Culture, media, religious communities and leisure

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by expressing my approval of the committee's proposed decision.

Expenditure area 17 is a broad expenditure area that has a great impact on our society. We Sverigedemokrater have never actually made a secret of the fact that we prioritize cultural heritage in this committee report. Cultural heritage is the living part of history. It connects the Swedes of the past with us who live today.

Our influence and our prioritization of cultural heritage has been seen in previous budgets that we have submitted together with the government. It has been about renovating grant properties, castles, and environments that bring our history to life every day. It has been about digitalization initiatives to make accessible and preserve parts of the Swedish cultural heritage, as well as supporting central cultural institutions whose properties have been in need of renovations for a long time.

Even in this budget, we see initiatives for cultural heritage with Sweden Democrat hallmarks. For a couple of years now, we have submitted motions stating that Sweden needs to strengthen the preparedness linked to cultural heritage, not least considering the need that has emerged after Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. There, cultural heritage also in our day constitutes a military target.

Therefore, together with the government, we are adding 84 million kronor for the purpose of strengthening preparedness linked to cultural heritage. These funds shall be used for preparedness planning, including storage and special transports, to ensure that cultural heritage is protected in a crisis situation, which we, however, hope we never find ourselves in.

Nationalmuseum, the Swedish Museum of Natural History and Dramaten are being compensated for the increased rental costs that have been a consequence of the cost-rent model, which has not been expedient. Today, the government presented a proposal for a return to market rent for these cultural institutions. We are, of course, following this closely and will be a constructive party towards the government to ensure that these cultural institutions receive a reasonable rent.

Mr. Speaker! Churches all around our country have been an important carrier of our history. Sweden has been a Christian country for 1,000 years, and several of our churches reflect this thousand-year history. In many places, churches are also an important gathering place. Therefore, we are pleased that the church antiquarian compensation, which has been neglected for a very long time, is being increased. Nominally it may be a little, but the hope is that this is much-needed and a starting signal for future reinforcements of the ecclesiastical cultural heritage.

With this said, there is still much that needs to be done in this area. We continue to work for our common cultural heritage.

Mr. Speaker! I also want to mention the initiatives we are making specifically for the Jewish minority in Sweden. Since October 7, we have unfortunately seen that antisemitism has been expressed more strongly. It is deeply rooted in certain parts of the population, not least among those groups that have immigrated to Sweden from countries with antisemitic views and where it is unfortunately a common practice. But even from a political standpoint, from the left side, it has been expressed more strongly. And unfortunately, this has characterized the street scene in recent years.

Together with the government, we have therefore signaled our ambition to strengthen Jewish life in Sweden. We do this through a long-term strategy with concrete measures. For this purpose, we allocate 10.5 million kronor during 2025. The same amount is planned annually for 2026 and 2027. From 2028 to 2034, it is adjusted to 9 million kronor per year.

The strategy aims to promote and develop Jewish life and Jewish communities as well as safeguard their culture and tradition in our country. We believe that it is an important initiative, not least when we see that antisemitic slogans and actions have become frequently occurring.

Antisemitism has no place in Sweden. Therefore, I am proud that we, together with the government, are taking a stand against this and investing in curbing its growth while we stand up for the Jews' right to live and act in safety.

Mr. Speaker! The Swedish sports movement is a cornerstone of Swedish association life. It is a movement that, within a multitude of different sports, engages millions of Swedes every day. That being said, the sports movement faces great challenges, not least connected to the issue of local facilities and infrastructure.

There is a shortage of facilities, not least in our large cities. We Sweden Democrats have pointed this out for a long time. Therefore, for several years back, we have wanted to see a so-called local and infrastructure fund, according to the Danish model. It is also something we see several parties are adopting. It is gratifying when one receives confirmation for one's political proposals.

Unfortunately, that initiative is not to be found in the budget, even though it is something we would have liked to see. But we will continue to work for it.

Mr. Speaker! Earlier in my speech, I mentioned that we Sweden Democrats prioritize cultural heritage. But that does not mean that we neglect contemporary culture. However, we have a somewhat different view of contemporary culture in comparison to the opposition.

The Mykar report "How free is art" has been cited many times, not least in this chamber. It shows how easily meddlesome politicians steer the content through politically set goals. It becomes possible because of the economic dependence that many cultural creators have on public funds. One does not readily bite the hand that feeds them.

We Sweden Democrats have for a long time pointed this out and highlighted alternative financing methods that the cultural sector needs. It is always good to stand on several legs. A problem for entrepreneurs in general, but small business owners in particular, is the bureaucracy and the red tape that costs a lot of money and resources.

Many cultural creators are small business owners. Therefore, it is good that the Tidö parties are now addressing the issue and establishing, among other things, a regulatory simplification council, an implementation council, as well as a strategy for how the creative industries should become more profitable within the cultural sector. To have a free and strong contemporary culture, we need to strengthen the cultural and creative industries and not make them more dependent on state subsidies.

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Alexander Christiansson, for your exciting, interesting and eloquent speech!

Thank you also for raising issues such as cultural heritage and antisemitism, which is an incredibly important issue. I would have liked to see Alexander Christiansson have spoken a bit more about the general racism in society, because that is something that is eating away at society.

The member also speaks about sports. If the member wanted a construction fund, he could have voted for the Green Party's proposal. Unfortunately, that is not possible now, because that proposal has already fallen. But we allocated 130 million to a construction fund.

I want to return to this matter of cultural heritage. We see in Ukraine how important it is to protect cultural heritage. I truly agree with that. But another thing one also sees in Ukraine is how important cultural life is for morality, for uniting the country and holding the country together. People are reading as never before, and they go to concerts and theater performances and so on. I will speak about that in my speech as well.

However, this government is cutting back very significantly on culture at a time when one is investing very much in defense. Can the member comment on why the government is cutting back on culture when one knows how important it is for civil defense and total defense in a country that is in crisis and war?

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the member for the question.

As I said in my speech, we have a different view on contemporary culture, for I assume that is what this member is referring to. We are working hard in the government to create conditions for cultural creators to be able to stand on more than just state grants. Now, the difference in some parts of the budget is marginal. I believe that, for example, we are reducing the cultural cooperation model by 20 million. It has 1.6 billion in appropriations, which means a marginal difference.

This is not so strange because we have a government with a different view on taxes, on entrepreneurship, and on creating conditions for people to live and decide over their own lives. Somewhere, perhaps, it lies in the direction of the tangent that we work in this way.

I think it might be a bit high-flown when one claims that we are cutting the culture budget by an enormous amount. It is a marginal difference, and it is not as brutally dangerous as many make it out to be.

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Alexander Christiansson for the answer.

I do not quite agree that it is a marginal difference. Looking at the entire expenditure area, Miljöpartiet adds over 2 billion more in a budget of 16-17 billion. That is still 12 ½ percent.

Regarding the cultural cooperation model, there has actually been a lack of money in it ever since the start. More money was needed there. Last year, you did not compensate for inflation in the price and wage recalculation, and now the government is also cutting back. The member may continue to comment on this.

I would like to take the opportunity to ask another question, namely about the study associations. The Sweden Democrats have been proactive in cutting the grants to the study associations. We have previously had a fairly large consensus in the chamber on how important the study associations are, not least for democracy and the vibrant cultural life.

As I understand it, there are various reasons for why a reduction is being made now. Before I entered the Riksdag, I had a debate with a Sverigedemokrat in Stockholm's municipal council who claimed that this was straight through a Social Democratic project and that we could not have such a thing. Reference has been made to fraud that occurred five years ago and which has been addressed, so I think that is a pretext. Perhaps it has to do with democracy.

I want to ask about the effects of the cuts. The cuts mean that premises are being closed all over the country and especially in small towns. They are affected when perhaps the only premises close. It is not just the people's education that is affected, but it concerns the entire cultural life. Music houses, rehearsal rooms for young people and rock bands are affected. Was the intention with the cuts to the study associations that it would affect the cultural life this severely?

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! In response to all questions, it is that these are actually different ways of looking at things.

I had a conversation a few years ago with a researcher in process development for the welfare sector. This professor worked both in Shanghai and at KTH here in Stockholm. He spoke quite a bit about something one could call holes in the bucket. A very large amount of money disappears. It is tax funds that leak out into various things and many do not actually know where they go. Studieförbunden is a good example of this, which the Swedish National Audit Office has pointed out.

Of course, one can stand and shout for more and more money. But then there is also what is usually called the transfer effect, that is to say, an inefficiency in the system. One builds problems into the system that cause funds to leak out in various ways, and it is not sustainable over time.

One can absolutely say that one is adding 2 billion more, but then it becomes a bit of a populist tone, as it often tends to be before not least election campaigns. "We shall have 2,000 police officers" or "We shall have 20,000 police officers" - it is about who spends the most money. I and the Sverigedemokraterna do not reason that way. We consider how one can plug the holes and how one makes things more efficient.

It is not always the case that more money is needed, which researchers also say, but it is about streamlining different operations. If one continues to only do the same thing all the time, no change will occur. One must then step in and do something. It sometimes requires making cuts and reallocating resources in different ways.

I stand behind the budget and think it is good. Of course, one can add 2 billion more, and that is an opportunity that an opposition party has. I thank you for the question.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Sweden Democrats said in their main speech that the Sweden Democrats prioritize cultural heritage policy. For a long time, they have asserted towards me and other Social Democrats that they are Sweden's foremost cultural heritage policy representatives in this chamber, and I am very curious about one thing. The Sweden Democrats have long said that they shall be just that and have given a promise to the Swedish people that they will allocate 1 billion to cultural heritage. But in this budget, we see something completely different.

My simple question to the Sweden Democrats is: How is the Sweden Democrats' election promise regarding a cultural heritage billion progressing?

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I believe I received approximately the same question about the cultural heritage a year ago. The answer I gave then was: Imagine that you are going to renovate a house, and the kitchen cabinet doors need to be replaced. But at the same time, the cellar needs to be drained because it hasn't been done previously and there has been a flood down there. In that case, the kitchen cabinet doors are not what you prioritize, but you must prioritize the other things.

After a long period with a poorly managed country with an integration debt, a migration crisis, escalating crime on our streets, youths who shoot, an insecurity for women who do not dare to go out and so on, the government has been forced to prioritize. We have been forced to prioritize our defense due to a geopolitically serious situation right now. There are many other areas that we have chosen to prioritize. But that being said, cultural heritage is a very important area for me and my party, Sverigedemokraterna, and it will continue to be.

This is the situation. I believe that Lawen Redar and the Social Democrats also have long experience of this, not least from their last eight years when they tried to build a project with parties that stood very far apart in January agreements, December agreements, and everything it has been called. Then it sometimes becomes a cacophony.

Now, for the first time in a long while, we have a government in this country that has a budget that works and that has a plan and strategy. We work very tactically according to this strategy. Then there will come occasions where we can start prioritizing other things, for example, replacing our kitchen cabinet doors. I look forward to that day. But I stand completely and fully behind this budget and the priorities we make in the poorly managed country that Sweden unfortunately is today.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Mr. Speaker! The list of measures for policies that must be corrected in this country can be long. Even we Social Democrats have a list.

Let us be very honest in this debate. What is it that the Sweden Democrats and the Tidö parties choose to prioritize with a reform space of 60 billion? It is tax cuts for Sweden's high-income earners. The small, tiny group of 3.9 percent of our population who have the very highest incomes are to receive tax cuts. These are costly priorities being made for those who are the best off.

In Sweden, unemployment is now increasing generally. Within large parts of healthcare and childcare, there is a hiring freeze. Among the country's art and culture creators, unemployment has increased by as much as 30 percent. An action plan in this area is conspicuously absent.

Regarding cultural heritage policy, it can be said that cultural heritage today is less accessible than it was when we were in government. Back then, we at least had free admission to state museums. We had an initiative that went to our world heritage sites, 15 of them in Sweden. There, the National Heritage Board does not even have 4 million kronor to distribute.

I also see no cultural heritage billion, so the kitchen cabinets that one is to invest in now are rather going to Sweden's high-income earners. This does not add up.

Do you in the Sweden Democrats really intend to prioritize the cultural heritage? That is what I want an answer to, yes or no?

(Applause)

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the entertaining question.

60 billion kronor in tax cuts can also be called an investment for the future. It depends on how one views it. Then we are back to the point that we have completely different ideological starting points. We have a Social Democrat and a Sweden Democrat, and we view these things in completely different ways.

Then it becomes entertaining, considering that we had a Prime Minister a few years ago who set the goal that we should have the lowest unemployment in all of Europe, in a boom. It went in the completely opposite direction. I do not think that the Social Democrats are going to come and try to correct me and have an opinion on how we should conduct the policy, given the results that the Social Democrats have and have had for a long time.

We prioritize differently - that is how it is. We will go to the election with the exact same policy that we have pursued all the time. We will continue to drive the country towards improvement and innovation, and in that, cultural heritage is an important part. I have already answered that, so I do not need to repeat it.

It is a matter of prioritization, and right now we must clean up after a poorly managed government in this country that lasted for eight years. It takes time. We have a recession, and we have had high inflation. That was what we had to handle after the Social Democrats' years in power.

But now things are starting to sort themselves out and there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is going to get better, and we will get more resources to spend on things that are also important, such as our kitchen cabinets.

(Applause)

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I expect a reprimand afterwards, for I may not keep to the time. I have requested a rather long speaking time, but I fear that my manuscript is even longer. We shall see.

Due to the budget rules, I do not have the possibility to vote in favor of the Green Party's budget proposal in this debate. Instead, I stand behind the Green Party's specific statement in the committee report.

If I had had the opportunity, I would have moved to approve an increase of nearly 2.9 billion kronor for the state budget for expenditure area 17 Culture, media, religious communities and leisure. That is the difference between the government's and the Miljöpartiets budget proposals.

Culture is in a state of crisis. A proper culture policy is needed - a proper cultural policy boost - for the sector to flourish. I see that many are sitting in the stands today. I am very happy that the culture sector and cultural life have come here to show their support, because culture policy is important. A big thank you for coming here!

I will state right now that the figure of 2.9 billion is somewhat inflated because we reject the government's proposal for a leisure card, which is in another part of the budget. We move those funds over to this part of the budget, but there is still a significant gap of over 2 billion, as I mentioned in the exchange earlier, of a budget of 16.8 billion.

This says something about the relationship between the alternatives. It is not that we have more money just because we are an opposition party. We have the same room for reform, but we choose to use the money for something other than, for example, tax cuts for high-income earners. We believe in spending money on welfare and on culture.

It is often claimed that cultural policy is an area where there is some kind of relative consensus. It is a fact that we in the parties among ourselves have agreed on the rules of the game, for example the principle of arm's length distance, and on the cultural policy goals.

Even though the discussions have changed over time, the areas of cultural policy have been relatively constant since 1974. The arts and art forms, media policy, popular education, and cultural heritage are the areas that have now kept pace for 50 years. The point of contention has primarily been the allocation of funds and the budget - that which we are discussing today.

There is, of course, something to that reasoning, but I have still never felt quite comfortable with the view on consensus. I may be kicking in open doors now, but it means something that the green culture budget—the budget for culture, sports, outdoor life, civil society, and media policy—is more than 2 billion higher than the government's basis, and that culture's share of the government's total budget decreases every year. With us, it is increasing.

It is not just a matter of us happening to have space left over when we put together our budget, it is about the view on culture. Why is it important with the performing arts, the individual creation, a functioning civil society and an ecosystem where voluntary forces work together with institutions and free groups with established artists? Why is education so significant for a functioning democratic society as well as the engagement in association life? And why should the public sector not withdraw from the responsibility?

These are issues where we differ, and it is clarified in our budget alternatives. It is an ideological question - an ideological dividing line.

The previous parliamentary term was dominated to a large extent by the pandemic. Culture and the association life were among the worst affected when society shut down. The government that the Miljöpartiet was a part of responded with powerful pandemic support to keep the sector afloat.

When society was then gradually awakened to life, the scenes were opened and people could meet again in association halls and study circles had prepared, fully investigated proposals and could launch a massive restart to get the wheels rolling again.

Shortly thereafter, however, came the recession with inflation and then the Tidö government's cuts, not least the withdrawal of the restart grants that we would have gladly liked to see made permanent. It was three blows against culture: the pandemic, inflation, and the Tidö government.

In our budget motion, I liken it to a car, or perhaps rather a bicycle since I am a member of the Green Party, which suddenly brakes before a steep curve. To get out of the curve and not come to a standstill, or fall over if it is a bicycle, we must pedal. We must accelerate out of the curve.

The Green Party presents a strong budget for the cultural area. It is once again a restart budget. This time, it is not a restart from the pandemic, but from inflation and from the time with the Tidö Government.

The government is putting all its effort into reforms that cost nothing and which perhaps do not mean much either, such as lists of books for teachers and a cultural canon. Above all, these are reforms that de facto dismantle the cultural ecosystems.

At the same time, Miljöpartiet is allocating 150 million to the public libraries and an additional 30 for a reading promotion boost. We are allocating 100 million more than the government to amateur culture and the local community organizations.

We are allocating 60 million to the performing arts, partly to compensate for price and wage adjustments where the government has chosen not to include them. The central museums receive a supplement of 60 million to strengthen operations and make necessary premises adaptations. The national support for the culture school receives a substantial supplement.

Furthermore, we invest in cultural heritage with funds for the rest of the museum sector with 10 million more than the government, 25 million to the National Archives and 30 million to the Swedish National Heritage Board, but also 3 million to Musikverket.

It is good that the government is raising the church antiquarian compensation by 30 million. It is in demand, but it is far from sufficient. We in Miljöpartiet will therefore add an additional 20 million to this next year, and after that, we will increase it to 40 million for 2026 and 60 million for 2027.

It is regrettable that the government has chosen to cut the digitalization initiative for cultural heritage that we started as part of the restart investigation. Instead, we are moving forward with it and allocating 88 million more next year to the digitalization of cultural heritage.

A film investigation is expected this autumn, but we already know now that more money is needed if Swedish film is not to continue to slide downwards in international comparison.

In addition to a broad film support, we are also strengthening the production incentives for film, which was also part of the restart investigation. This has meant very much for the few productions that have managed to get the support and managed to apply for it during the relatively few seconds, or if it was any minute, that one had before the money ran out. The government must address this in some way before the next round. That is my hope.

The government's initiative on Skapande skola is naturally very good. With an extra 50 million, the support will reach two-thirds of the country's schools. It is a good ambition, but it is clearly not enough. We would need to review the entire system and introduce a guarantee so that all school children get access to professional culture at least every year, but preferably more often – every term. We would need a school culture inquiry to secure children and young people's encounter with culture.

The money for Skapande skola in the government's budget is unfortunately also not entirely new money into the budget. Funds have been partially moved from other parts of the culture budget. It is worrying that the funds for the cultural cooperation model are therefore decreasing from last year.

The entire opposition is in agreement. We must go in the other direction and strengthen the cultural cooperation model. We need more, not less, money for culture and cultural activities throughout the regions.

Mr. Speaker! We reject the leisure card. It is of course good that the government is making an investment in sports, culture, and leisure for children and young people. But as the referral response shows, the card risks being accompanied by quite significant problems.

The government has budgeted with barely 800 million kronor, I believe. That is a lot of money. We must say that. But the administrative costs are estimated at 260 million to the relevant agencies: Försäkringskassan, E-hälsomyndigheten and Folkhälsomyndigheten.

