods to strengthen the control of a person's identity upon moving to Sweden, as well as two laws on coordination numbers. There are many long and complicated terms, but it is simply about changes that strengthen and improve the population registration.

Today we are addressing another step in the process of improving quality and control, namely the Committee on Taxation's report 8 Better opportunities for the Swedish Tax Agency to perform data analyses and sampling in population registration activities.

The purpose of this is to reduce the amount of errors and fraud in the population register through an analysis and selection database where the authority can use data to stratify cases. In short, one should be able to focus the most effort where it is most needed. In this way, one can prevent, preclude, and detect inaccuracies better than can be done today.

Fraud and errors in the population register are serious, because it leads to the spread of problems in society in a broader sense. That is how it becomes, because the population register forms the basis for societal planning and for various investigations and decisions by the public authorities.

By cheating with one's registered address, one can commit fraud and obtain welfare payments that one is not entitled to. It is an unacceptable behavior that undermines trust in society and support for our common systems.

Other examples have concerned children who have been incorrectly registered in the population register, which leads to serious deficiencies in contact with social services and school. There are cases where children who have missed school cannot be found because they are registered at the wrong address. This leads to great uncertainty and risks for these children from a child's perspective, but of course also to problems and costs for the municipalities that have to conduct the investigations.

According to a pilot project that Skatteverket had with eight municipalities in Sweden that have major problems with these issues, it has also occurred that independent schools have given the impression that children who have moved from the country are still studying at the school. In this way, the school can retain the student funding. This can thus be done by the child incorrectly remaining registered as resident in Sweden.

There are many reasons why we have implemented this course change and why we need more measures. With the help of increased quality and order in the population registration, fraud can be detected and addressed.

Mr. Speaker! I would like to move for approval of reservation 3. There are more measures that need to be taken to strengthen the population registration, and in the motion to which the reservation refers, a number of them are mentioned.

A proposal that we think should be looked at more is a public ownership register for condominiums.

Another concerns clarifications that the Swedish Tax Agency shall be able to report suspicion of errors in payments from welfare systems even when the error does not concern the person who is incorrectly registered in the population register, but where the incorrectness enables another person to receive payments. One example of this is so-called "skenseparationer" (sham separations), where a couple continues to live together but on paper have separated and thus are entitled to different types of payments.

I would also like to take a small moment to reflect on what is happening.

We have had an election campaign where parties that are now part of the government base have stood on the barricades and demanded a large-scale national census. It has sounded like this is going to be the project of the century. It has been described as the only way to do this, and those who have been a bit questioning about what it will cost and what the actual benefit of a snapshot is have been described as completely blind to the problems.

Now that one is in power, one changes the meaning of the concept of a census. One claims that it is no longer about a snapshot, but says that what has been promised is to strengthen the quality. That is not true. A census has been promised, for which there is an established definition. Now, a departure from that promise is being made, and the voters should know it. There is, therefore, a new point on the list of broken promises, and that point is called census.

In summary: Many population registration errors are quite harmless; that must also be remembered. People forget or have too little information. Sometimes it can sound in the debate as if everything is in flames. That is not really the case. But the problems that exist and have existed are in some cases so serious that they can have large ripple effects.

We must have a population registry that works, maintains high quality, and is reliable. We stand guard over it by strengthening it.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

David Lång (SD)

Mr. Speaker! The Government's proposal aims to give the Swedish Tax Agency better opportunities to reduce the amount of errors in the population registration activities, and it is necessary. The Sweden Democrats support the proposal.

The population register is intended to meet society's needs for basic data on the population in Sweden. The registers are for showing where in the country a person shall be taxed and where the person has the right to vote. They also serve as a basis for payments from the welfare systems and as a basis for social planning and research.

It appears from the government's proposition that the analysis of the population registration error that the Swedish Tax Agency performs only covers persons who are or should be registered in Sweden. Persons staying in the country without legal right are by definition not included in the population registration error, and the same applies to persons with coordination numbers who stay in the country temporarily. The analysis also does not cover errors in, for example, names or relationships.

Mr. Speaker! The National Audit Office published an audit report in 2017 where it was stated that one of the problems with the population registration is the reduced incentive to report correct information to the Swedish Tax Agency, partly due to problems on the housing market. Other reasons for inaccuracies in the population registration are moves to and from Sweden.

