Response to interpellation 2022/23:119 on the Tidö Agreement and the reporting obligation at public libraries
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the Tidö Agreement's point on the reporting obligation for authorities and municipalities to find persons who are illegally in Sweden, as well as how this affects the role of libraries. M argues that it is important to have control over who is in Sweden in order to combat the shadow society 1. M emphasizes that libraries shall continue to be accessible to everyone and work for the development of democracy 2 3. S argues that the reporting obligation deviates from librarians' professional ethics and the libraries' democratic cultural mission 4 5. S believes that libraries should be for everyone and that reporting is a dismantling of cultural freedoms 5. S wants cultural activities to be included among the core values in the investigation. M argues that democracy means that authority decisions must be followed 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Lawen Redar has asked me if I intend to introduce a reporting requirement for librarians in accordance with the Tidö Agreement. Lawen Redar has also asked me if I intend to take any initiatives for changes to the Library Act on the grounds of the Tidö Agreement, as well as how I intend to ensure that the public libraries will continue to be "open to all."
I want to begin by emphasizing that libraries, according to the Libraries Act (2013:801), shall work for the development of the democratic society by contributing to knowledge dissemination and free formation of opinion. They also have a mandate to promote the standing of literature and the interest in cultivation, enlightenment, education, and research. Library activities shall be available to everyone.
In order for us to combat the shadow society, it is however important to have control over who is present in Sweden. It is a matter of trust in Swedish migration legislation, justice, and being equal before the law. If one has received a decision stating that one does not have the right to stay in Sweden, it must be followed.
The Government intends to take a number of measures to reduce the shadow society. One example is to, in accordance with the Tidö Agreement, appoint an inquiry with a mandate to produce proposals for an arrangement with information exchange and a reporting obligation for authorities and municipalities in order to find persons who are illegally in Sweden.
In the Tidö Agreement, it is stated that there may be situations where a report would conflict with sensitive values, for example in healthcare. Which exceptions should exist from the reporting obligation naturally need to be investigated further.
Lawen Redar (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for Culture for the answer to this interpellation, which concerns the Tidö Agreement and the legislation on libraries.
The Minister for Culture highlights the importance of countering the shadow society. Slave-like working conditions, wage dumping, undermining the Swedish labor market and collective agreement model, and labor-related crime are not actually issues that have previously interested the Moderates. Historically, it is unfortunately issues where the Moderates themselves have contributed to the lack of proficiency.
We Social Democrats have worked constantly to maintain the Swedish labor market model and counteract crime in the workplace and wage dumping, because we know what it does to people who find themselves in this shadow society.
But this question is about something more. It is about the Tidö Agreement, an agreement where the objective seems to sanctify all means. I see no initiatives in the Tidö Agreement regarding requirements for collective agreements in public procurement or specific investments to counteract crime in the workplace. I see no requirements for collective agreements for the activities covered by rut and rot. What I see is, as said, an agreement where the objective seems to sanctify all means.
Is it reasonable to deviate from librarians' professional ethics and the libraries' democratic cultural mission and thereby restrict the democratic society's order in order to counter the shadow society? According to the purpose paragraph of the Libraries Act, the libraries in the public library system shall work for the development of the democratic society by contributing to the dissemination of knowledge and free formation of opinion. The libraries in the public library system shall promote the status of literature and the interest in education, enlightenment, training, and research as well as cultural activities in general. One of the most important parts of the purpose paragraph concerns that library activity is an activity that shall be available to everyone. According to the Libraries Act, the libraries in our country shall therefore work for two fundamentally important principles: the development of the democratic society and that the libraries exist for everyone.
How does the Minister for Culture think this aligns with the Tidö Agreement's point about appointing an inquiry on the reporting obligation for municipal employees such as librarians? Can requirements for reporting be introduced without changing the purpose clause in the Library Act stating that libraries are for everyone?
It is this that I wish the Minister for Culture to answer. In the current response, I have not been informed whether an amendment to the purpose clause of the Libraries Act is required to achieve what is intended through the Tidö Agreement.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I find it interesting that the member makes it so clear in that way that she and her party have done everything to reduce the shadow society.
Then I want to remind Lawen Redar of something. It is her party that has governed Sweden for eight years. It is, therefore, her party that for eight years has sat at the helm and watched this shadow society grow and grow. The measures from the Social Democrats have failed to stop the avalanche-like increase of the shadow society, which contributes to an exclusion that we now want to put a stop to.
I can neither nor should I precede the investigation that will look more closely at the question of the obligation to report in order to detect persons staying illegally in Sweden. But in this answer, I want to focus on the libraries' main mission, which I see will remain.
Library activities shall continue to be available to everyone. Libraries shall work for the development of the democratic society. Libraries shall also promote the position of literature and the interest in the issues that follow therefrom. These are important and central issues for Sweden moving forward.
I made it clear early on that it is important to me that children and young people get a way into society where culture can also be a force, where education can be the key to success and where it does not matter where you come from, but it matters where you are headed.
This government intends to take a number of measures to reduce the shadow society that we have seen emerge today. One example is to appoint an inquiry with proposals on information exchange and reporting obligations, but that is only one example.
Lawen Redar (S)
Mr. Speaker! If it is such an incredibly important matter to combat the shadow society, one must define what it is that is meant. As we Social Democrats see the shadow society, it is about slave-like working conditions and the exploitation of people. It is about people who end up in living conditions that make it difficult for them to support themselves. One lives as an undocumented person and does not have the prerequisites to have a normal existence.