There are uncertainties regarding how the licensing is to proceed. Both associations and parents risk ending up in a rather complicated situation when handling it. The purpose is to broaden participation. That is, of course, also good. But many referral responses argue that the card will primarily be used by those who are already active in their spare time today.

For some activities, such as equestrianism, where I have met representatives, the participation fee often amounts to several thousand kronor per term. You will not attract more people with a five-hundred kronor discount. Not even 2,000 kronor would help families with low income if they are to pay a term fee of perhaps triple that.

We have listened to the voices. Instead, we want to transfer the funds directly to the central organizations and the Swedish Sports Confederation so that they will have the opportunity to work on lowering the thresholds, training more leaders, which is something that is needed, and focus on geographical areas that we know need to be strengthened.

We also allocate 200 million to strengthen the Kulturskolan. We provide funds to youth organizations via MUCF, to youth centers, Ungdomens hus, and activity centers.

Para-sports and elite sports also receive strengthened funds beyond those included in the government's budget. We are allocating 130 million to start a facilities fund - which I mentioned earlier in the exchange - to do something about the shortage of halls and arenas for sports and outdoor life. It is a better way to use the money.

The outdoor organizations suffer in the same way as parts of sports and cultural life, where the lack of leaders and educators prevents children and young people from getting involved. We therefore strengthen, for example, Friluftsfrämjandet and other organizations with over 130 million in our budget proposal.

Mr. Speaker! I will also say a few words about the drastic cuts to adult education. All over the country, the Tidö effect is now being felt, one might say. The ten study associations are now eight. Activities and premises, music houses and rehearsal rooms are being closed down.

In larger towns and in the cities, the effect perhaps is not noticed particularly much for the time being. But in small towns, where the study association perhaps had the only premises or one of very few, it is not only education and folk education that are affected.

The entire association life, the cultural ecosystem, is affected when the meeting place disappears. The door is suddenly locked, and the premises cannot be booked. Where meetings with the local heritage association and the handicrafts association were previously held, there now stands an empty premises.

This is the reality across the country in small and large towns. On the site Nedskärningskartan, the closures that have primarily received media attention have been listed and mapped out on a map of Sweden with small notes, such as:

"Studieförbundet Vuxenskolans property in Malå is for sale, and in Burträsk, both the lease agreement and two employees have been terminated. The reason is the significantly reduced grants to folkbildningen."

"20 bands are affected when well-known rehearsal space in Umedalen is closed down."

"We are closing a weaving workshop in central Torsåker and have seven fully functional looms with accessories that we need to get rid of. Giving away! Otherwise, unfortunately, they will go to the tip."

"Studiefrämjandet has left its music house during the spring."

"Now the rehearsal room in Ronneby is closing - rock bands are forced to move."

The map is being progressively filled with more and more such examples.

We members of the committee have received a number of emails, texts, and debate materials sent to us over the past few days, not least from the people who are now sitting up in the gallery. The commitment to culture is great. It truly pleases me, because culture is needed.

The chairman of the Scen & Films union, Simon Norrthon, together with others has published something that could be seen as a situation report on the union's website.

He begins the text with the question: "What is the government doing about the cultural death spreading across the country?" The answer is: Very little, or perhaps even nothing! The pandemic support disappeared long before the crisis was over. The safety systems for cultural workers are still hollow, one can read.

I myself was involved during the previous parliamentary term in appointing an inquiry to improve the SGI system so that cultural workers are covered in case of illness or when they somehow lose their income. Elite athletes are another group that would need this reform, and perhaps also para-athletes. The proposals have been referred and are ready to be converted into government bills. But they continue to lie on some desk in the Government Offices.

The text from Scen & Film continues: A strategy for cultural and creative industries has been launched, but resources for implementation have not been allocated.

The Minister for Culture repeats the need for diversified funding, but where are the concrete measures? It is not enough that the state withdraws so that private capital can come in.

The tax cuts - which in the government's budget proposal have a terrifying distributional policy profile, I must say - are claimed to be the largest investment in culture. This was claimed, in any case, by the Minister for Culture in an article in Aftonbladet the other day. Household cultural consumption shall solve the crisis. It remains to be seen. The same thing has been claimed by former Moderate culture ministers. But no measurable effect occurred then either, did it.

Regarding the distribution policy profile, what is the government's thinking there? There are massive tax cuts for high-income earners. But those who are worse off get worsened security systems, no indexation of the child allowance despite the high inflation, and reduced housing allowances. If the tax cuts are the most important cultural policy initiative, is it only high-income earners who are to be reached by the government's cultural policy?

Mr. Speaker! "During this time, Sweden is fading, and the Minister for Culture does not seem to think it is her concern," the article from Scen & Film continues, and lists a long series of free scenes and groups that are now struggling with collections and support performances to survive. "The audience is back, but resources for innovation and the creation of new works are lacking."

The lack of film support is mentioned, and TV productions are threatened by an expected public service proposal. The text culminates in the words: "Culture is what you bomb when there is war, because it is what holds us together."

I shall conclude my speech here, because I do not believe that I am the only one in this assembly who has met and had conversations with representatives of Ukraine and Ukrainian culture. At the Ukrainian Institute's booth at the Book and Library Fair in Gothenburg earlier this autumn, a collection of half-burnt books was displayed. These are the remains from a Russian attack against the country's largest printing house. It had an effect. It became more difficult to obtain Ukrainian literature.

The war in Ukraine has shown the importance of culture in such a clear way. Culture is incredibly important in war. It is about protecting and preserving cultural heritage, absolutely, but even more it is about keeping cultural life alive.

The Ukrainian language lives in Ukrainian literature, and despite the destruction of this printing house, reading is reaching record levels. Theaters, concert halls, and cinemas in Ukraine are filled with visitors today.

Culture is needed. Culture strengthens individuals, and culture makes a society resilient.

I apologize, Mr. Speaker, for having exceeded my time by a somewhat appalling amount.

(Applause)

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Mats Berglund, for a long and interesting speech!

I have sat in the Culture Committee for two years and had the privilege of working with Amanda Lind, Mats Berglund's predecessor as chairman of the Culture Committee. I have the same opinion about member Mats Berglund, namely that he has a great, burning commitment for perhaps especially publicly funded culture. I believe no one has any objection to that.

Now you are raising the budget enormously compared to the government's budget, Mats Berglund, which we heard in the presentation. There were many figures. I believe you have added to virtually every appropriation.

I naturally do not hope so, but if Miljöpartiet should, against all odds, be part of a government after the next election, does Member of Parliament Mats Berglund intend to stick to the budget that you have now submitted?

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Alexander Christiansson, for the question and for the opportunity to debate this as well!

My speaking time was long, but I am also alone from Miljöpartiet. Larger parties have more people who can speak. I actually think the entire cultural committee has a burning commitment, so I want to reciprocate that. We know that the budgets differ.

Yes, we have added to almost every appropriation, and that is because we have added inflation protection, i.e., price and wage adjustment, to the items where we have identified that the government has not done so. We believe, in fact, that it is important to protect culture against inflation, which has been very high.

Will we stick to this when we enter government? Yes, that is truly our ambition. Look at the latest budget that we were involved in drafting – it was in the same order of magnitude as Miljöpartiet proposes now. That was including the restart subsidies, but our ambition is, and was even then, that at least parts of these subsidies should be made permanent.

We need a cultural boost in society. Culture has been neglected, and we need to elevate it. The pandemic truly became a wake-up call. We stepped in with pandemic support and saved large parts of culture even though they were hard years, and then we had the restart grants to get the wheels moving.

The wheels must keep turning. We need a stronger cultural life. These are times of crisis and not just an economic crisis - it is a restless world. Just as I concluded my speech, culture is needed more than ever.

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

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! It is true as the member says that it is in the same order of magnitude as during the pandemic period. I sat in the Committee on Finance then and was involved in submitting the extra supplementary budgets. But we also increased our national debt, just as we have to do in times of war and crisis, in order to be able to finance the enormous crisis.

So, a similar budget is being presented now. The member highlights the last budget that you were involved in submitting, and I took some pleasure in looking at it. There was a calculated appropriation over the next three years extending to 2024, which is this year. The budget that Miljöpartiet wanted to invest in culture when you were in charge of the department was 16,165 million. That is, therefore, less than what we submitted.

It is easy to stand and find money in different ways when one does not need to take full responsibility. It is that simple. But nor will Miljöpartiet get 51 percent and be able to do exactly as they wish. God save me if that were the case, I say as a Sverigedemokrat, but there is still a certain question in this that I find quite exciting, and that is that the money one had then, one does not have now. And what one puts in today, one will not have in the future either, so there is a paradox in the reasoning that Member Mats Berglund presents here in the chamber.

My question is therefore: Will you really stick to that budget if it should be so - God forbid - that you gained power again after the next election?

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Again, thank you, Alexander Christiansson, for the same question! I will elaborate on the answer, and it is still that it is our ambition. Then it is of course always a negotiation; Alexander Christiansson and everyone else here know that just as well as I do.

That is due to the fact that it was a temporary initiative on paper as a result of the restart initiative and perhaps partly money that remained from the pandemic support. But our ambition is to make this permanent, and we have argued in all the budgets we have submitted since then that these supports need to be made permanent.

It is not that we have more money than the government just because we are in opposition. We have the same fiscal space, but we choose to use the money in a different way. We choose, above all, not to lower taxes. We have different distributions. We do not want to lower taxes for high-income earners, and we do not want, like the government, to lower taxes on emissions. It is much better to invest money in culture and in welfare.

We absolutely have a budget that will work. That is our starting point, so to speak, I believe, for all the opposition parties, that we have a budget that will work to govern on if it were to pass already tomorrow.

We want a cultural uplift for the whole society, because it is needed!

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is with fascination that I listen to Mats Berglund. I cannot help but be, as said, a little fascinated but also a little worried when I hear opposition parties suddenly have several billion for other things while nothing happens when one has the power of government.

I found a press clipping about the school library investigation commissioned in 2019 under the leadership of Gustav Fridolin, former spokesperson for Miljöpartiet. On January 19, 2021, statutory school libraries for all children in Sweden's schools are proposed there due to the reading situation that was already apparent then. "We are not there yet," said then-Education Minister Anna Ekström.

So, even then, Miljöpartiet, Socialdemokraterna, and Vänsterpartiet neglected the investigation conducted by a fellow party colleague that proposed statutory school libraries. Nothing came of it.

Mr. Speaker! Let us take the Opera House as another example, regarding one of our cultural heritages that this government is actually investing in. Stones were falling down and sewage water was flowing into the basement already during the two previous parliamentary terms. For eight years, Mats Berglund and other colleagues have had the opportunity to make decisions about school libraries and the renovation of the opera house and other things that we in our government are now forced to address and invest money in.

Why didn't Mats Berglund invest anything then? How does Mats Berglund explain that when one is in opposition, one suddenly has access to billions to spend on every single item, but for a period of eight years, culture, cultural heritage, school libraries, and children's reading were more seriously neglected?

(Applause)

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! We appointed the school library inquiry, and it is an inquiry that should have been appointed much earlier. The reform of the school libraries is old. People have waited for the municipalities to take their responsibility, but they have not done so. It became necessary to appoint the inquiry. It is an important reform, and I am glad that it has finally been decided.

At the same time, I am a bit worried. We need to follow up on the investigation so that it actually has an effect. It is not a question of legislation that gives effect, but school librarians must be trained and more money is needed for premises because some schools do not have access to premises. I lack money in the government's budget in that area, and I am worried. Now, perhaps money is not needed for next year, but moving forward, more money is needed than what the government has signaled. But above all, I am worried about the training of librarians.

"Nothing happened." Quite a lot happened during the last parliamentary term. The pandemic dominated the entire parliamentary term.

We had a January agreement where culture was not prioritized - unfortunately. Then the pandemic came. A lot happened from the Ministry of Culture's side during the pandemic. "Nothing happened." That is a lie! This is the first debate in the Culture Committee this autumn. Why? Why are there no bills? Why are there no proposals from the Minister for Culture?

Yes, then there was the Opera. I believe the Minister for Culture has said that she is the fifth minister to handle the matter. Good that it is resolved!

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! I do not think Mats Berglund answers the question of why nothing happened during the eight years that Miljöpartiet and Socialdemokraterna governed in these matters. I think one is obliged to the residents to keep what one promises and be honest enough to say that when one is in opposition, one has access to all possible billions, but obviously not when one governs.

Mr. Speaker! I want to bring up a completely different matter. It concerns study associations. We are absolutely making a saving when it comes to study associations. We think that the folk high schools are very important in the educational chain, and therefore they have been moved to the Ministry of Education. But we are, therefore, making a saving on study associations. In the current proposal, we suggest a reduction of 100 million from 1.74 billion to 1.64 billion. It is a saving of 100 million next year.

At the same time, the study associations have lost a third of the participants since 2018, and two study associations have been closed and therefore no longer exist. Since 2018, the participants have decreased by a third. Still, the study associations are to have more money every year. What other activity would get more money year after year when they have a third fewer participants in the activity?

(Applause)

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I still object to the expression that nothing happened during the last parliamentary term. I would say that there is no parliamentary term in which so much has happened from the Ministry of Culture's side as during the last parliamentary term.

The staff at the Ministry of Culture worked incredibly hard to counter the pandemic. Naturally, there were some delays at the beginning. We received criticism for that. But massive support arrived, and it was not certain that such support would come. The previous Minister for Culture, Amanda Lind, succeeded, with the help of her staff and her ministry, in saving cultural life. It was not a given. During no other mandate period has as much happened at the Ministry of Culture as during the last mandate period.

I say again that nothing is happening during this parliamentary term. Not a single bill has been submitted during the autumn.

A saving of 100 million has occurred this year for the student unions. It was 250 last year, and 150 is expected next year. A third is to be removed. It is clear that one is still worried because the Sverigedemokraterna have a congress decision to remove all support for the student unions. It is a massive decision that was very hyped up at the Sverigedemokraterna's congress. I find it difficult to believe that Sverigedemokraterna will back down from that decision. There was such a huge uproar and cheering when that congress decision was made.

But I will not criticize the Moderaterna for this. I know that other parties have championed the study associations because they are important for democracy.

(Applause)

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

FÖRSTE VICE TALMANNEN

I must remind the audience that expressions of opinion from the gallery are not permitted, which means that one may not applaud from the gallery.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Mr. Speaker! It was sad to hear the last part, but perhaps good.

I thank Mats Berglund for his speech, and a few questions have arisen for me. I worked for ten years in Gothenburg with homeless people. I met poor children who were not part of the culture because they lived in enormous social exclusion. It was educational, and it left a mark on me.

We have now presented a proposal for a leisure card where these children get access to an amount of 2,000 kronor to use in some activity that they normally cannot afford. Generally, it is a matter of 500 kronor, but for these children, it is 2,000 kronor.

The Green Party rejects the leisure card. I try to read up on what you propose instead, but I find nothing that would help the children and everyone else living in poverty in Sweden. Unfortunately, they are many.

Now, Member Mats Berglund uses the expression problems. One has learned in politics that it is called challenges, but here it is problems. What does Mats Berglund intend to do with the challenges that exist for the children who stand on the sidelines of culture today?

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Roland Utbult for the question, and I thank Roland for his burning commitment. I know that Roland Utbult is passionate about the socially vulnerable, not least the group of homeless and poor. I have great respect for that.

These children and young people are difficult to reach. I have been a politician in the cultural committee in Stockholm, and we have tried to make interventions to increase engagement in the cultural schools in the disadvantaged areas. It is Skarpnäck that leads, a fairly green area. Tensta, Rinkeby and Husby have been difficult to reach, but since my time - it was quite many years ago - it has still become better.

I am unsure if I used the word problem; perhaps I did. Risk might have been a better word, because there are risks with this card. Naturally, it can succeed. It will be implemented, and we need to evaluate it. We do not reject it, as said, in the sense that we just want to remove the money, but we believe it is better to use the money in a more efficient way.

I also said that 260 million according to this investigation will go towards administrative costs for authorities. I believe I clarified in my speech how we intend to use the money. There is also in our motion. But above all, we need to use the money to build up the infrastructures around these associations within both sports and culture so that they have the possibility to receive more. That is where it is lacking, and in that case, a check or a card does not help.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Mats Berglund for the answer.

We in KD are also warm supporters of folk education. That is the case. And we have now heard some discussions here about the Folkbildningsrådet.

A total of 4.4 billion goes to the study associations and the folk high schools. That is quite a lot of money. It is true, as we have heard Axén Olin describe here, that money has been moved from the study associations to the folk high schools. This is due, among other things, to the concerns that have existed here. The Folk Education Council has, I believe, sent money to the study associations and then not kept track of what that money has been used for or where it has gone. Today, I actually do not think that one has a grip on the whole thing as we would like.

Christer Nylander has conducted an investigation which is now out for consultation.

I would like to ask Mats Berglund how he would like to address the deficiencies that have come to light, including through the Riksrevisionen's report. Riksrevisionen states that there were deficiencies in all stages. What does Mats Berglund think should be done about these deficiencies, which have demonstrably existed?

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Roland for this question and that we get to discuss this again.

I am quite new to the committee and have actually not discussed this matter of cheating very much. I did it a bit during the previous parliamentary term – it is still five years since this happened, so I discussed it already during the previous parliamentary term. But I have looked at debates here, and it has popped up quite many times. I thought we were finished with the cheating debate, but we are not.

It was five years ago. It is unfortunate, what happened then, but I am not particularly worried that there is no oversight. The cheating in Järva was discovered by the student unions themselves. Procedures have been changed so that BankID and so on are used.

Christer Nylander's investigation has further proposals. I think Christer Nylander's investigation is very good. It is balanced. We naturally need to strengthen the control - those are the times, and it is needed - but in a balanced way so that it does not remove the idea of folkbildningen, this with free and voluntary.

When the member began his question, I thought we would also discuss how large these cuts have been. They are quite drastic cuts, or very drastic, and it will get worse. I had a number of examples from the cut map of how it affects things in practice.

I am naturally glad that municipalities and regions compensate for the state cuts where they have the opportunity to do so. But there is, if I may use the word risk again, an imminent risk that it will not hold out for very long, as the municipalities are also going to their knees.

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! This weekend I attended a first Advent concert in one of our inner-city churches here in Stockholm, and it was absolutely fantastic. What struck me and became apparent when the hymn Hosianna, Davids son was played was that the entire church sang. They even sang in parts.

For us humans, culture is important, and it is a large part of our lives. As we have talked about earlier here, the vast majority of us use culture daily. We read books and listen to music, and it is very important in our lives.

It is, however, a smaller part that we pay for via our tax funds and which is state-funded. The very largest part of the culture that we use and that our children and young people enjoy daily is nothing that one has state or public involvement in.

What we are to debate today and decide on is the part of 16.9 billion that we pay with state tax funds, that which is called expenditure area 17. It is 16.9 billion of over 34 billion, which is the entire public payment for our culture, but it is also municipalities and regions that are involved and contribute to culture in various ways.

When we took over, we took over a Sweden with major problems, in our country but also in our surrounding world. It is no news for many of you listening today how things unfortunately look with Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and the suffering we see in Ukraine. But we have problems in Sweden as well.

One in five children cannot read well enough when they leave grade 9 to be able to comprehend books.