The National Audit Office notes that there is a lack of knowledge regarding how extensive the population registration errors are, despite the government having requested that the Swedish Tax Agency make an assessment of the quality of the population registration. The National Audit Office's conclusion is that the Swedish Tax Agency's quality work is not being conducted in an effective manner. The Swedish Tax Agency has estimated that approximately 200,000 people are incorrectly registered in the population register in Sweden, but they admit that the actual number could be much higher than that. No one knows for sure.

We have seen examples of how incorrect population registration is exploited for welfare fraud and so that illegal migrants who do not have the right to stay in Sweden can remain hidden.

We have seen examples of how people have suddenly had a subtenant who has only registered at someone else's address without that person's knowledge. This is perceived as extremely unpleasant by the person affected and can, in some cases, also have negative practical consequences, for example, missing out on various types of benefits.

There are examples of dozens and sometimes hundreds of people being registered as residents at the same address. It occurs that the person receiving the benefit incorrectly states Sweden as their address but lives abroad without the authorities' knowledge.

Beneath the surface, there is extensive abuse of transfer systems and grants. The lack of control also facilitates shady activities in general, which can indirectly pave the way for more serious crime. There are loopholes in the system that are exploited by criminal networks, which results not only in the abuse of the transfer systems but also in persons who do not have the right to be in the country or who have entered illegally committing crimes or being used as black-market labor.

A new branch within organized crime has opened up where addresses are sold to foreigners. Among other things, the gymnasielagen has contributed to that.

Mr. Speaker! In the government's proposal, it is suggested that the Swedish Tax Agency shall maintain an analysis and selection database, where personal data shall be allowed to be processed to provide information needed for data analyses and selection in order to prevent, deter, and detect incorrect information in the population registration activities. The data that may be processed in the population registration database today shall also, in principle, be allowed to be processed in the analysis and selection database.

A provision in the Act shall state that the Government or the authority designated by the Government may issue further regulations on which tasks may be processed in the analysis and selection database.

It also appears that there shall be confidentiality - certain search prohibitions shall apply, and the methods for obtaining samples and search terms shall be documented so that they can be checked in retrospect. Furthermore, it appears that additional provisions on protective measures may be regulated by ordinance.

Mr. Speaker! The migration policy of recent decades has resulted in a great amount of disorder regarding who stays in Sweden. Furthermore, there has been an administrative disorder when it comes to the allocation of coordination numbers for persons who have come to Sweden. Several authorities have had the opportunity to allocate coordination numbers to persons.

We have long expressed criticism regarding the disorder created by this procedure. We believe that coordination numbers should only be obtainable by appearing in person at one and the same authority, preferably the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), and upon presentation of valid identification and registration of the individual's biometric data. This is to prevent a person from having multiple coordination numbers or for other disorder in the system to arise, for example, that persons who have been issued a coordination number disappear from the database.

Coordination numbers should have a time limit so that those that are no longer used for the purpose for which they were issued can be removed. To obtain a coordination number, personal appearance and registration of biometric data should therefore be required. A total review is therefore needed, something we have proposed for some time.

Mr. Speaker! In this report, both the government's proposition 41 and motions from the general motion period are addressed. I move for approval of reservation 9.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jessica Wetterling (V)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by moving for approval of reservation 1 in this matter and thereby a rejection of the government's bill.

Some members have previously been creative here when it comes to the population register. That is obviously bad. Vänsterpartiet also thinks that there should be order and clarity within our population register.

Unfortunately, one could say that the members of the Riksdag, and particularly former members of the Committee on Taxation, have shown their own examples and evidence of just this ingenuity and of ignorance regarding the difficult legislation that this apparently is. It is still a bit interesting in context, I think. Sometimes perhaps it is so that one feels others through oneself.

Vänsterpartiet considers it to be of great importance that we have order and clarity within the population registry. It is a prerequisite for our authorities to be able to make correct, legally secure, and effective decisions. It is also a prerequisite for being able to maintain the societal trust in one another and the confidence in our common welfare system.

Not least, it is particularly important in order to address the organized crime that targets our welfare systems specifically. Unfortunately, several of the measures that have previously been taken with the aim of strengthening order and control in the population registration system have had very undesirable effects.

In 2018, the Population Registration Act was tightened in order to combat benefit fraud and organized crime. It then became a criminal offense to register one's residence at a wrong address. One can receive up to two years of imprisonment. The intention of the legislative change was stated to be that they wanted to tackle precisely organized crime, trade with black contracts, and benefit fraud.

