Response to interpellation 2022/23:369 on the government's strategy for northern Sweden
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD intends to design a strategy with a focus on Norrbotten and Västerbotten due to the historically large scale of company establishments there 1. KD argues that the strategy is a perspective that the entire country can use 2, that Norrbotten and Västerbotten have an exceptional position that requires a specific strategy to meet the investment pressure and the personnel shortage 3, and that other parts of the country can contribute and reap the rewards 3. KD also argues that the government is paving the way for expanded power production in southern Sweden to preserve northern Sweden's power production 4. S argues that the government ignores the industrial transition in the rest of northern and central Sweden 5. S considers the strategy to be too geographically limited 6 7, that the government should have a broader perspective that includes more counties and municipalities, and that the answer is not a strategy because it does not appear how the resources should be prioritized and distributed 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! Kalle Olsson has asked me why the government's strategy to promote green new industrialization is limited to Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties.
As I have previously answered, Kalle Olsson, the government intends to design the upcoming strategy with a particular focus on Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, where the transition is truly of a historically large scale with several large and parallel company establishments and company expansions planned at a very rapid pace. The focus is thus in line with the assignments that both the previous and the sitting government have given to the coordinator for the business sector's sustainable transition and the societal transformation in Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties (N2020/03132 and N2022/02328 respectively).
Sweden has a strong industry that throughout the country contributes to solutions for green transition and to Sweden reaching its climate goals. This creates jobs in all regions and strengthens the conditions for the Swedish business sector to succeed in global markets.
Swedish business is a greenhouse for prosperity and innovation. It is now also an important part of our climate and environmental movement and world-leading in sustainability and green transition. Therefore, the government intends to create better conditions so that the industry can transition. The Swedish energy system must be rebuilt, while the high electricity prices need to be mitigated for Swedish households and companies.
The government is working to simplify and shorten the environmental permit process according to the Environmental Code by making it more flexible, efficient, and competitive and, above all, more predictable. The aim is to strengthen the business sector's competitiveness, strengthen Swedish industrial production, and promote a green transition with the export of climate-friendly products and technology. In this work, the supply of skills is also an important issue.
The government's general business and simplification policy focuses on the competitiveness of all Swedish companies and efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on companies. The government has strengthened the business portal Verksamt.se and the Regulatory Council's work in reviewing impact assessments of proposals that may have significant effects for companies.
The upcoming strategy will be specifically focused on a geographical area, but this in no way excludes other counties with similar good opportunities and thus similar challenges from participating in the work. The Government also considers that the learning and the innovative collaborations being developed between the state, regional and local levels, and in dialogue with both civil society and the business sector in Norrbotten and Västerbotten will be able to support similar transition processes throughout the country.
To this also contributes Tillväxtverket's mandate to assist regions and municipalities throughout the country with measures during layoffs and restructuring, where work with larger company establishments and company expansions is included (N2022/00781).
Kalle Olsson (S)
Madam Speaker! As the Minister said, the government is now working on a strategy for northern Sweden. From the beginning, it was somewhat unclear what the government intended with the term northern Sweden. In a widely publicized debate article earlier this year, Norrbotten and Västerbotten were mentioned just in passing. In the same debate article, there was also talk of northern municipalities. For us Norrland Swedes, it is not the first – and certainly not the last – time that the geographical terms when it comes to our part of the country are used somewhat imprecisely.
After a written question followed by this interpellation, we have thus been informed that the government is preparing a strategy for the green industrial transition in northern Sweden, in which it chooses to dig a "Klondike" south of Dorotea.
That Norrbotten and Västerbotten have an obvious place in such a strategy hardly even needs to be said – the development we see and have seen there over a number of years is exceptional. What is, however, problematic, Madam Speaker, is that the government ignores, or turns a blind eye to, how the industrial transition is developing. It is not, in fact, stalling south of Västerbotten, but on the contrary, we see a wave of investments sweeping across, above all, northern and central Sweden.
Only during the last three months have we received word that a data center combined with large-scale food production is to be built in Östersund. This involves 1,000 employees in direct production and perhaps twice as many indirect jobs. This is an investment of 19 billion.
In Timrå, a new factory will be established for the manufacture of important components in battery production. This involves 1,900 jobs and an investment of 14 billion.
In Ludvika, there will be 1,000 new jobs after Hitachi secured a large order of 147 billion.