We have children who shoot other children, which makes parents and children afraid to go to the music school in the evening or, for that matter, go and play football at a sports ground.

We have unemployment, and we had inflation and energy prices that meant families could not even afford the very most necessary things.

We had and have, as said, a war right in our vicinity that we still do not quite know where it will lead.

In that situation, it is not difficult for us Moderates to prioritize. We must prioritize safety and security. We must reverse trends and reduce the shootings in Sweden. We must increase safety so that people, not least children and young people, can be out in the evening without being afraid of explosions and shootings.

We must also ensure that all children and young people learn to read in school. We must tackle the problems so that we have a brighter future to speak about here in the rostrum, but also to offer to the inhabitants of Sweden.

Mr. Speaker! I am therefore proud and happy that, despite the problems we have and despite the investments we must make to increase Sweden's security and the safety in our country, we can invest as much money as we do on the state facilitating and in different ways financing the culture in our country.

Mr. Speaker! It distresses me that there is a disinformation campaign claiming that we are cutting back and that we are spending less on culture, for the fact is that our budget proposal for 2025 involves 230 million more than for this year. It is an increase of 230 million. One may indeed think that is too little, but the claim that it is a cut is not true. It is more money than in this year's budget.

We Moderates prioritize in our budget. We prioritize children, education, and preparedness. Together with the Ministry of Education, we invest in staffed school libraries for all children and in ensuring that all children have a textbook in every subject. We invest primarily in children's reading, with more hours in school and with the reading lists of 250 works that those teachers who so wish are now offered to use in teaching. Together, we invest a total of 2 billion over a period of three years to increase the number of books in Swedish schools, something that also benefits publishers, authors, and others in that industry.

We are also increasing the appropriation to Skapande skola, which today is 200 million, to 250 million, so that the schools will have the opportunity to invite authors, theater groups, musicians, or whatever they want so that all children can encounter culture and hopefully can find their own cultural expressions that suit them.

We are increasing the church antiquarian compensation, which someone spoke about earlier here, admittedly only by 30 million annually, which means 90 million over three years, but on the other hand, no one has increased it since 2010. We are increasing it by 30 million annually. Our churches belong to our cultural heritage, and it is neglected - this is a long-awaited decision.

Mr. Speaker! We are making a decision to renovate the Opera House. It will become a billion-kronor investment in the coming years, and we will soon have to make decisions on exactly what that renovation will look like. But we are still making a decision on the renovation of the Opera House, where stones already started falling from the roof and water and other things began leaking in as early as the late 90s.

This government has also, together with the Sweden Democrats, made a decision on a strategy for the cultural and creative industry. When it comes to the music industry, there is only one country that has a larger music export than Sweden, and that is the USA. Sweden is fantastic when it comes to our creative and cultural industry, which accounts for a large part of both the Sweden brand and actually also the revenues to the state thanks to companies that are successful. But we can do even more, and therefore this government has developed a strategy and also allocated specific funds to be able to further stimulate the video game industry, the music industry, and others who want to become even more successful abroad.

So, Mr. Speaker, despite Sweden's problems and our restless world, this government still manages to present a budget for 2025 that is larger than the budget for 2024 and which prioritizes children, education and preparedness. And, Mr. Speaker, that is something I am proud of.

(Applause)

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I never really managed to finish the reasoning about the Opera earlier. I must say that it is very good that we have reached a decision now, and I hope that private money will also come so that the result becomes even better than what we know is going to happen.

This is a question that has been relevant for a long time. I looked back at my own records. I believe it was some years after Kristina Axén Olin left the Stockholm city council that I submitted a motion that the city of Stockholm must address this issue; it was urgent, and no one took action on it. There was a risk that the Opera would disappear from Stockholm to some other city. The motion was unfortunately voted down.

When it comes to the fact that the budget is increasing, there has been a violent inflation, and the culture budget is not inflation-proofed. This worried us already last year, especially regarding the cultural cooperation model, and now the government is cutting it.

The Minister for Culture and the Moderates have reason to be proud of the project Skapande skola, which comes from the latest Culture Inquiry, which was Moderat-led. From there also came the cultural cooperation model.

I would like to hear some kind of reflection on the management of the cultural cooperation model. It has, as I mentioned earlier, been somewhat criticized for a lack of money. We need more money. The investigation report that Svegfors submitted a little over a year ago contains a number of different reforms, but all of them require more money. Otherwise, it will not work; it will just be a dilution. How do the Moderaterna view the cultural cooperation model moving forward? I am concerned given the cuts now.

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Mats Berglund, for an interesting question!

It is true that we have reduced the cultural cooperation model by 20 or 30 million - I don't quite remember the exact sum. But 1.7 billion remains in the cultural cooperation model.

The cultural cooperation model, which Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth was involved in introducing, clearly has its problems. That is why Mats Svegfors' investigation was highly anticipated. The report has now been out for consultation, and the consultation responses have been submitted.

Unfortunately, there are still some conflicts surrounding this that are not quite resolved. This concerns, among other things, the demarcation when it comes to culture. Who should finance, and who should select which culture should be financed with public funds? Is it the state, the municipality, or the region? And how far down should these decisions be moved? There are unfortunately very different opinions there depending on whether one belongs to a municipality, a region, or the state. The hope was, I suppose, to find a solution that everyone would consider favorable for culture, cultural workers and, above all, people's access to culture, but we are not quite there yet. But I hope, Mr. Speaker and Mats Berglund, that we find a solution so that the cultural cooperation model receives the development it needs to be able to function even better.

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I also belong to the crowd that had great hopes for this investigation. Mats Svegfors was very open during the investigation period and shared his thoughts, and many of them were very good, I thought. I therefore had great hopes but became, like many – which we can read in the referral responses – somewhat disappointed by the proposals and that they do not quite reach their goal. Therefore, I wonder a little bit how this will be handled.

Regarding the other major project from Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth's time as Minister for Culture, Skapande skola, I am pleased with the extra money for that project, 50 million, which is intended to lead to two-thirds of the schools being reached. It is a problem in the model that the money must be applied for. This requires some form of commitment from the schools. There may be commitment from teachers and principals, but it is difficult with time and money and actually prioritizing this.

We want to take this work further and appoint a new investigation into introducing a culture guarantee, so that all schools are more or less guaranteed money. There are examples in Norway that can be used and built upon. I believe very much in that model, because children need to be exposed to culture.

I have a similar question there. How do the Moderaterna view the development of that model? Is one satisfied that two-thirds of the schools are reached by these funds?

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! We Moderates naturally believe that all children should have access to and be reached by culture and find the cultural expressions that suit them - absolutely.

When it comes to Skapande skola, it is a good reform that Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth introduced. When schools can order performances, author sessions, and other things themselves, another effect also arises, namely that different people in the cultural industry receive an income. It thus benefits two parts of the whole.

Another sad situation, which has to do with the problems we have in Swedish school, is however that not all schools manage to break up the teaching and bring in different groups or performances. The ambition is still that 100 percent of the schools and children shall be reached by Skapande skola, but unfortunately the reality is such that this is probably not realistic, at least not during the next year. But we hope, Mr. Speaker, that with the reforms we are now introducing in Swedish school to hopefully achieve more peace and quiet in the school, that it will be 100 percent that utilize the Skapande skola grant moving forward.

Then there are things to improve in that model as well. I personally think the Norwegian model is very interesting. There is not as much administration when choosing who should be included in Skapande skola or who should be purchased. I would like to look further into this together with Mats Berglund.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Mr. Speaker! Kristina Axén Olin says in her speech that the largest part of culture has no public involvement. But it is in all that Kristina experienced at the fantastic concert in the church. Those who sing may have attended the municipal culture school. Those who sing in the audience may have had aesthetic subjects in school. They may attend some choir within the folk education. Perhaps someone is a university-educated musician.

I just want to manifest that in this way, the public and private cultural economy actually belong together. There won't be much of a private cultural policy, cultural agenda, industries or businesses if one does not have the public culture in order, so that children and young people are given equal opportunities to experience art and culture at an early stage.

I thought it was very interesting to participate in the Grammis gala last year. It is the industry's gala for all the fantastic musical successes that Sweden has, not least as the second-largest music exporter. But the industry also made a demonstration at the gala. It was about one thing: Politicians, invest in the municipal culture school! That is to say that public cultural policy is linked to the conditions for private culture and the industry.

The criticism that Kristina Axén Olin raises in her speech is, of course, not about nominal kronor and öre in a culture budget. It is about the fact that one must go back a full 20 years to find a culture budget that constitutes 1.2 percent of the total reform space. As a result of inflation, cost increases, and the culture budget, unemployment among Sweden's art and culture creators has increased by as much as 30 percent.

The question I want to ask Kristina Axén Olin is: What does the government intend to do to remedy this unemployment? Is there an action plan at all?

(Applause)

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Lawen Redar, for an interesting question, even though I will not be discussing labor market policy here! But I am happy to answer the other one.

I believe that many of us here can sometimes feel that it was better before. 20 years ago, we had no war in Ukraine. Nor did we have children shooting other children on streets and squares. There are many things that have changed since 20 years ago. Previously, we had a municipal music school, and quite a few of the artists that we enjoy today, whom we celebrate and who are world-famous, attended the municipal music school, which, in other words, no longer exists. Much has changed. But absolutely, most of it is connected.

It is, however, interesting that the Social Democrats are trying to portray that our saving of 100 million on the studieförbundet – moving from 1.74 billion to 1.64 billion – would be a threat to the entire music miracle. Mr. Speaker, nothing could be more wrong.

If one looks at the statistics for the study associations, one can see that the vast majority of those who participate in study circles at study associations are over 50 years old. The largest group among those who attend study circles is 65 years or older. The group under 25 years, i.e., children and young people, is only 6 or 7 percent of all those who participate in study circles.

If one also looks at how much of the study associations' activities concern music, one can see that it is 24 percent. 76 percent is therefore something other than music.

If one were to start adding up these different figures - how few children and young people actually participate in the activities of the study associations and how small a proportion study music under the auspices of the study associations - one can see that it becomes such a small part that it is hardly noticeable.

Then one might think that it is very sad. I think so too. I can be very sad that the student unions choose to make savings on the few rehearsal rooms that exist. But it is nothing that we politicians should interfere in. However, it is not a threat to the musical miracle or the music industry that we make a saving of 100 million on the student unions.

(Applause)

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Mr. Speaker! What is harmful to Sweden's music scene is when fees for the music school are raised so that only a certain proportion of children can attend. That is how it looks in the vast majority of Sweden's municipalities today. The municipal sector's budget is severely weakened.

I will address this issue regarding music venues in my speech. I have gone through every single municipality that is now being forced to close rehearsal rooms.

Here, people are talking about 100 million. The correct figure is a half-billion cut to study associations in Sweden. It is a third of the national amount that goes to these study associations, and it has a major impact on the cultural infrastructure in our country - the opportunity for children and young people to tinker with a piano or to see how it works with a guitar. The vast majority must come into contact with art and culture. They must come into contact with adult role models in order to be interested at all.

I do not hope that it will be so. It may become a movement that we must win. But if this development of Sweden's cultural policy continues, we will definitely see a negative development regarding who gets involved, who becomes art and culture creators, and who becomes the musicians of the future. They will be significantly fewer.

Twenty years ago, we did not have this terrible war. That is quite true. We did not have the global developments we have today. We mourn this development. We must commit ourselves to Ukraine's freedom. We must commit ourselves in the international community.

But 20 years ago, we also did not have Moderates who chose to allocate such a large share of their budget to the small group in society that is the best off. I am interested in principle programs and know that 20 years ago, the Moderates were a society-building party. They chose to allocate the budget to building the country together in a much more efficient and interesting way than what is done today.

Now it is a neoliberal political agenda that is being pursued. It is heavy cuts for those who do not make our country richer, and I regret that.

(Applause)

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is true that the municipal sector is important when we talk about the culture school and many activities that reach children and young people. That is why our government, together with the Sweden Democrats, added 10 billion extra to the municipal and regional sector this year. In 2025, it looks like it will be better. Thanks to, among other things, inflation fighting and other factors, it looks as if municipalities and regions will have 50 billion more next year than they have this year, which naturally benefits those municipalities and regions that choose to spend money on the culture school or other areas where it makes a big difference.

I have personally taught piano and am the first to think that all children should attend the culture school, but unfortunately, that is not the case. It is fewer than one in ten children in Sweden who attend the culture school. Today, very many of our artists and our children and young people learn to play via YouTube. It is fantastic, because then one can do it when one wants and utilize technology and so on, even though I personally think that teachers and the culture school would be preferable. But it is as it is.

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ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN

I just want to remind the audience in the gallery that it is not permitted to applaud in the gallery. I emphasize it again.

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Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Kristina Axén Olin, for your commitment to children's learning and reading!

Both I myself and the member have worked as teachers in our previous careers. I appreciate that the few initiatives that the government and the Sweden Democrats are making go towards reading. It is heartbreaking, and there are parts of it that are very good, for example when it comes to the school libraries.

That is why I was a little surprised when the member earlier in an exchange claimed that Vänsterpartiet had been against this change when it comes to school libraries. I must say that it is absolutely not true. We have pushed the issue of the right to school libraries and staffed school libraries for two decades, as far as I know.

We had hoped that there would also be investments in more school librarians and that the number of places at the university would be increased so that this legislative change can also be implemented in a good way.

But I am wondering how the member views the developments in the municipalities. I heard a little bit in the previous exchange. The member is quite positive. But I see that it is very tough in schools all over the country. They are having to lay off staff. They have had to do so for a long time. It has been called streamlining, but it is actually about the fact that year after year cuts have been made, and now the school staff are on their knees. The member lamented that not more can accept Skapande skola, for example. That is because it is very, very tough.

My reflection is whether the member does not see that the money - 34 billion - that has gone to tax cuts for the most well-off in our country would have done greater good if it had gone to education and the children, as the member mentioned in their contribution.

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Vasiliki for interesting questions!

When it comes to the school libraries, I did not mean that Vänsterpartiet was against the school library initiative. I noted that it was an investigation that was completed in 2020 - or if it was 2021 or at the turn of the year there. This was never carried out, because there was no majority in the Riksdag to carry it out, which I can regret. Had it been carried out, the reading might not have been quite as bad as it is today. There is a postponed need to teach children to read.

When it comes to the training of librarians, this is something that will come up in the future. If one decides and legislates on staffed school libraries, one must of course also have librarians for that. We will therefore have to return to that, Mr. Speaker.

When it comes to the economic situation in municipalities and regions, I am well aware that it is tough. It is not just tough for municipalities and regions. Our entire country is having a tough time. It is private individuals. It is families. It is companies. It is the cultural sector. Yes, everyone is having a tough time, even schools. But it still looks like things are brightening up somewhat.

This government has chosen to try to do what it can. It is about what we from our parties believe is best in order to try to get growth moving again. Among other things, the earned income tax credit and other tax cuts that we decide on are part of trying to combat inflation and increase growth in Sweden.

Tax cuts often lead to people doing things with the money that remains, that is to say that they consume more, go to theaters and concerts, travel or do other things with that money. It is our hope, Mr. Speaker, that we will have continued low inflation and that we will reduce unemployment and increase growth and also in various ways benefit the cultural industry through our economic policy.

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer, which I perhaps do not quite consider to be an answer to my specific question, which concerned the 34 billion that primarily go to those who have it the best. Based on what the member seeks – increased reading promotion in schools and the opportunity for children to take part in literature – I wonder: Could these funds not have been of use there? Now, perhaps those who already have the opportunity to go on two overseas holidays and who have a summer cottage get tax cuts of thousands of kronor. That was what I was wondering about.

Trade unions, parents, and school students have for many years warned that it is very tough in the schools. In order for one to be able to learn to read, support was needed, above all from educators and school librarians.

The reading lists mentioned in the member's post are not something that anyone has asked for. I have not heard Swedish teachers and trade unions say: We need support from Skolverket to know which literature we should put into the children's hands. On the other hand, people say: There is a shortage of special educators. There is a shortage of special teachers. The classes are too large. We do not have enough time to help the children who have difficulty with reading.

This is visible in the international measurements. There are also ministers who talk a lot about this. People talk from screen to binder and about how schoolbooks are now to come. But if there is no one who can help the children crack the reading code and who can give an extra push and extra time to the child who needs it, then this with reading lists is a somewhat unnecessary investment, I think. What is actually needed are educators in the children's everyday lives. The 34 billion could be enough for quite a few educators out in our municipalities.

I would like the member to answer this.

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

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! Vasiliki asks about the reading lists and says that they have not been requested, but they certainly have.

Mr. Speaker! We have had several meetings and visited schools all over Sweden. Reading lists are truly something that has been requested, partly because we today have a teaching staff that was not born and raised in Sweden. People have wondered how to be able to choose books and which authors can be counted as having some kind of common ground and so on. I would like to say that the reading lists are truly longed for by many in the profession. This is something that has been asked for.

Then they are voluntary. They will be accompanied by teacher instructions and various forms of guidance, if one wishes to use the reading lists and the literature that is now proposed - 250 works. It is in no way a requirement. But this has truly been requested. Many in the teaching staff and in school managements are today happy that we have allowed these lists to be compiled.

Mr. Speaker! I myself – if I may be a little personal – am extra happy that it is four works by Astrid Lindgren. She is one of my favorite authors, so it is fun.

I believe that many of us are concerned about children's reading if every fifth child cannot read. If one cannot read, one also cannot enjoy culture to any significant extent. It is important for the individual, for democracy, and for society as a whole that we remedy the literacy crisis we now have in Sweden.

We are not only investing in these reading lists. As I said, it is also about staffed school libraries. We are allocating 2 billion over three years so that all children have textbooks and fiction. We have decided on more Swedish hours. I have only mentioned a few of the things related to reading. But we are making truly large investments now to ensure that all children learn to read and thus can also appreciate culture and be good democratic citizens.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Mr. Speaker! Among the thousands of tributes to Swedish theater's perhaps greatest innovator, pioneer, innovator, and front figure, an open question is posed: Will her home – like those of Strindberg, Einstein, Hemingway, and Marie Curie – be displayed the day she is no longer alive? Will there be blue shoe covers in the hall and red ropes around her script bundles, books, and desk? One wonders if there will be a guide who tells the visitor: Here Suzanne Osten created. Here she wrote the scripts for Flickan, mamman, and demonerna. The chairs you see are from the collaboration with Lars Norén. Here the artistic leader initiated the vision of children's theater, the one that would come to evoke hundreds of thousands of utopian moments.

Sweden's cultural policy turns 50 this autumn. The historical proposition from 1974, whose key concepts were freedom of expression, equality, artistic renewal, and preservation of cultural heritage, was embodied by Suzanne Osten. That same year, her masterpiece Jösses flickor premiered at the Stadsteatern in Stockholm. Seventeen performances of the feminist play had been planned. 140 had to be carried out over three years.

Equality was to be completed now and become a part of the welfare state Sweden. Everyone knows how it went from then on. It became childcare, elderly care, parental leave, and self-sufficiency. It moved from culture, education, and struggle to real material conditions.

Mr. Speaker! That was how one used to view culture. It was to cease being the privilege of a few people and suddenly encompass everyone. Culture was to give us language, it was to give us power, and it was to give us freedom. It was to give social equality and be practiced throughout the entire country. Culture was, after all, part of the solution itself.