When the tightening of the law was implemented, the government and the responsible minister assured that persons lacking intent would not be prosecuted. For example, the responsible minister said in an interview that "when it concerns minor cases, where there is no intent to exploit the system for example, there you will not prosecute."

But, Mr. Speaker, that is not how it turned out. In 2021, the newspaper Hem & Hyra presented a review of the 123 cases that have gone to prosecution since the law change came into force. Contrary to what the Minister said and promised, it was primarily people whose purpose had not been to exploit the system who had been prosecuted and convicted, people whose only crime was that they were homeless in the Sweden of housing shortages.

The review simply showed that the Population Registration Act lacks the accuracy that can be expected. Until now, it is therefore primarily people without their own home who have been brought to justice, not the professional criminals and welfare fraudsters that one wants to reach.

Vänsterpartiet therefore proposed through a committee initiative that the government should change the population registration legislation so that homeless people and other persons who have not engaged in welfare crimes are decriminalized. Unfortunately, our proposal did not receive support from enough other parties.

Since then, the problems with the new legislation have continued. For example, the Riksdag decided last year to give Skatteverket expanded powers to conduct inspection visits and to abolish the possibility of being registered as a resident without a known domicile. This is something that risks leading to persons who already live in great vulnerability due to homelessness being able to lose their pension or other benefits from the social insurances.

Mr. Speaker! This is another proposal from the government aimed at giving the Swedish Tax Agency expanded possibilities. This time, it is about being able to use data from the population registration database and data from other authorities and create an analysis and selection database.

The purpose of rectifying inaccuracies in the population register is something that the Left Party also shares, and we also see that the Swedish Tax Agency may need to be given more opportunities than today to perform data analyses. Just as I have already said, it is also important for the Left Party to have order and clarity in the population register, especially when it comes to tackling organized crime.

Mr. Speaker! The reason why the Left Party, even though we also see that this is an important issue, moves for the rejection of the government's proposal is that this is a deeply problematic proposal because it does not clearly regulate in law which tasks shall be processed in the Swedish Tax Agency's database. This means that an immense amount of sensitive personal data will be processed.

The Government considers it impossible today to predict the exact extent of which data will be processed in the database, while we in Vänsterpartiet consider that it must be and is necessary to limit and specify which data shall be included. We believe that the proposal lacks proportionality and that it also risks leading to significant infringements of personal privacy.

It is not only Vänsterpartiet that thinks so, but actually a rather weighty referral body in this specific context, namely the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten). They reject this proposal, just as we do, because the government's proposal "lacks a careful analysis and closer considerations regarding how the proposal concerning the analysis and selection database affects individuals' personal privacy." IMY also notes that the data collection will contain a large amount of data about a large number of people and that it will involve a mapping of individuals.

Mr. Speaker! The Swedish Bar Association is also strongly critical, as the Swedish Tax Agency will be given a very large scope to process personal data for virtually the entire population of Sweden. The Bar Association points out that in all legislation concerning the processing of personal data and sensitive information, it is important not only to assess what is appropriate for different types of activities but also to take into account how the proposed regulation affects the protection of personal privacy.

This is not something I have made up; rather, this right actually follows from the European Convention, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, our Instrument of Government, and the EU General Data Protection Regulation. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the risk of personal data and other sensitive information being disseminated in an inappropriate way as a result of new legislative proposals is assessed, because I believe that we all in this room, and also the chamber at large, consider that the constitutionally protected privacy protection in our Instrument of Government and the individual's legal certainty need to be able to be upheld.

We therefore agree with these referral bodies' criticism, and therefore we have also requested that the government should return with a proposal for legislation that more clearly clarifies what types of tasks may be processed in the analysis and selection database.

For Vänsterpartiet, it is important to resolve the population registration problems. With this proposal, however, there is a risk of making vulnerable people even more vulnerable.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Here we are again discussing population registration, this time a proposal from the government that Skatteverket should be allowed to perform selections and data analyses to prevent fraud. This, as I have said, we have discussed many times since 2018, when I entered this chamber.

The report, which is also a motion report, contains many important questions. I thought I would start by speaking about one of the Center Party's most important points of entry in this, namely that the population register risks revealing persons who live with some form of protected identity – read women.

I usually take the example of how we were isolated and restricted in everyday life during the corona pandemic. It was discussed extensively and even questioned in this chamber whether it was even legal and in accordance with our constitutional laws to make decisions on the restrictions that we lived under. And when the restrictions eased, we were happy: Finally, we can travel almost wherever we want and meet whoever we want!