But this situation can also counteract important systems we have in society, such as maintaining a collective agreement model and a labor market model. And in those parts, I have noted that the Moderaterna have never stood behind the initiatives that we Social Democrats have taken.
When we criticized the Laval ruling more than ten years ago, there was no criticism from the Moderaterna. When we criticized the liberal migration policy pursued with Miljöpartiet, it was as if they did not understand what we were talking about. When we have said that the root- and rut-deductions should mean that companies must live up to collective agreement-like conditions to counter wage dumping, they are not critical. When we have pointed out crime in the welfare sector due to deregulation and privatizations, they are completely unprepared to answer questions. These are central economic issues for combating the shadow society.
But what we are talking about today is democracy and culture. A society must maintain infrastructure in order to fundamentally be a democratic society with strong freedom of speech, with exchange of ideas, for the dissemination of knowledge and for knowledge regarding reading.
I do not know if the Minister for Culture has noted that the vast majority of librarians in this country have signed a petition against being informants regarding any undocumented persons who enter the libraries. It is not because they are against combating the shadow society, but it is about deviating from their professional ethics.
I do not know if the Minister for Culture has missed the outcry that has been made by healthcare personnel. What is their professional ethics about? Well, it is to meet people's needs for healthcare in an emergency situation.
The question here is about democracy, culture, and professional ethics. What will the Minister for Culture do if an investigation concludes that changes must be made to the Library Act? It would mean deviating from the principle that libraries are for everyone. That in itself is a dismantling of the cultural freedoms we have in our country.
Does the Minister for Culture not see that this point in the Tidö Agreement would imply a shift in the fundamental principles we have for promoting reading, education, and knowledge dissemination and for the librarians' professional ethics in this country? Those are the questions I ask myself. I take with surprise part in that the Minister for Culture does not see this but lets the end justify the means.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Yes, I agree with Lawen Redar that one must know what it is one means when one talks about the shadow society. Lawen Redar explained what she considered to be the shadow society. There she also said that "one lives as undocumented." To be undocumented actually means that one has received a rejection and does not have the right to stay in the country. One has had the matter examined according to the rules of democracy, and one has received a decision from Swedish authorities.
Democracy also means for me that decisions should be followed and implemented, and there I find it difficult to stand behind the principle that one can live as undocumented. Can we still call ourselves a democracy when we do not want to implement and follow what Swedish authorities have issued?
Regarding the core values that the member mentions, I want to say that it is written in the Tidö Agreement that there are situations where a report could conflict with just core values. Healthcare is specifically mentioned there, as Lawen Redar also mentioned. It is very possible that there are more such exceptions that should be made, but what those exceptions should be, one must be given a chance to investigate further. And therefore, I neither should nor can express myself on this right now in this speaker's chair. But to stand behind the democratic principle that agency decisions shall be followed and implemented, and that this, despite everything, is one of democracy's values, I truly hope that we can agree on today.
Lawen Redar (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Minister for Culture should know that I stand behind order and clarity in migration policy. I therefore also stand behind the fact that people who are not supposed to stay in Sweden should leave the country. This is not what this debate is about. It is about how far one may use the infrastructure of democracy to achieve that goal and what kind of country it is that one creates when cultural workers, librarians, and healthcare personnel are to begin reporting people. These professional groups actually have a different fundamental prerequisite for their professional ethics.
Healthcare personnel have in their basic professional ethics that they shall care for people. Those who work in museum activities or in libraries have democracy as their primary reason to uphold their professional ethics. It is this that the debate is about.
I think it is good that the Minister for Culture raises the issue of harmful values and that it is also included in the Tidö Agreement. What I question is how the Minister for Culture cannot be responsive to the fact that this regarding harmful values should also include cultural activities in our country. I mean that we are heading towards something that is serious if our cultural activities and those who work there are to be a part of the Tidö Agreement's ambitions. They shall work with the principles of democracy, freedom of speech, knowledge dissemination and reading and not be assigned any other mandate.
I fully support fighting the shadow society, and I have also worked on this when I sat in the Committee on Justice 2014-2018. The Minister for Culture does not need to doubt that I stand behind those principles. But as a cultural policy maker, I am extremely keen that we do not change the conditions for the culture's infrastructure in favor of the Tidö Agreement. Let culture's various agencies and operations be included under the tender values in this investigation!
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I would nevertheless like to conclude by emphasizing the importance of the libraries having a clear role where they are to be open and accessible to everyone. The libraries shall also continue to be able to safeguard the development of the democratic society by contributing to knowledge formation, knowledge dissemination, and free formation of opinion. These are central issues for Sweden moving forward. They are also central issues for the government moving forward, and the ambition of the Tidö Agreement is, after all, to take a holistic approach to the societal problems that Sweden has today. It is not possible to pick out a part and formalize a policy for it from outside the whole, but the Tidö Agreement is based on meeting the societal problems that Sweden has today and finding ways to get Sweden back on the right track.
It is what our government received a mandate from the voters to do. It is also what we intend to manage and try to do in the best possible way moving forward. I can neither nor want to anticipate the investigation regarding the reporting obligation, which will look more closely at this issue. But I am convinced that we can continue to share the view on the importance of the libraries' role in society as pillars of democracy.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.