Today, 50 years later, it seems to be the problem instead. It is as if the poet Lina Ekdahl's satire about the small culture that only costs and costs and drains all district committees has become reality, as if all these rehearsal rooms, associations, Folkets hus, amateur theaters, study circles, choirs and book clubs are in the way.

It is simpler to just list these works, like in a canon, so people get a guide in their hands and a Minister for Culture who gets to fulfill their true dream – to continue lowering taxes.

I was actually quite taken by watching the interview program Sverige! on Sveriges Television, where the Moderate Culture Minister is finally allowed to wish for exactly what she wanted if she had had infinite resources. The answer she gives is not about children and young people, culture school, aesthetic subjects, strengthened democracy, free cities, or children's theater. With a big smile she answers: Yes, then I probably would have lowered the tax even further.

Madam Speaker! What we have here is a visionless cultural policy. It does not ask the questions of what part of our country's public sphere we should collectively own, how we reward our nation's talents, and what our response should be to the new cultural economy in which the artist receives the least back.

Madam Speaker! The culture budget that the Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals present constitutes 1.2 percent of the state's total expenditures. We would have to go all the way back to 2004 to find such a small share of the state budget for culture.

But the unusually large reform space of the entire 60 billion could not be used to strengthen welfare, counteract unemployment, build housing, promote meaningful leisure time for children and young people, create more meeting places, popular education or sports. Instead, it had to go to Sweden's high-income earners or the 3.9 percent of the population who receive the special tax cut.

Madam Speaker! One must search with a candle and a lantern to find anyone who seriously believes that this policy can make our country richer, with the exception of Member Alexander Christiansson, who argues that this will strengthen Sweden, as he said earlier in a speech.

I unfortunately have to inform you that tax reliefs for high-income earners do not reduce unemployment. We have that in black and white. They do not strengthen the purchasing power of households, however much the Minister for Culture wants people to go to that performance, buy a painting, or treat themselves to a music or art subscription. What ordinary Swedish households get back is 3,000 kronor per year, or 250 kronor per month. That is not even enough for two cinema tickets.

Households, on the other hand, are fully occupied with dealing with the loss of ten years of real wage cuts, rents and interest rates that have soared, and grocery bags that cost 30,000 kronor more per year.

Sweden has received the highest child poverty in the entire Nordic region. Families with children are not sitting and choosing which movies they should see at the weekend, but rather between necessary expenses in the household economy or paying for the children's fixed leisure activities. I read the other day that the situation is so bad that every third single mother does not have the room to afford the children's leisure activities - every third single parent.

Madam Speaker! That children should be given the opportunity to evoke what Suzanne Osten called utopian moments, moments when the usual order ceases to apply and when one, alone or together with others, gets to experience the possibility of a better and more equal world, can actually happen in certain places in our country. It can happen at the theater, in the culture school, in the library, in the culture house, at the museum, at the youth center, in the sports hall, or in the rehearsal room. In that place, it is suddenly not as important who your parents are or where you live. Then, suddenly, other values become significant.

The 1974 cultural policy paved the way for music schools and rehearsal spaces across the country. Sweden became a music miracle. Today, we are the world's second-largest country for music exports. From these utopian moments in those rehearsal spaces, jazz, punk, dansband, hip-hop, rock, songwriters, composers, drummers, and one or two folk poets grew.

That the government is now allocating funds to promote cultural and creative industries, I really have nothing against. It is welcome. But that Studiefrämjandet in Västerås and Vuxenskolan in Norrköping have closed their rehearsal rooms, that Folkuniversitetet's music house in Malmö is soon closing down, that Umeå's largest and oldest rehearsal room, Musikhuset at Umedalen, is forced to close, and that the situation was so bad in Luleå's music house that the municipality had to step in to save it, actually says everything.

The reduction of half a billion to the study associations occurring over three years corresponds to one-third of the study associations' annual state subsidy. Next in line are Göteborg, Borås, Karlskoga, Kristianstad, Falun and Linköping, which are also closing their music houses and rehearsal rooms one after another.

According to the Tidö parties, we are to export music at full speed, but our children shall not create any music.

Madam Speaker! Today's debate is highlighted by art and culture creators who have come here to the Swedish Riksdag. Many are in a precarious situation.

Since the Moderaterna have come to lead the Ministry of Culture, unemployment has risen by almost 30 percent among the country's cultural workers, according to Klys. Nor have they received any entry into the security systems, as the report on SGI lies at the Government Offices and seems to be gathering dust. When they were in opposition, this was a very pressing issue. Two years into this mandate period, we see nothing happening.

Due to a lack of economic conditions, the Swedish Film Institute is now phasing out a number of film grants. The support for regional culture is decreasing by 20 million and has not been inflation-protected at all. My colleague Kristoffer Lindberg will soon explain this in more detail. Dramatens Mattias Andersson stated in an interview in Dagens Nyheter that the country's national stage will, within three years, not even be able to maintain a repertoire with an ensemble in the way it is done today, if it continues in this direction.

But the worst thing is that young future artists are leaving the education programs. It is something that one should actually observe. For whom, with these conditions, will dare to embark on a life as an artist in Sweden? One should ask questions to these young people. If they have started an education that they choose not to complete, what is the reason for that?

Madam Speaker! I want to return to a cultural policy as part of the solution, which gives language, power and education and whose highest aspiration is not that taxes should be lowered but to give the cultural person, the language and the nation a higher value. Then one must, just as Suzanne Osten said, start with the children.

We Social Democrats have a smaller reform space in total. Our budget is fully funded. So all the nonsense about the opposition not presenting finished budget proposals does not hold up in this debate. We have a smaller reform space. We refuse to use borrowed money to lower taxes for the very richest. If money is to be borrowed, it must go towards the needs of future generations. It should be about railways, climate transition, housing construction and the iron ore line, things that actually make our country richer. But despite a smaller reform space, we can point to a completely different culture and welfare budget.

I shall state our proposals on how these funds could have been prioritized if they had not gone towards tax cuts.

In our budget, we are increasing the development grant to Sweden's cultural schools by 177.5 million, so that the operations can reach more children and young people and so that permanent positions can be created for staff.

We are allocating 14.5 million to, for example, amateur culture and community centers.

We are increasing the state's share of the cultural cooperation model by a total of 200 million to strengthen the conditions for regional culture.

50 million shall go to community centers throughout the country, so that citizens' meetings, film screenings, book talks and other cultural activities can be made possible.

We want to see a powerful increase in the contribution to the sports movement by 645 million, where 250 million goes to children's and young people's sports with a particular focus on children and young people growing up in vulnerable areas and in rural areas. 100 million shall go to para-sports for children and young people with disabilities.

200 million goes to a national leadership initiative, because here we have a big job to do. The leaders are disappearing from the activities. They have not received full support, and therefore we believe that this should be an important sports policy initiative. We also want to see 4 million for a national coordination for the lending of equipment for sports and outdoor life. We also allocate 75 million to strengthen outdoor life.

In addition to this, we mean that it is high time to investigate the issue of a cultural guarantee for Sweden's children and young people. We also want to reintroduce aesthetic subjects as mandatory in upper secondary school.

Now we come to what I find interesting. When we were in government, we meant that we had to investigate the places where children and young people are located, in addition to rehearsal rooms, cultural houses, and the like. In many places in Sweden, the youth center is the place one goes to after school. We commissioned an inquiry to ensure that the quality of these youth activities can be maintained. We received many reports that, unfortunately, there is also criminal activity taking place at these locations. What does one need to do then to guarantee that all children and young people who come there can feel safety in the social environment?

The first thing the Moderaterna did was to remove the investigation, so we have no idea about the quality level or the staff's educational background. We are therefore allocating 75 million so that we can already now say that the staff present at Sweden's youth centers shall have basic education in order to be able to offer children and young people an active and meaningful leisure time when they come to the youth center. Not infrequently, these children come from families with a weak socioeconomic background.

We also, of course, do not accept the government's ideological cuts to student unions. We want to see a rich cultural life, popular education, and preferably rehearsal rooms throughout the country in accordance with the 1974 ambitions.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker, it is high time to reveal the Sweden Democrats' new cultural policy strategy. The promises of a cultural heritage billion and that they would forcefully strengthen the ecclesiastical antiquarian compensation and elevate Swedish culture turned out to be mere chest-thumping in the Swedish Parliament's chamber and very little in practice.

Now we have funds built up in all state museums. This year, the 4 million that the National Heritage Board has distributed among the 15 world heritage sites we have in Sweden will disappear. The world heritage sites are not even mentioned in the Tidö parties' budget.

Previous statements about provocative art that should not be in regional art museums, about foreign books that should not be purchased for public libraries, or statements on the question of who should be allowed to read fairy tales do not seem to interest to the same extent anymore.

It actually goes faster to do what you are doing now: to cut the appropriations and silence the culture. Put public service under austerity measures, make the art and culture workers unemployed, and remove the folk education and the consumer associations! Reduce the support for civil society! And above all: Make sure to crush the socialist society!

The Sweden Democrats show when they rule the country that they are actually not any nation-builders. They do not safeguard language or higher cultural values. They are not a welfare party, a housing construction party, or a workers' party. Nor are they a party for ordinary households. The Sweden Democrats have shown themselves to be the party that wants to dismantle everything that social democracy once built up.

While you are busy engaging in lowering taxes, we are formulating a new direction for Sweden. This spring we Social Democrats have a congress, and it will be very exciting for all of you to take part in the active reform proposals in the cultural area that we will make decisions on there.

We want to see more utopian moments, and we want to see a stronger sense of community.

(Applause)

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

ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN

I would like to point out to the members that the speaking time was exceeded by over 50 percent. I would also like to point out to the audience in the gallery that no forms of utterances shall be made from there.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I vote in favor of the committee's proposal for a decision in expenditure area 17.

Culture's share in the budget is 0.65 percent of the total state budget. It might not be correct to the decimal, but still. When the finances are to be distributed, culture unfortunately, regardless of government, ends up at an all too low level.

Allow me to repeat what another Social Democratic politician, other than the one we just heard, has said: We who are cultural politicians fight for culture in society and in our various parties.

There is another quote, from Winston Churchill, which I believe you all know: "If we have no art and culture, we have nothing to defend!" This statement was made during the Second World War. It actually has good relevance in our new military situation with a significantly increased defense budget. Culture can be squeezed in a budget.

Unfortunately, there is a view of culture as a self-playing piano. We must continue to fight for culture. I welcome everyone who has gathered here as listeners today and who make great contributions to Swedish cultural life. I myself have been a cultural worker for 50 years, so I know something about this. I have chosen to be a combinator, so that music has been alongside my work as a teacher.

Madam Speaker! In the Christian Democrats' new cultural policy program, we write that the state shall strive to ensure that cultural workers have access to a functioning system for social security based on their specific circumstances, as their deviating working conditions can limit access to the social safety mechanisms that are usually available for persons with conventional employment conditions.

I continue reading from our new cultural policy program: Welfare systems must take into account historical income and also income in the form of, for example, scholarships and cultural prizes. The public's task is to ensure that cultural workers and cultural creators can work under good conditions.

It is, therefore, the Christian Democrats' policy, and it is forward-looking. I will do what I can to move from words to action, because there can be many words when it comes to these issues.

Madam Speaker! Another part of reality that does not withstand politics' ability to create good conditions for cultural workers is the paradigm shift that we now see taking place within the cultural field. It is about the business sector's entry when it comes to supporting culture. It is about patrons, donors to cultural activities. We Christian Democrats believe in the return of patrons as a complement to politics' responsibility for culture, for that also exists.

When I listen to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, which I did earlier today, I think of his patron Nadezhda von Meck. She provided financial support to Tchaikovsky and ensured that he could write his wonderful music.

We see the need for capital when it concerns, for example, the Opera. I was pleased when I heard Mats Berglund say that he was positive towards private contributions to culture – perhaps it specifically concerned the Opera. If we are to get an extraordinary opera, an opera house for both visitors and employees, I believe it will require money from patrons, donors, and the business sector.

The government decided in early November on additional directives for the investigation reviewing tax incentives for legal entities' donations to non-profit activities. It went as follows: The investigator shall now also review possible deductions or other tax relief for sponsorship of culture. This also applies to non-profit activities.

Madam Speaker! The leisure card is a Christian Democratic baby, a reform to promote children's and young people's active participation in sports, culture, and outdoor life in community with others. We invest 792 million annually in this - a lot of money. It makes it possible for more children and young people to have an active and meaningful leisure time.

We have great challenges when it comes to ill health and sedentary lifestyles among children and young people. It is required that we think anew and dare to invest. Our children and young people deserve that we do our utmost to give them the conditions for good health and a good life. It is particularly important to reach those children whom we actually do not reach today.

According to the proposal on the leisure card, the children shall be between 8 and 16 years old. The card shall be able to be used for payment of certain fees for leader-led leisure activities held by an approved provider.

Children and young people's opportunities to participate in leisure activities should not be determined by the size of the wallet. There are therefore two different amounts here. First, there is a general leisure card of 500 kronor per child. I know there are those who like general welfare and want everyone to share in these funds. This has been requested previously when, over several years, I worked on and debated the leisure money. People want a general welfare, and now we have it: 500 kronor for all children. But then there are exceptions, and those are children and young people living in economic vulnerability. There, there is an amount of 2,000 kronor.

This will now be introduced, after several years of debates where I have tried to convince my dear colleagues here of how good this is, on 1 October 2025. Then I hope that we will all celebrate this. I am not so sure that everyone will join in, but one can always hope.

Madam Speaker! More is being done from the government's side. I will keep a bit of an eye on my speaking time, but I would like to mention just a few things.

Money is being invested in measures to strengthen, make accessible, and increase awareness of activities for children and young people in municipalities across the country, as well as on training more leaders for children and young people with disabilities. The Cultural Council has received a mandate to strengthen the municipal cultural school - there is also money for that. We are also strengthening Jewish life in Sweden.

We also have sports on our agenda. The government gives, just like previous governments, approximately 2 billion to the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet). Also, 100 million goes to the construction of sports environments this year and then 100 million per year for sports in disadvantaged areas, the so-called Idrottsklivet. We are also making investments in outdoor life and sports for the elderly. Finally, we are making a loneliness initiative, or if one wants to call it a community initiative, of 300 million.

That is how I can continue and list measures. We heard Kristina Axén Olin list a whole series of measures earlier, and now I have come up with some additional cultural and health-promoting measures that are being taken primarily for our children and young people.

(Applause)

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Madam Speaker! I notice that you on the government side do not want so many replies. We have a long list of speakers remaining, so perhaps we should concentrate a little. I did, however, request a reply when I heard my name mentioned.

It is quite true: Miljöpartiet has never in any way been against private money entering the cultural life. I believe it would be very good. We see, not least now, how vulnerable it is when the public sector withdraws and too little private money finances culture.

But that is exactly it: The public sector must never wonder away from its responsibility just because private money comes in. I think the government and the Minister for Culture are starting at the wrong end. One cuts back on culture and hopes that private money will somehow come in.

Roland Utbult mentioned that sponsorship of culture should become tax-free. That is perhaps a measure to maybe attract a bit more sponsorship, but I hardly believe that it will be enough. There is a wishful thinking that we will get altruistic millionaires who sponsor culture, but I am worried that it will not happen if massive measures are not taken from the political side.

I have no ideas on what it should be. We tried in Stockholm, during the time the Alliance ruled, by appointing a department at Kulturhuset that was supposed to "fundraise." It didn't even bring in money for its own salaries, so we had to shut it down.

But what are the Christian Democrats' thoughts on this? I have read your program, but there are no proposals there.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank Mats Berglund for the question. It is very good if we can have a discussion about this paradigm shift when the business sector begins to enter the context.

When it has concerned sponsorship of sports, we know that you get a sign in the hall, and then you deduct the money. You make a tax deduction. If this can be done for those who work within culture, it is fantastically good. Then the business sector can step in - I believe this is quite developed in Denmark - and make a financial contribution and then make a deduction. I think that is a good way for the business sector to get involved.

I believe that it will become quite common. We still have to believe that there are a number of entrepreneurs with good intentions who think that if one supports culture, one gets an added value in one's company or one's business.

This is to be reviewed now. We will see what is concluded regarding the sponsorship of non-profit activities and cultural activities. I am very tense about how it will turn out.

But I would like to say to Mats Berglund that I hear other notes than he does. I hear, for example, when it comes to the Opera, that there is interest. It does not surprise me in the slightest, because it is still a national stage. Let us therefore still believe and hope that it can be so if the opportunity is now offered.

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

Mats Berglund (MP)

Madam Speaker! Regarding the Opera, Stockholm's business community should above all support it. I would be very disappointed if the money does not come. The Opera, in fact, provides an enormous added value to companies based in Stockholm. In Stockholm, there are many headquarters for international companies. That is probably because it is a good city in many ways. It is a good city tax-wise. But also the culture, childcare and so on are attractive.

I find it difficult to believe the rest. I am, as I have said, not against it. But the state and the public sector must not withdraw.

I do not think we really finished with the leisure card. It is a hobby horse for the Christian Democrats that one has fought for for a long time. I brought up the referral responses, which were quite negative, and brought up risks with the leisure card. The National Economic Council, for example, writes that there is a risk of fraud and errors.

It is pointed out that it is primarily those who are already active in the culture school, sports clubs and so on who will use it. It will be difficult to reach the new groups. I mentioned that in my home municipality, Stockholm, we have tried many ways to lower the costs and all that. But it is difficult to reach many. Complications for the parents and for the clubs and complications with the licensing are mentioned.

It is good that one seeks out the groups in vulnerable areas. But yesterday I was at the Heja special day, which is the Swedish Paralympic Association's initiative for people with intellectual disabilities. It is a group that stands outside and who would really need this but who are not reached by the 2,000 kronor.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! Mats Berglund! It is very good that you bring up disability. I will pass it on to Jakob Forssmed, who is indeed the one who primarily handles the final parts of what is to be shaped into this bill. There is a fair amount left to do. Several authorities are involved.

Given your first post, I want to say that it is naturally about a complement to the public sector, which I also expressed in the statement. We will not withdraw from the responsibility for the public sector. But it will be an addition that I believe will enrich if it is done in a nice way. The fact that the business sector will enter will enrich the cultural world.

I think that Mats Berglund is still living in a world of problems. One could instead have the attitude that one sees challenges. I mean: Come on! Don't be so negative, but see the opportunities in this! Then we shall see if we cannot share the cake here in October next year.

If it becomes a success, what will Mats Berglund do then? I think that he might see that there are challenges and opportunities here.

(MATS BERGLUND (MP): We hope for success.)

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! I have a question, somewhat on the same theme, for Member Utbult. It concerns the private financing.

Vänsterpartiet of course welcomes those who have resources wanting to put in private funds into cultural initiatives. What I am worried about is, among other things, what Berglund raised, that it becomes a reason for the public sector to withdraw.

But I am also concerned regarding tax deductions, as the member mentioned. I have only quickly glanced through the new culture program that the Kristdemokraterna have presented. In several areas, they propose different types of tax deductions. I think that if there is an interest in investing fewer public funds in culture while at the same time fewer public funds come in when one makes a large amount of different types of tax deductions, then in total there will be less culture money to distribute.