Mr. Speaker! This does not apply to all citizens in Sweden. I am speaking about the women who are forced to live hidden because their lives and health are threatened by a man they have or have had a relationship with and who live with these restrictions every day, every hour and every minute. These women's fundamental rights are sidelined while the freedom of movement of violent men often weighs heavier than the safety and security of women and children. It is the women who must flee and hide while men still have the freedom to seek out or otherwise contact the woman and thereby continue the threats and harassment.

What does this have to do with the population register? Well, there are examples where municipalities have been forced to provide information on whether a woman works within the municipality or not, even though the woman has had a form of protected identity. The principle of public access proves to weigh heavier than the woman's legal certainty. These are flaws that exist today and which are mentioned in the report, where it is actually claimed that the opposite will prevail, namely that the duty of confidentiality resulting from the new secrecy regulations shall take precedence over the freedom of communication. We shall have to see how it turns out.

The Gender Equality Authority is working on this issue and has submitted a report where they discuss how this could have happened and how it should be addressed, that is, that protected identities have been revealed and that women have consequently been exposed to life-threatening danger. Until this is resolved, the Center Party will stand on the side of the exposed women, and I move for approval of reservation 8 which concerns exactly this.

I would also like to mention reservation 5 in the committee report, and it concerns the population registration of children at two addresses. It is an issue that the Center Party has championed for a long time. It is not necessarily about children having double population registration addresses. The point of the reservation is that official mail should automatically be sent to both of the child's guardians, who may therefore be registered at different addresses. Today, such mail is only sent to the child's residential parent, even if both parents are guardians. That official mail—mail regarding health and medical care, preschool, school, etc.—reaches both parents can also promote a better dialogue between the parents regarding the child.

Should this be necessary? Yes, if it resolves conflicts. We know that today, post-separation violence is practiced, most often by men against women. If this can be a way to resolve it, then it is good. In that case, it is an important measure. The rules that are currently established within Skatteverket for how to handle this in cases where the parents do not agree sound almost ridiculous. It would be simpler to just write two addresses, or at least write that official mail should be sent to two addresses.

Yes, I know that this does not concern many cases, but if it is even just one woman who can escape the domestic violence that can be the consequence, we win from this, and then we are prepared to work for it. I therefore take the liberty of also demanding approval for reservation 5.

Back to the population register in general. Having correct information about who lives and is located in Sweden is, of course, important in many aspects. And we know that in recent years, over many years, there has been an increasing crime linked to deficiencies in the population register. We know that it can involve money laundering, undeclared work, tax crimes, fraud, cheating on residence rights in the country, and identity-related crimes. We can probably state that Sweden has been a bit naive in this and poorly equipped for what we call welfare crime, and it is clearly very important that this is addressed.

During the previous parliamentary term, several investigations and pilot projects were carried out to address these deficiencies. The Swedish National Audit Office's report from 2017 pointed out many deficiencies but also many experiences within the Swedish Tax Agency and within the authorities that could improve this. This led, among other things, to a pilot project, led by the Swedish Tax Agency, to prevent incorrect population registration linked to organized crime. This was a measure within the January agreement during the previous parliamentary term. When the Swedish Tax Agency submitted a report on this pilot project, many proposals for improvements also emerged, which among other things form the basis for the bill we are discussing today.

A census was not included as a measure. I think the government needs to stand up and answer the questions that actually many more than we have. It might not be something the average person talks about on the street or at Ica every day, but it is an important question what one actually wants with a national census. What will it cost? How will it be done? The question is whether it really is the right way to address these problems. We have already made many decisions, such as stricter rules for coordination numbers and strengthened quality in the population registration, which means that the Swedish Tax Agency already today has, or soon will have, the right to conduct field visits. We have also made decisions on mandatory visits for the issuance of coordination numbers, rejection of false addresses, use of biometric data and much more. I think the government should return as soon as possible with what is meant by a census, especially since it was pushed through with only a one-vote majority. It was not directly a large majority.

Better opportunities for Skatteverket to perform data analyses and selections in the population registration activities

But now it is time to give the Swedish Tax Agency even better opportunities to perform searches and selections in order to focus its control on areas with a high risk of fraud and where the best possible effect can be achieved – to conduct more scrutiny on fewer but more relevant cases. Through inter-agency cooperation and good instruments, one can focus on the areas where it is known that the crime is greatest.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 23.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)