I experience that the member and I are in agreement that we should have national cultural policy goals with a fairly high level of ambition. My reflection is: How are we to politically be able to work towards achieving the cultural policy goals if there is no substantial public culture budget to contribute to ensure that there are activities that move towards those goals? It is about, for example, targeted initiatives so that children and young people can participate in culture.

How can we guarantee that we can achieve the cultural policy goals? If it is up to each individual who chips in a little money, one might prefer to spend their private money where one can get a nice plaque on the wall stating that one has invested. One might want to name a salon, or whatever it may be. One might not say: I want us to achieve the cultural policy goals with the help of my money.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the question, Vasiliki Tsouplaki!

I cannot see that it would disturb the cultural life in Sweden particularly much if one were to be allowed to put their name on a salon. We may perhaps have to expect that one wants some kind of confirmation if one invests a little money.

I did not say in my post, and I do not think either, that it would result in fewer public funds just because the business sector enters. I believe it will be approximately the same budget and function approximately as it does now. This will be an addition and an opportunity.

I believe that the needs will increase, as is the case with most things in society. Public funds may also decrease for various reasons, because there are such enormous needs. We see that just the defense budget has gone from 40 billion only a few years ago to now being up to 120-130 billion - those sitting in the Defense Committee can perhaps say more exactly. I might not be right on the decimals. But it is an enormous increase. It is clear that it crowds out a lot of other things. That is how it is.

But we must fight, as I said before that a social democrat has said: We fight in society, and we fight in our different parties for culture. We must keep fighting.

As I said in my speech, I see this as something that complements the public funds.

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the answer!

It feels reassuring that Roland Utbult says: No, there will be no cuts. But when the member says that he believes it will remain at this level, it does mean that all the support that exists will slowly but surely be eroded.

I cannot imagine that there are private financiers who say: I want to invest a few million in wage and price adjustments, because I think that feels important. That was what I wanted to make visible with the fact that one wants a plaque or to name a salon. I do not mean that it is disturbing in any way, but it is perhaps the type of investments one wants to make with one's money because one wants to leave behind some kind of legacy.

We saw, for example, that a major corporate owner could come in with 100 million to the Stockholm Concert Hall. But perhaps there is no one who says yes to a little more children's theater in schools. That is what I am looking for.

I know that the member is passionate about children living in economic hardship being able to participate in culture. I mean that we are politically responsible for the cultural policy goals. We cannot shift that responsibility onto private funders. We cannot demand that of them. I do not think we should do that; instead, that responsibility must be taken by us here in the Riksdag and by you as government parties.

It worries me when the member says that the Christian Democrats are not getting a hearing among the Tidö parties and when the Sweden Democrats say that they are not getting a hearing for more money for cultural heritage.

There seem to be parties in your government's support base that are hindering cultural initiatives. It worries me that it is not Roland Utbult's ideas that ultimately gain traction.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! This is an incredibly important debate, because a paradigm shift is underway as the business sector enters in a completely new way. We must all, naturally, be vigilant so that this happens in the best possible way.

Vasiliki Tsouplaki thinks my attitude is reassuring, but I cannot carry more than the Christian Democrats on my shoulders. Others must take responsibility for their parties. I will fight for this and do what I can. I promise that.

When the member says that public support will be eroded, I understand it as her thinking that one does not follow the cost developments in the different areas. That is a very important point. It is, of course, the Ministry of Finance that largely lays out the map. That is where we must also fight for culture.

The cost development is part of everything. My hope is truly that we follow the cost development in our various areas so that we can be secure in this part.

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! When one looks out over Sweden, one could believe that we live in an economically vulnerable country. In an exchange of remarks, I raised the point that teachers at our schools are being laid off. The same applies to healthcare staff across the country. Unemployment among cultural workers has increased by 30 percent since the government took office. Trains have difficulty moving forward, and municipalities cannot afford to renovate sewage systems. We now have the third highest unemployment in the EU, after Spain and Greece. Families with children are being evicted from their homes. Housing costs have increased by 26 percent and food prices by 25 percent in two years. The person who becomes sick leave today may have to wait longer for a decision on compensation from Försäkringskassan, because they have laid off a large number of case officers.

For those looking at this from the outside, it must appear as if we cannot afford a welfare and security system that provides people with security or a vibrant cultural life. But that is not actually the case. We in Sweden are one of the countries with the lowest public debt in the entire EU, and the government and Sverigedemokraterna have chosen to decline tax revenues of 34 billion that the state would otherwise have received during the next year.

It is money that could have gone to better elderly care, higher staffing levels at preschools, and increased housing construction. One could have strengthened the cultural sector and civil society, which today is on its knees and is having to lay off staff. One has to cancel performances and activities and deny young people rehearsal spaces.

It can be done in a different way, which the Left Party has done in its budget. It is therefore entirely possible.

I cannot interpret it in any other way than that one is satisfied with the situation and instead has made the assessment that those who today earn 65,000 kronor a month really needed substantial tax cuts. We have known since before that there has been concern that these high-income earners have not been able to afford to pay someone to travel to their summer cottage when it is to be closed for the winter. They may need help from someone who travels there and flushes the taps or toilets because they do not have the possibility to pay for it themselves. These are services that all taxpayers need to help subsidize today.

When one receives critical questions about the lack of elderly care places, about the care queues, or about large school classes, it is never the state's responsibility to do anything about it. It is always politicians at other levels who should prioritize differently. What happens in municipalities and regions that cannot balance their budgets is that they begin to review the areas that are not legally mandated. Then it is association grants, culture schools, museums, concerts for school students, and the preventive work that get cut.

Madam Speaker! If we look closer at what many have perceived as the state's responsibility within cultural policy, we see that it unfortunately falters there as well. We heard earlier that it is not the fault of the Tidö parties that, for example, music houses have to close; it is the study associations that should prioritize differently when they receive less money.

Unfortunately, there is no sensitivity to the great needs that have arisen after the sector has gone through first a pandemic and then years of inflation. Even within the cultural sector, one is affected by higher rents and increased overhead costs. At best, the government and Sverigedemokraterna let the support remain at the same level as before, but in several cases, they are reduced.

One such example is the reduction in the cultural cooperation model. First, the price and wage adjustment disappeared, and for next year, an additional 20 million is being removed. This occurs in a situation where the regions have very difficulty compensating for the loss. It will, for example, hit county museums, county theaters, and the non-profit cultural life across the country.

Before today's debate, a large number of independent actors within the performing arts have contacted us in the committee. Many of them may be sitting in the gallery now and listening.

Many who have reached out are dependent on support from the Arts Council and, for example, the municipalities' purchases of performances. The independent theater groups constitute a very large proportion of the children's and youth performances in our country. They also provide a challenging and innovative performing arts.

In my home county of Västmanland, the Amatörteaterns Riksförbund has its headquarters, and from there they serve all local amateur theater associations. They have a script library that is of great help to everyone who needs a script. Now they will have to shut down the only amateur theater newspaper that exists in our country. They will have to lay off the only communicator. This is happening because of a 5 percent reduction in the grant from Kulturrådet. It may not sound like much, but one should know that this grant has remained stagnant year after year while other costs have increased. This is how it looks for very many actors.

There are several examples from Västmanland. We have the theater group Tropos, which announced this summer that they are closing down after 25 years. The reason is that the grants have remained stagnant for ten years while the costs have increased.

Teatermaskinen in Riddarhyttan cannot afford to keep its theater venue. Over the years, it has been a hub for symposia, festivals, and artistic collaborations in the Westmanland countryside, often with a local perspective that other actors do not highlight. But they have not been able to receive any operational support from the Arts Council.

The Tidö parties must understand that it is not about the operations not cutting back, but it is about that they are not being compensated for their increased costs.

I think that the Tidö parties' representatives also meet these organizations and speak with their municipal politicians. They should also know that this is what is happening, but so far the answer has only been what we heard earlier here: Private funders were needed. We will get tax cuts. This gives people more money in their pockets, and then they will consume more culture.

As I see it, and I heard that Lawen Redar also made that analysis, the large groups who today need to opt out of cultural experiences due to low incomes will hardly get more with the government's budget, which has been negotiated with Sverigedemokraterna. The few kronor in question need to go to winter shoes for the children, to the more expensive food, and to what the Tidö parties are now also proposing, namely more expensive medicines and more expensive dental care for young people. Those who have received large tax cuts could afford cultural experiences already.

Madam Speaker! The non-profit cultural life accounts for a large part of the activities for children and young people. They are organizers of concerts, festivals, film screenings, art exhibitions and theater performances. Much of this work is done voluntarily today, but support is needed for some of their overhead costs.

In this context, I particularly want to highlight the efforts that the study associations make. These are efforts that are now disappearing in many places. Alongside the public libraries, the study associations are the only actor present in all municipalities and who for decades have been the guarantee that even those living outside a larger city are reached by, for example, author talks, courses, study circles, and musical performances. They are also the backbone of the entire civil society's educational activities.

But the government and the Sweden Democrats have decided that it is things that are not needed in 30 percent of the cases, and therefore they are cutting the state support by a third during this parliamentary term.

Already after a year of cuts, a large number of music venues and rehearsal spaces have been forced to close. Employees have been laid off, and the study association Kulturens has shut down its entire operation. If one wants to weaken civil society, this is truly a well-aimed blow, precisely because study associations constitute its backbone.

For me and many others, it is obvious that there is a desire to weaken large parts of civil society. Certain parts are appreciated – those that so far have not provoked any of the Tidö parties and who are not perceived to have political opinions.

Sweden's consumers thought SD was too ideological - away with their state subsidies! The organizations that highlight immigrants' perspectives and work for their rights, such as the organization Sios - away with their subsidies! Those who work with peace issues, environmental issues, aid issues and human rights - should they really get so much money?

When I started here in the Riksdag seven years ago, I perceived that the major dividing line between us in Vänsterpartiet and the bourgeois parties was about how much culture and association life would be allowed to cost. But there was a consensus regarding the value of voluntary engagement and how it contributes to our prosperity and well-being and to a sense of community, security, and important conversations. These are things that cannot always be measured but which still have great value.

Unfortunately, that time is over now, and developments have moved very fast. Freedom and freedom of speech are seen as a threat to power, not as a prerequisite for our democracy. The exercise of power against civil society is characterized by suspicion and mistrust instead of trust.

Madam Speaker! I have now exceeded my speaking time but unfortunately have not had time to speak more in detail about the Left Party's budget proposal. It is unfortunate, but that is how it becomes in a year like this when there is so much to lament in the government's proposal.

So, at the end of my speaking time, I still want to state that Vänsterpartiet allocates 2.3 billion kronor more than the government and Sverigedemokraterna in the area of the cultural grant. This covers, among other things, investments in civil society, the cultural cooperation model, and more employments within the performing arts alliances.

Sports receive funding, including targeted funds for para-sports, as do the religious communities. There will be higher compensations for artists, the Swedish Film Institute, cultural heritage, libraries, outdoor life, and folk education.

In short, it is about all the parts that the committee is tasked to be responsible for. I mean that is what a responsible budget should look like.

(Applause)

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

Robert Hannah (L)

Madam Speaker! When I watched this year's Christmas calendar Snödrömmar together with my children, I was filled with both warmth and pride. Through the story of Sami children and their everyday lives, we gained an insight into a world that is a part of Sweden but which is perhaps unknown to many.

The advent calendar does something fantastic. It awakens curiosity and creates an understanding of one of our national minorities' unique culture, unique history, and unique challenges. The Sámi's rich culture is an invaluable part of our shared cultural heritage.

Through public service, these stories reach the entire Swedish people, regardless of whether you live in Kiruna or in Malmö. This is a reminder of why we need a strong and independent public service: to reflect the whole of Sweden for all Swedish citizens.

If Sámi culture becomes more visible and if more children get to learn about our indigenous people, we are not only building knowledge but also respect and cohesion. It is precisely such efforts that create bridges between different parts of our society and strengthen our democracy.

Snödr ö mmar is not just a story for children but part of a larger work to preserve and highlight what makes Sweden unique. That is why, Madam Speaker, public service is one of the primary guarantors of our open democratic society. We in the Liberals will always stand firm on high funding for public service.

It is also one of the reasons why we are now making a major investment in another national minority. I want to take the time to say that of all the investments in our budget, the investment in the Jewish minority, which is one of our national minorities, is one of the most important for me and the Liberals. We will fund the commemoration of 250 years of Jewish life in Sweden next year.

I truly regret that we have a situation in Sweden in 2024 where many Swedish Jews - one of our national minorities - do not feel safe on Swedish streets. Many of them feel abandoned by so-called anti-racists. The anti-racist movement seems to think that precisely this population group, precisely this national minority, is not important to defend when extensive antisemitism is spread in Swedish society based on a conflict in a completely different country.

There are also so-called anti-racist parties that have important representatives who spread antisemitic messages. When they have done this and been expelled, the largest local branch of the party defends the person who has spread antisemitic messages.

So we cannot have that in Sweden. That is why the government is making major investments to strengthen the Jewish minority in Sweden - one of our national minorities. We would never have accepted that another national minority was treated as the Jewish minority is treated today.

Madam Speaker! The Tidö parties' and the Liberals' culture budget is a budget for children, education, and preparedness. It strengthens culture as a fundamental part of our society and a freedom-creating force for the individual.

Culture is a key to feeling a sense of belonging and participation in the construction of society. Let me highlight some of the Liberals' priority areas.

The first thing, which will always be number one, is children's reading. We are facing a literacy crisis in Sweden. Pisa and Pirls studies show that Swedish children's reading ability has significantly deteriorated.

It is unacceptable in a knowledge nation like Sweden. Therefore, we in the government are making several initiatives. We ensure that all students get access to staffed school libraries to provide them with the resources required for them to develop their language.

Reading lists, recently developed by Skolverket and Kulturrådet, shall support teachers in the work of offering children a variety of quality literature that is both developing and inclusive. In many of Sweden's schools, especially in the disadvantaged areas, the teachers and educators have not studied literary studies. They need this support to select books.

We are strengthening the work with Bokstart to give the youngest children a linguistic foundation to stand on. We are also investing in the Swedish Children's Book Institute and public libraries to ensure that books reach more children regardless of where in the country they live. Teaching materials are a major investment that the Liberal Party is incredibly proud of.

Secondly, it is about the protection and accessibility of cultural heritage. We are strengthening efforts to protect our common cultural heritage and make it accessible to more people. Major assignments have, for example, been given to the Swedish National Heritage Board.

Through digitalization and targeted investments in the preservation of historical environments and objects, we ensure that more people can take part in our shared cultural heritage. Culture is a bridge between generations and a foundation for mutual understanding.

Thirdly, I want to speak about support for cultural and creative industries. I will speak a bit more about video games here. The absolute largest cultural expression among children and young people in Sweden today is video games.

Sweden is a superpower in video games, just as we are a superpower in music. But it has not received the recognition that is needed. Now, the entire Culture Committee is working to ensure that the video game industry receives the recognition it needs.

Our Swedish developers create games that are not only global successes but also cultural expressions of our time. We are investing in strengthening the video game industry with our new strategy for creative and cultural industries. We will provide innovation support and work on export promotion for the companies.

Madam Speaker! But with great power comes also a great responsibility. Reports from, for example, the children's rights organization Child X show that grooming and bullying online is widespread. It also happens in the games. Two out of three children in these types of environments are subjected to inappropriate behavior. We would never have allowed adult men to approach our children on the street. But in computer games, it seems to be an open forum.

Here we must set concrete requirements for increased supervision and sanctions. We want to give authorities, such as the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, greater powers to review how the platforms protect their users, and we want to introduce significant fines for those who fail in this work. The platforms must take responsibility for blocking adult men who attempt to exploit children in these environments.

We also need an effective age verification. Social media and gaming platforms shall have an obligation to introduce systems that prevent children from being exposed to inappropriate content or contact with adults who do not belong in those environments.

Madam Speaker! With this culture budget, we lay the foundation for a Sweden where children's reading, education, and preparedness go hand in hand. We strengthen children's reading, protect our cultural heritage, and open up opportunities for more creative industries.

At the same time, we safeguard public service as a unifying force for our entire country. We ensure that everyone, regardless of background – including our national minorities, and above all our Jewish minority – has the same access to that which builds our common Sweden. I therefore move for approval of the committee's proposal in the report.

(Applause)

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the passionate words delivered here in the speaker's chair regarding the importance of the investment in national minorities and the investment in Jewish life based on the investigation that has been conducted.

What I am wondering about is why the budget does not follow the commitment that the member shows. Regarding the investment in national minorities that is mentioned, there were 33 million in the budget last year for the Sami Parliament and Isof for language centers and investments for the revitalization of the minority languages.

Next year, there will be a total of 8.5 million for the same activity. I perceive it as a hard blow to the language work, and it is very regrettable. Previously, some of those funds were also directly under the Sametinget, and now they are being moved. I would like to know how the member reasons regarding that.

Another part is the initiative for Jewish life, which is very important. We in Vänsterpartiet see that the investigation had a number of different important proposals. These are funds that partly fall under the Committee on the Constitution's expenditure area. In our budget, we finance all the proposals in the investigation. This means 40 million more. Why have the Tidö parties chosen not to follow all the investigation's proposals and allocate that entire sum?

In our budget proposal, there is a total of 151 million more for the national minorities. That is somewhere where one would need to be to fulfill the commitments that Sweden has according to international conventions and so on.

Then we need to talk about antisemitism. But I don't have time for that in this post. I will save that for the next post.

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

Robert Hannah (L)

Madam Speaker! Regarding the question about the Sámi and the language initiative with different institutes, it was a temporary initiative that is now expiring. The idea behind it was that they should build up their operations, and the operations are now built up.

The impression I have received is that the funding that will now be available will provide security for them to be able to continue their operations. I feel no major concern that it will not be able to continue. It is a good investment that the previous government initiated and that this government is continuing with.

Then to the question of Jewish life. When I have spoken with the various representatives for this group, their greatest concern is not different types of economic investments. Their greatest concern is that the spread of antisemitism has gained momentum.

So-called anti-racists think that all racism is important to fight except for this racism. Anti-racist parties have representatives who spread deeply antisemitic messages. The largest local branch in the responsible party distances itself from an expulsion of a representative. There are enormous problems.

The greatest concern that Swedish Jews feel today is that they belong to a singled-out group that does not receive support from the whole of society. They do not feel that they have a future in this country, and they feel worried for their safety.

A major investment we are making in the budget is precisely to increase the support for religious congregations and other institutions so that they receive more funds. To be honest, those funds will go directly to various Jewish congregations.

I have never laughed so much as I did when the committee visited Malmö and I saw that there were police and guards outside a Jewish preschool. We should all in this room realize that it is totally unacceptable.

We need to do much more for Jewish life. But above all, we need to stand behind them politically. That is what I find lacking from Vänsterpartiet.

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Madam Speaker! It was good that the member stated what he had insinuated earlier, that it would be the case that the Left Party does not stand behind Jews' right to freedom and security in our country.

I thought it was a bit unfortunate that the member spoke somewhat loosely when I realized it was Vänsterpartiet that he was referring to, and therefore I requested the floor.

I want to say from the rostrum that I believe the majority of the Swedish population knows that Vänsterpartiet is the strongest anti-racist force in our parliament.

It may be necessary to say extra clearly, given the writings that have been about members who have shared antisemitic messages. It is three members in a membership of approximately 30,000 members who have done these things.

We have handled it for a period. There is a process internally in our party that we do not need to account for in detail for all listeners. It might not be that very interesting.

What is interesting to consider is that antisemitism exists in our entire society. It is not something any party can stand above. It has been a part of Western culture for centuries. It is something we need to highlight, and we need to educate and provide increased knowledge in our entire society. There are very many who do not know what the antisemitic messages look like in image form and in the tropes that are spread. One can perceive that one is sharing images that are a critique of Israel, but those images contain the antisemitic symbolism that a younger generation perhaps does not know, a symbolism that goes back to the 30s, to the Middle Ages, and so on.

A knowledge boost was needed here, and we are working on that internally within our party. We have met with Jewish organizations in various contexts, and we are trying to develop a course offering and ensure that our representatives and members receive increased knowledge. It is very important.

A question I would like to ask Robert Hannah, if I can have a second, is what his position is on the Tidö cooperation with the Sweden Democrats, a party that has a Nazi background. They are neo-Nazis, as we usually say.

(Applause)

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

Robert Hannah (L)

Madam Speaker! I think like this: One cannot call oneself Sweden's leading anti-racist party if the Jewish Central Council does not welcome the party to its activities. They are afraid of the threats coming from society. They are forced to have police protection and other types of protection.

At the same time, the largest local branch of Vänsterpartiet chooses to distance itself from the party leadership when they exclude an antisemite. It is unsustainable. We cannot have that in this country. This is a national minority that is threatened and feels no hope for the future. Many of my Jewish friends are afraid for their future and for what it will become. I have Jewish friends who have even stood and guarded outside their schools because they are afraid that something will happen and that someone will break in.

It goes that deep, and then a local branch of an anti-racist party cannot distance itself from the exclusion of antisemites. It doesn't work.

I have great confidence in Member of Parliament Vasiliki Tsouplaki and trust every word she says about these matters, when it concerns herself. But it is not possible that the largest local association openly defends an antisemite when it concerns one of our national minorities. It would never have been accepted regarding any of our other national minorities.

As long as the Jewish Central Council is not satisfied, the Left Party needs to reflect on this, and we other parties need to consider what policy we need to have to support the Jewish minority. It has a future in Sweden, but we must ensure that it is so in the future as well. We must have the political measures for it to truly become so.

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

Catarina Deremar (C)

Madam Speaker! It is the culture debate in the Riksdag, I stand as the eighth speaker and there have been a number of exchanges of remarks - it feels as if time has flown by!

This is the only debate this autumn on our area of responsibility, and despite the budget's small scale when we look at the state's total budget, our responsibility is large with diverse areas - everything from public service, sports, media and film to church antiquarian compensations, to name a few. So why not spice up this debate with a bit of infrastructure and preparedness?

How does it connect? Infrastructure is a prerequisite for culture to reach everyone in the entire country. Both community centers and study associations are needed throughout our country for culture to reach everyone where we live and work. Therefore, we must not tear down the infrastructure of the study associations; they are such important cultural organizers together with others in civil society - the local heritage movement and the community centers, to name a couple.

If we are to be able to strengthen our preparedness, Madam Speaker, we must also find each person's will to be a part of it. What, then, is this preparedness for? It is about what is so close to my heart and the Center Party's heart: our open, democratic society and our Swedish and Nordic values. It is also about free and voluntary folk education and the free arts.

Free art is a prerequisite for democracy. What would we be without free art and culture? Very poor, is my short answer. Art and culture create community and encounters between people. If we know each other, we also care for each other and are not afraid of each other. The art in our streets becomes our common ground. It makes our public places safer—places to feel at home in and to care for. By investing in culture and art, we build resilience. Our preparedness and our resistance simply become better.

Madam Speaker! When I was new to the Riksdag, I, like all new members of parliament, had a mentor. My mentor told me clearly that once a year one must mention the ban on hunting, and when could it fit better than today?

Yesterday, on December 3, it was decided at UNESCO's meeting in Paraguay that fäbodbruk shall be included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Together with the Nordic clinker boat tradition, Sagobygden, and the Nyckelharpa network, fäbod culture—which is a living tradition encompassing everything from animal husbandry and pastures to food traditions and music—is now also included on UNESCO's list of living cultural heritage.

Madam Speaker! Regardless of where we find ourselves, we need culture in different ways, and we adults have a special responsibility to ensure that children are able to encounter culture. On Monday, I visited Slottsskolan in Vingåker, a school where, unlike other schools in the municipality, one also finds the culture school. It was an impressive operation that could be demonstrated with numerous occasions where children and young people get to meet professional culture creators. There were many brass players and a wonderful time! There is no doubt that students who spend their day on music, dance, theater, and creative work also succeed better with the fulfillment of goals in the school as a whole.

Therefore, I must say that I appreciate the government's initiative on Skapande skola. I am completely convinced that art and culture are important parts of addressing the crime that we see increasingly younger perpetrators are becoming involved in. We must prevent this and not just resort to reprisals. Here, art and culture are a prerequisite.

Madam Speaker! Since the majority in the Riksdag has adopted a budget with a different orientation than what we from the Center Party have proposed, we abstain from taking positions regarding how the appropriations shall be distributed within expenditure area 17. We do, however, submit a special statement on our policy in the area, and in the Center Party's budget for expenditure area 17, we place a clear focus on popular education and civil society.

(Applause)

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Catarina Deremar, for bringing in both fäbod culture and nyckelharpas in this debate! It was very well done, I think!

It is nice how we debate from different perspectives and backgrounds here. We actually agree on most things. I will keep it a bit brief given the late hour.

When I read in the Center Party's program, it says that you want to abolish the initiative on the leisure card. Now, the initiative on the leisure card has not entered into force, but you already want to abolish the initiative. But my question does not concern that matter.

Why? We want to invest 500 kronor generally per child, and then we want to invest 2,000 kronor per child in vulnerability. That does not match the question about ethics and Centerpartiet. You are cutting the investments, and you do not comment on what the 790,000 kronor that you want to cut should be used for.

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

Catarina Deremar (C)

Madam Speaker! In our budget, there are contributions to regional culture of 100 million. We invest 250 million in sports and 50 million in community centers. Then we restore the entire amount that has been cut for study associations, which is 350 million. These are our priorities.

Our budget is fully funded. This means, among other things, that we have used the money. We believe that there will be too much hassle with the leisure card. I have great respect for Member Utbult's great commitment to this, and I have truly followed Utbult's argumentation in the chamber regarding the leisure card throughout all the years. My experience is that the more we in the opposition have criticized, seen fears, and predicted hassle, the more one has changed in the development of the proposal. One has indeed heeded what we have said.

We would rather like to give the money directly to the sports movement because we believe that they can handle the proposals.

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

Roland Utbult (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank you, Catarina Deremar, for your answer!

If we disregard certain budgetary differences, I feel a strong sense of solidarity with you and C. I know that you are a liberal party. You call yourselves that, at least. But I wonder what the actual difference is between C and KD. Since Thorbjörn Fälldin's days, we have had the same ethical stance and the same basic platform.

You can take this for what it is, but I would like to give you a challenge: Welcome back to the father's house! I think many Center Party members across our country would be happy if we were even a little tighter.

That is why I say it once again: Welcome back to the father's house!

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

Catarina Deremar (C)

Madam Speaker! It is in the cultural debate that things are happening! Thank you for the challenge, as Member Utbult said.

I am grateful that Roland Utbult says that Centerpartiet is a liberal party. That is perhaps where the difference lies between us. We are a bit more liberal than the Kristdemokraterna are.

I can see many things that I think the government is doing right when it comes to the culture budget, but it is clear that I wish for more money for culture.

I believe we have many common starting points, and perhaps we share that with the entire committee - it is probably not just between Centerpartiet and Kristdemokraterna. There are probably points of contact with several parties here.

Thank you very much for the challenge! I will consider it.

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

Jonas Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the Culture Committee's report regarding expenditure area 17 in the budget bill for 2025, which covers the areas of culture, media, religious communities, and leisure.

I would initially like to express my approval of the committee's proposed decision in the report.

I intended to primarily focus on those parts of the state budget that concern public education.

In 2025, an expanded reduction of the grant to student unions will be carried out compared to the current year. In 2026, the grant will then be reduced further. I see this as a necessity when it needs to be prioritized in tough times and when historical investments are being made in Sweden in areas such as the justice system and defense. Even though some parties seem to believe there are not infinite resources to distribute in the state budget.

For the Sweden Democrats, the prioritization has also become more relevant because our trust in how the student unions handle the taxpayers' money is unfortunately very damaged. The damage has occurred because the state subsidy for folkbildning has for a long time and to a very large extent gone to completely wrong things. It is about money to Islamists, criminals and various fraudsters. But during this parliamentary term, the Sweden Democrats and the government parties are acting to ensure that the state subsidy instead ends up in the right place.

When we had the corresponding culture budget debate here in the chamber a year ago, folkbildning was given a large space. It primarily concerned the studieförbunden. The tone from several opposition parties was extremely high. It was a tone that in some ways reached almost absurd levels, which I hardly believe helps folkbildning. The tone has continued to be high over the past year because the grant to the studieförbunden will decrease over the coming years.

In the debate a year ago, it was spoken from the political left wing about a slaughter of civil society. Besides the fact that it is pure nonsense that the whole of Association Sweden is about to collapse, it also reveals the view held by representatives on the political left wing in the chamber. Civil society is not seen as a free and independent force, but as a kind of extension, a layer, of the state that can only exist with the help of state grants.

The political left wing raised in the same debate that it is in authoritarian states that the government decides on folkbildning (popular education). It is also a very strange assertion considering that both the current government and previous red-green governments have governed folkbildnings policy in different ways - naturally. One governs through budget allocations, regulations, guidelines, and so on. Some governance will always exist unless one wants to send off billions of kronor of the taxpayers' money without any control whatsoever.

Madam Speaker! The folk education sector can do good for Sweden and has great potential. But the type of extreme exaggerations and sometimes pure fabrications from the opposition that we have seen over the past year hinder the folk education sector more than it helps. The doomsday rhetoric steals focus from issues of substance that deserve better. In fact, SD and the government parties have made a contribution to democracy by acting to ensure that state grants for folk education go to what is intended. It is something that the previous red-green governments failed miserably at.

During the mandate period, we have tightened the guidelines for the Folkbildningsrådet and implemented new and stricter legislation regarding democratic conditions for state grants to civil society, to give two examples.

Based on the Folkbildningsutredningen, which presented its final report earlier this year, we will ensure that further proposals for order and clarity in the folk education sector reach the Riksdag.

Madam Speaker! The Islamist-linked study association Ibn Rushd announced this autumn that it is winding down its activities – this after it was denied state grants by the Folkbildningsrådet for the coming years.

Finally, Madam Speaker! Finally! It was truly high time that this Islamist organization was removed from everything called state grants and tax money - and no party has pushed as much as the Sverigedemokraterna for this to happen. It applies here in the Riksdag, it applies in the regions and it applies in the municipalities. Even though it is formally the Folkbildningsrådets decision not to allocate state grants to the studieförbundet Ibn Rushd, which has led to the studieförbundet winding itself down, I do not believe it would have happened without the Sverigedemokraterna and the government parties pushing for it to happen. I also think it is clear when one sees the reasons that have been communicated as to why the studieförbundet is winding down and why it did not receive state grants before that. The political signals we have sent out, the reforms we have implemented and the reforms we will implement have led us here. The pressure on studieförbundet Ibn Rushd from the Sverigedemokraterna has come from all political levels in Sweden. Also, many others' efforts, for example different researchers and social commentators, have of course played a role in us having arrived here.

That the study association Ibn Rushd is now being phased out is a great victory for Sweden, but we must not lower our guard. There is more to be done in Swedish folk education policy to ensure order and clarity. The Sweden Democrats will take their responsibility in cooperation with the government parties so that we reach that goal.

(Applause)

In this speech, Runar Filper (SD) agreed.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Madam Speaker! It is not my intention to prolong this debate, but I felt it was of great importance to respond to a speech that the member delivered.

It is clear that the Sweden Democrats are very happy about the cut that is now being made in the area of folk education. They have strived for this for a long time, and now they are realizing it.

It is said that we have an alarmist tone, but that organizations cannot continue to perform functions that are necessary for the cultural infrastructure is a truth. It is not just chest-thumping in this chamber, but it is a fact that Studiefrämjandet in Västerås and Vuxenskolan in Norrköping have closed their rehearsal rooms and that Folkuniversitetet's music house in Malmö will soon shut down.

It should also be very important for the Moderate member here in the chamber to inform that Umeå's largest and oldest rehearsal space, Musikhuset in Umedalen, is being forced to close. It was reported in the local newspaper with the headline "It is an era that is going into the grave." Those are quite heavy words that are being presented locally in the debate.

In Luleå, the entire discussion met with such social engagement that the municipality was forced to step in, and regarding the mentioned municipalities Gothenburg, Borås, Karlskoga, Kristianstad, Falun and Linköping, we now know we are facing a situation where one must shut down rehearsal rooms and music houses. Which of the upcoming municipalities we do not know yet, but this is the result of cutting 250 million in last year's budget and 350 million in this year's. Next year, a half billion in budget cuts for folkbildningen is announced.

Regarding just anti-democratic actors, we Social Democrats have been the most proactive in ensuring that a democratic condition prevails in Sweden.

We also submitted legislation to the Riksdag which the Moderate-led government, in cooperation with the Sweden Democrats, withdrew an entire year ago. That is why we have not managed to get this issue in order earlier.

My question to the Sweden Democrats is whether it is the ambition you have that rehearsal spaces should close across the entire country. What do you then care about regarding music's role in society?

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

Jonas Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! We initially heard here from the Social Democrats that the Sweden Democrats would be happy about activities closing down and happy about the cuts that are being spoken of. That is not true, I can say directly. No, we are not happy if it is the case that rehearsal rooms are closed down, for example, or that various study associations around the municipalities in Sweden cannot do exactly what they do today.

Something that I am happy and proud of is that we are trying to restore respect for the taxpayers and the taxpayers' money. It was not something that ranked high on the agenda when the red-green parties governed Sweden. After all, it is the case that we have to push through all these reforms when it comes to folk education—and I am not just talking about the budget allocation but also about the guidelines to the Folkbildningsrådet and the supplementary directives to the Folkbildningsutredningen, about that type of measure—because we have inherited your sins. It is you who have ensured that nothing was done about this enormous cheating and trickery.

Even when we talk about democratic conditions and the Social Democrats want to beat their chests about it, the fact is that the cheating and the fact that money went to the wrong things was something that really skyrocketed when you were in government.

In the Swedish National Audit Office's audit report on study loans that was released a couple of years ago, it was concluded that in almost half of the cases when 370 different arrangements were audited, it turned out that there was no basis for payment.

That is how your folk education policy has looked. That almost half of this does not even go towards what it is supposed to is not sensible. What responsibility do the Social Democrats actually have for it looking like this? It is your sins that we now have to inherit.

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

Lawen Redar (S)

Madam Speaker! Regarding crime in the working life, one increases the appropriations to remedy that crime by, for example, allocating resources to Arbetsmiljöverket to carry out inspections.

Regarding welfare crime, major measures are being implemented, not least through Försäkringskassan's mandate, in order to be able to investigate what the situation is with welfare crime. That is to say, resources are being increased in order to be able to audit.

When it comes to folkbildningen, it suddenly becomes a matter of slaughter. A third of the budget is to be removed.

Why is this logic not followed when it comes to popular education? My clear answer to that is that it is not about wanting to rectify popular education's resources because these have been used incorrectly, but the result of the policy we see is that rehearsal rooms and music houses are closing down.

It might have been appropriate to expand the resources for the Folkbildningsrådet or to strongly steer the direction in some way that ensures one obtains better control.

This was discovered during the time when we held government power. That is why we appointed a public education inquiry to remedy these problems.

We also pressured the study associations by saying: You must have significantly better lists, surveys, and closer cooperation with Noa to resolve this. You cannot hand over important folk education activities to associations that do not have the purpose of conducting folk education but instead do something else. At the very least, the ambition from our side is that these are not funds that are going to anti-democratic activities or crime.

What we did was take a great responsibility. We submitted a proposal for an investigation which began its work, but it didn't even have time to carry out its proposals before the Sverigedemokraternas analysis was to remove a third of its budget.

What we have now is a result that looks the way it does. The culture across the entire country is losing its prerequisites to offer children and young people an opportunity to go to a rehearsal room.

(Applause)

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

Jonas Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! It is not the first time I have heard this type of argument from the red-green side. Suddenly, one is worried about people out in the country and in rural areas and what they have access to.

With your policy, people wouldn't even have the means to travel to these rehearsal rooms and various activities because fuel prices are at record highs, so that people become poorer. That is the policy you are pursuing.

I hear that you want to take credit, and you, as you said, beat your chests for the bill that was eventually submitted regarding democratic conditions for state grants to civil society. We obviously shared some positions with the Social Democrats regarding what is important in this bill. But then we improved this product so that it became better than the product that you submitted from the beginning.

I must also refute what is being said here. It is claimed that we are cutting a third of the money for the student unions. It is true that we are reducing the grant, but not by a third. It is rather by a quarter. If one can fudge several hundred million in that way while standing here and talking to me, it feels as if it is not such large amounts for you, because you don't even have a handle on the figures when it comes to the student unions.

(Applause)

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

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Madam Speaker! From the sound of running children in gymnasiums to the fans' cheers in the stands, and from the warmth around the campfire to the coffee-scented community hall at the bottom of an apartment building - it is all this that is the beautiful thing about Folkrörelsesverige. Here are civil society's large and small organizations. Here are the religious communities, and here are sports and the outdoor movement - it is primarily these two areas I will focus on in my speech.

Madam Speaker! A couple of our time's greatest challenges are the increasing sedentary lifestyle and the ever-spreading mental ill-health, especially among children and young people. These are challenges that affect both the individual and society as a whole. Sedentary behavior leads to impaired physical health, with everything from overweight to cardiovascular diseases as a consequence. The mental ill-health, with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, threatens not only the well-being of young people but also their opportunities to reach their full potential in life.

Here, Folkrörelsesverige plays a decisive role. Our popular movements, from the sports movement to outdoor life and all organizations in civil society, have a unique opportunity to meet these challenges. They offer places for movement, community, and meaningful activities. By engaging children and young people, they can contribute to reducing sedentary behavior as well as give young people the tools to handle life's setbacks and build a stronger self-esteem.

The sports movement, for example, does not only create opportunities for physical activity but also offers an environment where children and young people can learn cooperation, leadership, and how to handle both wins and losses. Outdoor life, on the other hand, provides a chance to find tranquility in nature without demands for performance – something that is immensely valuable in a time when many young people feel overwhelmed by society's high demands and tempo.

Madam Speaker! Civil society is however not only important in times of challenges, even though it often carries many of the solutions we seek. No, it has a great intrinsic value.

The sports movement is Sweden's largest popular movement, with 3.2 million members in 20,000 voluntary associations and 650,000 leaders across our entire elongated country. Here, people find joy in sports daily. Here, the sports stars and role models of the future are nurtured.

But for sports to be able to develop, we must also take some of the challenges we face seriously. This is the approach in the Social Democrats' shadow budget for 2025. It is about exactly this: to see the challenges and tackle them.

Fewer people today have the time, energy, and knowledge to engage in an association, as a leader or on a board. Many sports clubs bear witness to a change in attitude – more and more parents see themselves as consumers and want to buy themselves free from the commitment. At the same time, this is not an option for very many working-class parents, who already have it tough with their livelihood. In these times, the shortage of leaders within sports becomes more palpable.

The reasons why parents and young people do not choose to engage voluntarily are several. It can be about a lack of tradition and also about economic opportunities. We Social Democrats therefore want to, in the long term, remunerate and educate more leaders in sports clubs. The municipalities and the sports clubs can, together, in cooperation with Sisu Idrottsutbildarna, carry out these leadership trainings.

The purpose of this reform is to create and strengthen sustainable, long-term sports activities throughout Sweden, especially in the areas that today need more leaders. We want the long-term ambition to be to train and remunerate 1,000 young people and therefore propose that 200 million be allocated during 2025 for this purpose.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats also want Sweden to be a country where we continue to nurture the great, internationally recognized athletes of the future. We know from this summer's Olympics in Paris that our sports stars' successes contribute to strengthening Sweden's image internationally and provide our children and young people with important role models in life.

Therefore, we need to review the obstacles that exist today, which make it difficult for many athletes to pursue an elite effort. One of these is the safety net system for elite athletes. The previous S-led government commissioned an inquiry into a safety net for everyone, and in June 2023, proposals were presented on alternative ways to calculate an individual's sickness benefit-based income. Unfortunately, this inquiry has today ended up in a bureaucratic drawer with the current government – no one has seen a trace of it.

We Social Democrats believe that young athletes who want to commit to their sport should be able to feel the same security as everyone else and be covered by the same social insurances and future pension opportunities. We therefore urge the government to pull out this investigation; it is not that difficult. First and foremost, present the proposals that improve the conditions for many arts and culture practitioners, but also review how athletes can be covered by the proposals that are in the investigation!

Unfortunately, the situation for elite-level para-athletes is even more difficult. This was also clearly noted in connection with the Paralympics in Paris.

The Paralympics are more than just entertainment where one gets to see their elite athletes. These athletes have an even more important role for many children with functional variations. For many with functional variations, the Paralympics is an arena where prejudices are shattered and the impossible suddenly becomes possible. The fantastic performances we see during these championships are not only a testament to outstanding athletic achievements but also a powerful reminder of what is possible when we create the conditions for everyone to succeed.

When children and young people with functional variations see an athlete competing in the Paralympics, they do not just see an athlete. They see someone who shares their experiences and who has overcome obstacles and achieved success. They feel that they too could manage to do exactly the same thing. Therefore, we urge the government to review how more para-athletes can be given the opportunity to participate in an elite initiative.

We Social Democrats want, in the same area, that children and young people with disabilities and functional variations shall be given the opportunity to practice sports on their own terms. This often requires more measures and leaders who are trained for this target group. Therefore, we propose 100 million kronor for the sports activities of children and young people with disabilities.

Madam Speaker! Another challenge that the sports movement often highlights is the issue of facilities. This concerns the lack of facilities and sports environments as well as the great need to renovate and adapt existing ones for accessibility. The lack of facilities is a major reason why children and young people either do not get to practice their sport at all or do so to a much lesser extent than desired.

We Social Democrats want to see a greater effort to tackle the facility issues. The previous S-led government implemented a coordination initiative of 80 million kronor and expanded the mandate of the Centre for Sports Research to take a closer look at the facility issues. This is, however, not enough. The municipalities are requesting the possibility of co-financing for the new construction and renovation of facilities.

Even here, we urge the government to get started. Review how we can tackle this issue, and appoint an inquiry into a state sports facility fund!

Madam Speaker! Outdoor life is a cornerstone of nature conservation policy. Regardless of circumstances, all people, including children and young people, should have the opportunity to be in nature and engage in outdoor life with the right of public access as the basis.

But with the SD government's cuts, our rich and well-developed outdoor life risks being significantly worsened. The SD government has almost halved the budget for nature conservation, with a cut of 900 million kronor from 2022 to 2023. In the budget bill for 2025, they now put back a fraction of the money they took away and present this as an investment. This puts both outdoor interests and job opportunities at risk. The insufficient funding has led to the National Audit Office recently issuing a warning regarding the neglected maintenance of valuable nature areas.

We Social Democrats recognize the seriousness of the issue. To reverse the dangerous development, we propose strengthened opportunities for the maintenance of nature reserves, national parks, and hiking trails. We therefore propose an increase of 250 million kronor within the expenditure area Climate, Environment and Nature and, in addition to this, an increase of 75 million kronor to outdoor life organizations.

Madam Speaker! The government's only answer to these challenges is a single, incredibly costly and expensive reform: the leisure card, a 2-billion-kronor reform. It is a reform that is being implemented with complete tone-deafness.

Member of the Board Roland Utbult accounted for how he has fought to convince us that the leisure card is excellent and must be implemented. It should be celebrated, he says. But I actually believe that he needs to convince many more than just us here in the chamber.

After having read through the referral responses from all instances, relevant authorities, the sector itself, and SKR, it is clear to me that all referral instances are critical of how this reform is to be implemented. The fears that it will not even hit the mark are many.

Very concerning is Brå's referral statement, where it is argued that the leisure card could be exploited and become another cash cow for criminal activity.

Despite all critical voices, the government lets prestige take precedence. Instead of listening to the sports movement's calls for more facilities, more leaders, and more resources for inclusion, the government chooses to prioritize an expensive administrative reform. The leisure card does not solve the problems of long queues to associations, lack of premises, or leader recruitment. Instead, it risks increasing the pressure on associations that already lack the capacity to receive more members.

Madam Speaker! I see a danger in how the leisure card risks further driving an unwanted marketization of association life and sports. Instead of seeing children and young people as individuals with different needs and circumstances, they are, in this reform, associated with a fixed sum of money that sports, outdoor life, and cultural schools shall compete for. Instead of creating opportunities and cooperation between these actors so that they may come together and try to reach more, everything is reduced to a question of who can sell best to capture these children.

This transforms these actors from community-building entities into service providers. Instead of encouraging cooperation and demanding that outreach activities be expanded, a situation is created where every actor must fight over the same crown per child. It is an unfortunate path to take.

Madam Speaker! Instead of laying the foundation for long-term sustainable solutions to the challenges facing sports and association life, the leisure card reinforces a short-term logic where money takes precedence over social benefit. We Social Democrats believe that children and young people should not be a market to fight over. Instead, we must strengthen the basic structures: more facilities, more volunteer leaders, and more support for outreach activities that reach the children and young people who are currently left out. Therefore, we Social Democrats reject the leisure card entirely. Instead, we are putting forward a total of 645 million kronor in investments in the sports and outdoor areas. That is how we build a strong and inclusive sports and outdoor movement for everyone, here and now.

(Applause)

In this speech, Kristoffer Lindberg and Lawen Redar (both S) concurred.

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

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Madam Speaker! There is something quite special about the Swedish sporting tradition. When we meet under the banner of sports to train, compete, or witness sporting achievements, we experience a sense of pride and community.

Sarah Sjöström in freestyle, Armand Duplantis in pole vault, Truls Möregårdh in table tennis or Anna Beck on the bike - yes, these Swedish sports stars don't just make us Swedes drop our jaws; they make the whole world stop.

The sports movement is and shall continue to be a central part of the image of Sweden. It is about Sweden as a sports nation, Sweden as a people and a country for health, and Sweden as a sustainable society.

Madam Speaker! In a time of increased sedentary behavior and increased ill health that is creeping lower into the ages, we need to do even more so that more children and young people are invited to an active and meaningful leisure time. The Moderate-led government has already presented several measures to strengthen civil society, outdoor life, and association life. Sports facilities are one such part.

One of the prerequisites for practicing certain sports is that there is a facility to practice the sport in. Therefore, the government is investing an additional 30 million kronor in more sports facilities in the country.

These funds will of course not be enough to renovate all of Sweden's outdated gymnasiums or sports venues - this is also a task that will largely need to be carried out in our municipalities - but it is a clear signal that the issue of sports facilities is important and that the government wants to contribute to increasing the pace of the long-awaited renovation.

The extra investment totals 130 million kronor for this year alone.

Access to facilities must also be mapped. Therefore, the government has given the Centre for Sports Research a mandate to establish and operate a knowledge platform for facilities and outdoor environments for sports and leisure. When we know more about where we should focus and invest, we can target our initiatives more accurately.

Cif has also been tasked with highlighting good examples of solutions on how access to premises and areas could be improved. Increasing the utilization rate of already existing sports halls, premises, and areas for sports is a low-hanging fruit that, from a time, cost, and sustainability perspective, only has advantages.

Every third family cannot afford to send their child to an extracurricular activity, I heard from the rostrum here today. In that case, it is welcome that this government sees that problem. It is precisely for that reason that we have designed the leisure card. The leisure card is the government's major reform to promote children and young people's active participation in sports, culture, outdoor life, and association life.

That children and young people get to move more, improve their fitness, and promote creative and cultural creation in social contexts is important here and now, but it is also of great importance for good health throughout life. Children's and young people's opportunities to participate in leisure activities should not be determined by the size of their parents' wallets or their educational background. The leisure card is therefore a targeted investment to reach those who are furthest away. It is also there that the benefit will be greatest.

For the Moderate-led government, targeted funds to develop sports activities in vulnerable areas is also a priority issue. In addition to the introduction of the leisure card, the Swedish Sports Confederation has therefore been allocated 100 million kronor to develop sports activities, primarily for children and young people, in precisely these areas. Initiatives shall take place where there are conditions for long-term work. Long-term perspective is also a common thread in what the government is now proposing.

Madam Speaker! The national youth survey conducted by the Agency for Youth and Civil Society Issues shows that young people with a disability participate in sports, socialize with friends, visit gyms, or are active in associations to a much lesser extent than other children and young people. It is only 9 percent of those with an intellectual disability who reach the recommended amount of physical activity per day.

We need to think anew and design activities and operations that work for everyone and are also welcoming to those who have not already found their way into association life. Therefore, the government has invested almost 300 million kronor extra this year to strengthen association life and make it more accessible, especially for this group, which is thus extra far away. The initiative includes support to increase awareness of the activities, support to purchase equipment, support to recruit and train leaders, and support to improve opportunities for children with disabilities to participate.

Add to that that Fritidsbanken has recently been awarded 10 million kronor to create a wide range of leisure equipment, leisure aids, and para-equipment.

Madam Speaker! I have hereby mentioned some of the government's targeted initiatives to increase children's and young people's opportunities for more movement and sports, but I also want to highlight the importance of you and I – adults in Sweden – moving more. It is about public health in general.

Lidingöloppet, Vårruset, Vätternrundan - which race is your favorite? Sweden has fantastic running and cycling races. They attract thousands of adults to get moving. A folk festival arises, and jobs are created in the towns and in the municipalities where a major competition is organized.

It is therefore very welcome that the government has now decided that voluntary associations shall be able to avoid paying for the Transport Administration's costs for, among other things, re-signage at events on state roads. In the budget bill for 2025, the government also announces a permanent grant to the Transport Administration of 8 million kronor annually to enable a permanent solution.

Madam Speaker! I am proud of Idrottssverige. Our sports stars come first. They drive development forward. They put Sweden on the map in the world and show that it is possible to reach new goals. They show that effort pays off. They also show that both the journey and the goal itself can be the goal.

But I am also proud of the breadth of activities that exist in Sweden, which, thanks to this government, will be able to include more. We show that there is will and action, and that together we will be able to direct investments to reach more and do the most good.

I am also proud of those who work voluntarily in civil society, those who are out there in our associations, who believe in our children and who take the time to make it possible for children to discover the joy of movement. An active and meaningful leisure time is perhaps one of the most important things we can give our children. It is therefore we – politics and civil society together – who make this possible.

(Applause)

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

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Mr. Speaker! Emma Ahlström Köster has just accounted from the rostrum for all the reforms and initiatives that the government is making in the sports area. I would, however, like to remind that the money for the initiatives that are now coming to the sports and outdoor movement is taken from the over 790 million that were never paid out because the leisure card did not materialize. There is still no leisure card in place. One simply had a little money left over. That money needed to be gotten rid of, and then one made a few small adjustments here and there.

My question then is: What happens when these small amounts - the money that was left over - are no longer there? One spends nearly 2 billion kronor in administrative costs to carry out the leisure card reform. What room is there then to make investments in the sports and outdoor areas?

From these speakers' chairs, it has now been said several times that the opposition suddenly finds a lot of money, that they waste money and resources and that they invest a little here and there. But in this case, there seem to be infinite amounts of money to invest in various reforms.

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

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Mr. Speaker! I note that the Social Democrats are impressed by the leisure card. They repeatedly raise issues that they see around it, but in reality, they know that it is a fantastically good reform that will reach those who are furthest away from this.

The Social Democrats are concerned that there is too much money that will now be directed to this group. They are also concerned that it takes too long. And now they are concerned that the administration itself costs too much.

But I mean that this is also an answer to what the Social Democrats have worried about, that is to say that the money will end up in the wrong pockets. Now we have the opportunity to do this in good time. We have the opportunity to send out money to the associations that will take care of this going forward so that they have plenty of time to prepare. The system shall be well-equipped and not be a pocket for criminals. We shall be able to have a robust system in place.

I think the debate about the leisure card is interesting. The Social Democrats claim to care about those who are furthest away from this. They claim to care about those who cannot find their way to sports clubs. They claim to want children and young people who do not have connections to sports clubs to get there. Now we know that we have a system that will be able to do more than the Social Democrats managed to do during the eight years when they last sat in power.

I understand that it is frustrating for you that the money is also there and that we have managed to arrange this.

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

Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Mr. Speaker! It is actually true. I am truly completely fascinated by this reform. I am fascinated by the enormous tone-deafness that comes with it.

Ignore all the criticism that I and my party colleagues with several others are presenting here in the chamber! Ignore the political opposition that you find in this room! Listen to the referral bodies, to the authorities, and to the sector itself! Listen to those who are to implement the reform and stand for it! They themselves say that this reform is starting in the wrong direction. This is not about a political contradiction between me and the Moderaterna. It is about everyone wanting to alert the government that the reform will not hit the mark.

Here, there is a risk that 2 billion will be wasted and that it will not achieve the effect that the government desires.

I am, therefore, fascinated. I am fascinated by the fact that you proceed with this lack of tact. I actually think that you should be concerned and a bit more humble after having read the responses from the referral bodies. It truly surprises me that you are not.

(Applause)

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

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Mr. Speaker! I spend quite a lot of time out in our operations. I hear stories about children and young people who are far away from a sports club. They are now getting an opportunity to get to a sports club. I think it is remarkable that it is called being tone-deaf.

The criticism that the Social Democrats put forward through MP Rojhan is that it is too expensive, and there is a concern that the money will end up in the wrong place. That is why this has taken time. We want a system in place that is robust. We want to take into account the criticism or the fears that exist. That is why we are not rushing this process. We want the system to be watertight. It is about the associations that are to receive our children, the children who stand furthest away from the associations. With these funds, they will be able to do so.

The Social Democrats say that it is too expensive and that this will not be targeted at this group. I say: Feel free to follow along and see! I and the government hear that there is a problem, and we want to do something about it.

It is clear that one can do as the Social Democrats have done previously, that is to say, do exactly the same thing year in and year out. But I promise you that we will not find a changed and improved system then.

(Applause)

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I intended to raise the issue of a local and construction fund, which the member touched upon slightly. For many years, there has been a broad consensus in the committee regarding the need for support to associations and municipalities so that more facilities and new types of facilities for sports and outdoor life can be established.

It is clearly clarified in reports from Riksidrottsförbundet and in its surveys to municipalities and associations that there is a shortage of places and training times. Children who want to be active today are told no by the associations, because there is no possibility to accommodate them.

The previous government took on this. It has been investigated in many ways, and there have been many stakeholders. SKR has been involved and so has Boverket. This has been chewed over for very many years. Finally, the question ended up with a research department that has formed the Center for Sports and Outdoor Facilities.

It feels very good that there is finally something to build on. But if one compares it with the model in Denmark, where the committee jointly visited the local construction fund, one sees that this has only become a tiny thing so far. In Denmark, there is cooperation with architects and the school of architecture. There are economic lubricants for those who contact the construction fund.

But the Swedish center has only been tasked with collecting and disseminating knowledge, not to provide concrete advice and support to those who are to build, nor to contribute financially. For the small municipality that is building or renovating its facility, it may be 30 years since they last did something like this. Expertise is needed, both we and those who are involved in this believe.

With a modest investment, the government could have benefited the country's sports and outdoor life through the strategic center. The knowledge exists, and the center has received the government's mandate to investigate how this could be done. But they are not receiving funds. My question is: Why?

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

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Mr. Speaker! I believe that the government and the Left Party agree that the issue of infrastructure is important.

If Member Vasiliki Tsouplaki has studied her history, she also knows that Moderaterna have, on several occasions, submitted motions regarding us having a facility fund or similar. The question of creating something such is interesting, and we are discussing how it could look.

I am at the same time somewhat astonished that the Left Party and also the Social Democrats, who have spoken warmly for a construction fund here today, did not vote it through when they themselves had the ball during the last parliamentary term.

To return to what we can do now, I know, which I also hinted at in my speech, that the government has already sent money to be able to start the work. I have to come back to whether it lands exactly on us creating a construction fund or if we develop the assignment to get a consolidated picture of how things look out there and how we can use the premises that already exist.

The question is urgent, and I think it is interesting. I also think the Danish model is interesting to look further into.

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

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the answer! The problem is that things are not standing still in the municipalities. People are building at full capacity, but they do not have the support. The risk is that they do not build facilities that can handle the sports of the future.

Here, one would need research support and support to think anew. One cannot build as was done in the 60s and 70s. These are new times, and we also cannot have facilities for every special sport. We must have combination halls and ensure that we use the halls in a good way.

My question remains. Why is there no progress? The reason that this has not been completed earlier is not that anyone has been against it, but that it has been investigated in several rounds. But now I think it is fully investigated.

Vänsterpartiet has submitted a motion on this, but over all the years, no one has voted yes to our motions. We have also, over the years in our budget proposals, had an investment pot of 1 billion for municipalities to support them in the construction of facilities. In this budget, however, we have allocated 25 million specifically to the center that has now been established so that a step can be taken.

It is perfectly okay to wait for the investigation to see if there are a lot of empty premises. I have not perceived that there are a lot of school gymnasiums standing empty across the country. In some municipalities it may be so, and then it is good that they get some pressure and map this out.

But why don't we move forward with a step and ensure that the municipalities have the means? A lot of planning is happening, and there are construction projects, but they don't have the support. There are employees at the center who want to do this. They have been asked to look at a plan based on the government's mandate. But now they are not moving forward. They have been standing and stamping for a year, and 2025 also seems to be becoming a lost year.

It is two lost years on an issue that we have agreed on and which the member says you have pushed from the Moderaterna. But why don't you make a difference in the matter now that you hold the power of government? I want a clearer answer to that.

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

Emma Ahlström Köster (M)

Mr. Speaker! The simple answer is that we are looking at it, and we continue to look at it.

I understand that Member Vasiliki Tsouplaki is eager and knows that this government has a high tempo when it comes to reforms and various measures. That is the case, and one would wish that it applied to every single area of detail, including within sports. I can agree with that.

But I can also promise that we are looking into the issue. It remains interesting. As I hinted in my speech, we continue to map out how it looks, because everything is not fully mapped out. We do not always know how it looks everywhere, and there are actually places where we do not utilize all the premises. No, perhaps there are not finished gymnasiums out there. But there have been premises for other sports, for example those that arose during the pandemic, which today echo quite empty. There is naturally reason to look at how this looks, even if much of that work will need to be done at the municipal level.

But thank you for the confidence in the rapid pace of reform! I will take back to the government that the Left Party feels that way.

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

Anne-Li Sjölund (C)

Mr. Speaker! Sports and outdoor life are so much more than physical activity. It is community, a force for health and well-being, and a platform for personal development.

For the Centre Party, it is a matter of the heart to create conditions for everyone to participate, regardless of age, circumstances or background.

We know how important movement is for children and young people. Swedish public health begins in preschool, on the schoolyard, in the swimming pool, and on the forest paths. Unfortunately, we see that movement among young people is decreasing. Children growing up today move significantly less on average than previous generations, and this has serious consequences for both their physical and their mental health. Therefore, we need to invest in sports in schools, in spontaneous sports areas, and in better support for the voluntary sector, which is a fundamental pillar in our civil society.

In Paris this summer, we saw the joy and inspiration that the Olympics and Paralympics brought with them. We have seen fantastic athletes create magic on the world's largest arenas and how their performances create ripples. Just think of Truls Möregårdh, who had all of Sweden talking about table tennis, and judoka Tara Babulfath, who created queues to the judo halls! Or think of Mondo, who seems to defy gravity!

These are fantastic receipts of how strongly sports engage. But all that glitters is not gold. Many children who want to move meet closed doors. There is a lack of facilities and areas for movement. Premises are overcrowded, and associations are forced to say no to more members. The Swedish Table Tennis Association has recently conducted a survey which shows that thousands of players are standing in line to start playing table tennis.

This is not just a capacity problem; it is a public health problem. The role models from the Olympics and Paralympics inspire, but we also need to create sustainable conditions for grassroots sports, from the first training session to the elite. It could be about giving more people a chance to make a career in division 5. All efforts count. The most important thing is not to win; it is to participate and fight well.

But if the children cannot start, where will the next Truls, Tara, or star in para-sports come from? Or how will Alnö IF recruit their next center-back?

We must dare to talk about the challenges and obstacles that exist. Para-sport is an incredibly important part of Swedish sports. Here we clearly see how movement, performance, and role models can change lives. Judoka Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich, who took bronze in the Paralympics, is such a role model. She shows what is possible with the right support and an unwavering will. But what happens when athletes like Nicolina suddenly lose their assistance? Yes, suddenly the rug is pulled out from under the feet of people who are passionate about their sport – in Nicolina's case, additionally an athlete who put Sweden on the sports map and made us all proud. That people like her no longer receive the support they need is, however, nothing to be proud of.

We must safeguard the right to assistance and accessible sports arenas. It is not just about sports; it is fundamentally about human rights.

Mr. Speaker! The voluntary commitment in sports is an invaluable resource. Parents, coaches and leaders are the heart of our associations. They need better support, less bureaucracy and long-term investments.

Centerpartiet is investing 50 million in inclusive sports. We are simultaneously proposing a broad civil society initiative because we want to see a higher proportion of basic support in state grants. Increased free resources are needed so that the money can be used in the best and most effective way. We are also investing in support for the renovation of facilities and in sports in vulnerable areas, areas where we know that a sports club can change people's lives.

Every child, whether it is in a judo club, a table tennis association, or a para-sports team, should be able to meet their dream and find their joy of movement. Together we can make Sweden a country where movement is a right and where both grassroots and elite sports are allowed to flourish. It is in Spartan islands, on windy sports venues, and among bravely fighting souls that the Swedish sports miracle resides.

Mr. Speaker! When an eight-year-old picks up a stick from the ground and suddenly sees a precious possession, when one sits on a rock by the Baltic coast in the evening and enjoys the twilight, when one comes home from the forest with the basket full of mushrooms, when one has run, climbed, photographed, yes, whatever you like, when one has been out in the wild – then one gains an understanding of the resource that we all have to manage: our beautiful nature.

Since 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been part of Swedish law. This means that all children have the right to an active leisure time. Sweden has all the conditions to offer a rich outdoor life. The investments Centerpartiet makes to, for example, provide Sweden with more barbecue sites and increase accessibility in our nature so that more can take part in it are extremely important.

I hope that we in the Swedish Riksdag can agree that outdoor life needs to be protected. It is something that everyone should have access to. It is something that must not be lost. The Center Party will not let it be lost.

(Applause)

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

Runar Filper (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Now you are going to hear some Värmland dialect.

I would like to begin by moving for approval of the Culture Committee's proposed decision in this report.

Swedish cultural heritage is important and crucial for our identity and cohesion. It is invaluable. It encompasses both material and intangible aspects of Sweden's history, provides insights into the hardships of previous generations, and explains our own present day.

A well-functioning society is built on identity and cohesion. Cultural heritage is indispensable for maintaining this. Cultural heritage promotes a sense of belonging and passes down knowledge to future generations. Without this cultural heritage as a common foundation, we would lose the binding history that unites us. The Swedish cultural heritage is an inseparable part of the broader Western cultural heritage that connects us with our Nordic neighboring countries and other parts of the Western world.

Historically, Sweden has successfully managed various parts of the cultural heritage, but that does not mean there are no challenges. A tangible example is the church antiquarian compensation. It has been neglected for a long time, which has resulted in extensive renovation needs for churches across the country. Here, for the first time in 15 years, an increase in the compensation is estimated. It is increased by 30 million from the original 460 million to 490 million. Furthermore, Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has raised questions about how we protect cultural heritage during crisis or conflict.

In summary, cultural heritage is a central part of the shared history of Sweden. In order for this valuable heritage to continue to be meaningful, a long-term policy is required that values our precious heritage.

Mr. Speaker! Already at the decision on the state budget for 2024, we contributed to securing a million-dollar investment in the maintenance of state-subsidized properties. Digitalization initiatives for, among others, the National Archives were also made to accelerate the work with the digitalization of the cultural heritage. We can see that Sverigedemokratisk cultural policy makes a difference in practice for the Swedish cultural heritage.

In the budget bill for 2025, the government proposes a reinforcement of Skapande skola to promote children's and young people's access to culture, which we have heard more about here today. Promoting reading and reading comprehension is a priority issue. During 2024, Skolverket and Statens kulturråd were commissioned to develop reading lists with different types of literature that shall serve as a support for preschool teachers and teachers. Now, this initiative is being further supplemented.

School is an important actor in giving all children and young people the opportunity to encounter cultural heritage already at an early age. It gives students knowledge and experiences of the past that make them better equipped to understand their present and to shape their future.

In addition, funds are allocated for a continued reconciliation process with the Tornedalians, Kveners, and Lantalaiset, a population group in Swedish and Finnish Lapland - for those who thought it was a strange word. This rhymes to some extent with the Sweden Democrats promoting a strengthening of the collection and visibility of the Estonian-Swedish, Sámi, Tornedalian Finnish, and Finland-Swedish cultural heritages, especially when it comes to these minorities' languages and dialects.

I intend to present some approaches here that may lie outside this budget, in order to sow some seeds for upcoming negotiations.

In the same way as for today's immigrant groups in Sweden, roots and traditions naturally hold great significance for Swedes abroad in the wide world. People think of and have mostly heard about the emigration to America – then they think of Karl-Oskar and Kristina from Duvemåla – but have little awareness of the emigration to other parts of the world where Swedish colonies were formed. Few know about the emigration to South America and countries such as Argentina and Brazil. Few also know the history of the Estonian Swedes who at the end of the 1700s were exiled to Ukraine and founded Gammalsvenskby. Therefore, a still clearer mandate should henceforth be given to the Institute for Language and Folklore to preserve, bring to life, and collect knowledge about the dialects and cultures of Swedish regions.

And speaking of language: The Scandinavian linguistic understanding has been quite unique, because it is three different languages where we have nevertheless been able to understand each other. The mutual Nordic linguistic understanding has unfortunately become increasingly worse, and something fundamental is about to be lost: our ties to history and our linguistic roots.

We see and hear it more and more when anglicisms and pure English replace Swedish words and sentences. Swedes and Danes now speak English with each other. This has never happened before, but it is happening fast now. This should be of interest to both the Nordic Council, the school system, and the public service companies, which, according to the broadcasting licenses, have a special responsibility for the Swedish language and its position in society.

The folk parks were an important part of the Sweden that existed once upon a time. They have been a central part of people's weekend entertainment for over a hundred years. They are an important part of the story of Sweden that concerns the folkhemmet and the cultural heritage and are well worth preserving for posterity. The folk parks are very deeply rooted in the Swedish folk soul. There are things to reflect upon here. It would be an important cultural act to save them from complete decay. Many are very poorly maintained, and many have been demolished. It is with a heavy heart that one sees this.

Unknown to many Swedes today is the Finnish heritage of past times and its impact on our cultural and cultivation landscape. Here, we wish to see continued reinforced work to document, preserve, and further develop the collections of this unique intangible cultural heritage. It is important to disseminate knowledge about the Finnish forest's cultural heritage to the general public to a greater extent.

In conclusion: From both the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the Swedish Forest Agency and the National Heritage Board, there are various forms of support to apply for to restore and maintain various cultural environments. Through the rural development programme, there was previously an opportunity to apply for compensation from the County Administrative Board if one owned a redundant building and for the restoration of cultural and landscape conservation objects in the cultivated landscape, as well as environmental compensations for such as the restoration of grazing lands and hay meadows.

The possibilities of providing additional incentives and resources to strengthen the work with the restoration of natural and cultural environments in cultivated landscapes need to be reviewed in the future.

(Applause)

In this speech, Jonas Andersson (SD) agreed.

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

Kristoffer Lindberg (S)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is larger than Stockholm. All around our fantastic country, there are fantastic operations that offer residents in all of Sweden access to professional cultural experiences as well as create job opportunities for cultural creators across the entire country.

The state's efforts for regional culture and the regional cultural institutions take place through the cultural cooperation model. Through the model, state funds are distributed to the regions, which in turn distribute these further to regional cultural activities in their counties such as county theaters, county museums, concert activities, regional operas, archives, concert halls and so on.

The state covers approximately one quarter of the cost. The majority is financed by regions and municipalities. But over time, the state's share of the funds has decreased while the regions and municipalities have increased their shares. The government's decision before this year not to compensate for price and wage increases has had major consequences for the regional cultural institutions. Alarms are now being raised about this from several regions across Sweden.

The development does not only lead to fewer performances or exhibitions. It also risks leading to entire cultural institutions having to remain closed or, in the worst case, being phased out. Despite this, the government continues the cuts to culture outside Stockholm and proposes in its budget an annual reduction across the country of 15 million kronor next year, and by 2027 the state shall reduce the appropriation by 41 million.

Mr. Speaker! 15 million is not much money in the state budget, nor is it much when distributed among Sweden's regions. But it must be seen in the light of precisely the missing price and wage adjustments this year and the state's reduced responsibility over time. The government continues to press for regional and municipal compensation for the reduced state responsibility for culture across the country. It is a compensation that municipalities and regions have provided for several years but which is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

It is about making culture accessible and creating greater equality for citizens, regardless of where in the country one lives. With its policy, the government risks cuts to precisely that which helps to achieve the state cultural policy goal that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in cultural life.

We Social Democrats see the need for and the importance of regional cultural activities and therefore propose a reinforcement of the state grant by 200 million to the cultural cooperation model.

Mr. Speaker! The cultural school shall be available on equal terms throughout the country for all children regardless of background. The previous government introduced a national cultural school center but also a development grant to promote the municipal cultural school's opportunities to offer both depth and breadth in teaching and to reach groups that do not usually seek out the cultural school.

We Social Democrats want to expand the conditions for more children and young people to find the culture school's fantastic activities. We therefore want the government to investigate how the state can contribute to strengthening the culture school in Sweden, both regarding the future availability of trained culture school teachers and how access to culture school in all the country's municipalities can be secured. We propose that the state development grant to the culture school be increased from 100 million to 277 million kronor for next year.

Mr. Speaker! Access to art and culture for children and young people is not only met through the activities of the culture school. The school has an incredibly important role to play so that all children and young people, regardless of where in the country they live, shall have the right to the experiences and personal development contained in their own creation and in professional culture.

Access to art and personal creation for children and young people is unequally distributed. In some schools and municipalities, there is already exemplary work, often linked to the state funds for Skapande skola, whose grants we, like the government, propose to be increased by an additional 50 million.

But we also see that there are students who rarely or never come into contact with cultural experiences during their school years. We want to see an investigation into a national cultural guarantee, a model for how all children and young people in Sweden are guaranteed to continuously experience professional art and their own creation during their school years. It would give all children better opportunities to take part in Swedish cultural life and the sense of community and growth that exists in practicing culture and sharing cultural experiences.

Here, as previously mentioned, there can be inspiration to be drawn from the Norwegian model The Cultural School Bag.

Mr. Speaker! All around our country, there is an impressive number of public meeting places run by associations. The association-run public meeting places are a great asset across the entire country. Festivities, theater experiences, choir singing, dance performances, film and cinema nights, association meetings, concerts, meetings for motorized youth - in the public meeting places, truly everything happens.

Not least, they fulfill an important function in the cultural infrastructure, both as independent organizers and as an arena and enabler for those seeking venues for public performances. They constitute a cornerstone in Swedish cultural life and contribute to making art and culture accessible throughout Sweden.

The importance of community centers in the building of democracy should also not be underestimated. They play a crucial role for the conditions of civil society to operate, not least in rural and sparsely populated areas.

Mr. Speaker! The function of community centers as meeting places throughout our country also makes them a resource in society's crisis preparedness and our civil defense. This was also noted by the Defense Preparation Board in the report Kraftsamling.

We Social Democrats consider it important that the state's support for the community centers is prioritized and provided for in the long term. We propose a reinforcement of the state's contribution to the public community centers with an additional 50 million beyond the government's proposal.

Mr. Speaker! In conclusion, I would like to point out the remarkable fact that the Minister for Culture is not participating in this debate this year either to debate his own culture budget. This is the third culture budget this parliamentary term. Not a single time has the Minister for Culture prioritized participating. I think that says something about the government's valuation of culture.

(Applause)

In this speech, Lawen Redar (S) concurred.

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

Peter Ollén (M)

Mr. Speaker! As the final speaker, I feel as if I am standing between a rock and a hard place.

Skapande skola receives 226 million kronor next year. This is an increase of 28 percent compared to this year and is welcome money for our local culture practitioners. It is naturally pleasing with an increase, but there is a problem that has not been solved, namely that the culture practitioners must sell their offering to the schools. It is time-consuming and difficult, not least because it is sometimes the teacher, sometimes the principal, and sometimes the municipality that procures.

Personally, I think we should look at the Norwegian model, where a certain number of cultural activities per child per year are purchased centrally. Then the schools can choose which ones they want to participate in. This simplifies things for both the artists and the schools.

Mr. Speaker! In 1954, most states signed the Hague Convention, which guarantees that cultural heritage must not be affected during war. Therefore, we were shocked when the Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed thousand-year-old Buddha statues and when IS in Syria attacked the world heritage site of Palmyra. But none of us were prepared for the fact that when Russia launched its war against Ukraine, looting of museums would be one of the first things done when a village or town was captured.

One way to protect cultural heritage is to digitize and then digitalize it. Digitizing is just the actual inputting, while with digitalization, one adds keywords and categorization so that the object becomes searchable and can be used within research.

Of the country's 800 museums, only about fifty are directly or indirectly state-owned. This has caused problems with the digitalization. On one hand, there has not been a standard for 3D photography, and on the other hand, the same type of object may have been described completely differently depending on which museum uploaded it.

When Carl-Henric Svanberg presented the AI commission's work last week, he highlighted that national coordination is needed for the use of AI to become effective. In exactly the same way, I believe we should look at how the digitalization of cultural heritage can be coordinated so that the photography becomes efficient and so that similar objects are classified in exactly the same way.

Cultural heritage has received significantly increased resources since we took office. Much has been about planning to protect cultural heritage in the event of crisis or war. Museums shall submit a report to the Swedish National Heritage Board on what they prioritize to save during an emergency evacuation.

Mr. Speaker! With over 1.25 million visits, the Vasa Museum is our most visited cultural heritage site. It is also the only one of the state museums that does not require any subsidies. On the contrary, the Vasa Museum has been able to participate in renovating a unique icebreaker, a four-masted ship, and several smaller boats that are culturally and historically important. But 60 years after the royal ship Vasa was salvaged, it has encountered problems. The entire structure is beginning to buckle, and 27 new support cradles need to be put in place. This is not a cost that the museum itself can bear, and therefore a campaign is currently being run to get the museum's friends to join in and share the necessary cost.

When Vasa was built, it was expected that a ship would last barely 25 years before it was scrapped. Then the ships were sunk at the various entrances to Stockholm, so that even today one can only get in by passing through Vaxholm, which in return is fortified.

Mr. Speaker! A cost that the Vasamuseet, on the other hand, could have lifted itself is the new, exciting museum Vrak. The Baltic Sea is in many ways unique by virtue of it not being particularly deep and by it being one of very few seas without shipworms. This means that in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea, we know of 17,000 wrecks. These fare well as long as they are allowed to remain. Contact with oxygen causes them to begin rotting immediately unless a very costly preservation is carried out.

How can one then be able to show the many exciting wrecks without destroying them? Vasa's sister museum Vrak answers that. Divers have 3D-filmed and documented a number of wrecks. With VR glasses, I can then move freely as if I were diving at the site myself.

In the creation of this museum, one has had great help from the video game industry. There is the expertise to work three-dimensionally and to give the participant an experience of actively moving around in the environment.

The video game industry belongs to the cultural and creative industries. Within the video game industry, over 9,000 people are now working, and in total, nearly 200,000 Swedes are active within the cultural and creative industries. In the Riksdag, on June 12 this year, we decided to have a special focus on these industries over a ten-year period. The work is seen as so important that two ministries are now involved in developing concrete strategies. Every other year, the work is led by the Minister for Culture, and every other year by the Minister for Enterprise.

The video game industry is now collecting requests from the creative industries' actors on the government's assignment. We will then begin to measure and thereby ensure that the right conditions exist for them. It can involve education, advice, incubators, export contacts, and legislation that protects intellectual property rights. For many of the companies that need international personnel, it has also been welcome that the processing time at the Swedish Migration Agency for handling personnel from outside the EU has been able to be shortened from six months to one month since our government took office.

The strong growth of the gaming industry in my hometown Malmö has contributed to the fact that Region Skåne now supports research on both the positive effects of the gaming industry and the negative ones, such as gaming addiction. For example, a research team has specifically followed the harmful effects of excessive gaming. There is now a concrete model for how to help those with gaming addiction break their destructive habit.

Let me conclude with a small reward for you having sat and listened for so long. It concerns a debate held in parliament between Lady Ashley and Winston Churchill during the war. Lady Ashley became so upset that when she was about to speak, she said: "Mr Churchill! If you were my husband, I would have poured poison in the coffee," whereupon the Prime Minister looked at her in horror and said: "If I were your husband, I would have drunk it."

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 11 December.)

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