Based on the government's strategy, these, other and - perhaps above all - upcoming establishments fall into a kind of no man's land. That is what happens when one limits itself to the two northernmost counties - one excludes much of what is now happening in Jämtlands, Västernorrlands and Dalarnas län.
The development that we see in the counties I just mentioned has clear points of contact with what has happened and still happens in Norrbotten and Västerbotten. It concerns large and electricity-intensive establishments which, not least in the short perspective, put considerable pressure on the affected municipalities, particularly in the form of public services, housing, and competence supply, and which also emphasize the need for good coordination and fast and legally secure permit processes – that is, largely everything that the government intends to include in the strategy for Norrbotten and Västerbotten.
In its response to the interpellation, the government returned to the measures that the previous government took to meet the industrial boom in Norrbotten and Västerbotten. First, Peter Larsson was appointed and then Eva Nordström in various coordinating functions. These were natural and important starting points at that time. Now, however, a number of years have passed, and we see how the establishments simply continue.
My question therefore is: Why does the government remain in a 2020 mindset? Why do they not update their perspectives?
Peder Björk (S)
Madam Speaker! In the county that I represent here in the Riksdag, both planning and implementation of large-scale investments in the multi-billion class with links to the green industry are underway. It concerns aviation fuels, facilities for the production of hydrogen, facilities for the production of e-fuels, and not least a huge facility for the manufacture of components for batteries.
This is a county that for decades has struggled with a declining population and which only in recent years has lost several large industries and thus also lost several important jobs.
In the county that I represent here in the Riksdag, the large investments in the new green industry and the jobs that are emerging are met with cheers. Furthermore, this creates a very great sense of faith in the future.
Just as with the green transition in the rest of northern Sweden, this is to take place in a very short time. It is a very large societal transformation that will take place. If the great green industrial transition is to succeed, it is essential that the state, the municipalities, the regions, the companies, and many other actors join forces.
Therefore, it is welcome that the government has now proposed a strategy for northern Sweden. But judge my surprise, Madam Speaker, when I saw that the county I represent - Västernorrland - is not included in this strategy.
My question to the Minister for Enterprise is quite simply: What does the Minister for Enterprise think I should say to the municipalities, the regions, and above all all the companies that are now ready to invest in Västernorrland? What should I say to them when they ask why Västernorrland is not included in a strategy for northern Sweden?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I think the answer should be: You are included. Just as I said in my opening response, the situation for the two northernmost counties in our wonderful country is exceptional, not least due to the population challenge, but it does not stop at any ditch, as someone claims we are digging. I do not agree with that, and we do not need to dig that ditch in the debate or in our country. We can, however, acknowledge that there is an obvious and exceptional challenge for the two counties specified, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. But as we very clearly point out, it does not stop there, because it is about establishing a perspective that I believe the whole country can have great use of.
If Västra Götaland thinks that because significantly more people live there, they should not have the same challenges. No, but even they struggle with growing pains when investment projects knock on the door and demand, but it is difficult to keep pace with infrastructure in the form of railways and roads, housing that needs to be built, pressure on welfare, and the need for decisions on capacity in the power grid. These are the same challenges that we see in, for example, Norrbotten, and here we have much to learn from each other. Norrbotten and Västerbotten stand out, but it does not stop there.
Whoever wishes can partake of the fruits of this regardless of where in the country one is located, and the government exists for all of Sweden. If there is interest from the local business community to provide input and highlight their situation, I, as the responsible minister, will gladly listen in order to maintain Strategy North, which is about a perspective and not just geography. I gladly listen here in the chamber to those members who take special responsibility for highlighting the issues of their home districts, but I also gladly take part of that during visits on-site or digitally.
On Monday, State Secretary Modig, the state secretary in the government who has special responsibility for strategy north, had a meeting with the two regions we particularly highlight and all municipalities and counties affected by this. More meetings of this type are welcome, because we need to become very concrete about what the bottlenecks are if we are to have a chance to solve them. I am happy to cooperate both with local politics regardless of party color and with members of the Riksdag, because which politician gets to cut ribbons or tie bonds in a few years is all the same. Now we need to help each other to increase the pace. Things that usually take 15 years in Sweden now need to take five years, and what usually takes five years now needs to take 15 months. In that case, at least the local level needs to be heard clearly in the national industrial policy.
Kalle Olsson (S)
Madam Speaker! When I listen to the Minister, I interpret it as that one has a strategy that is geographically delimited but that it is still not so important. One wants to both have the cake and eat it. This does not contribute to increasing clarity anywhere. This will boil down to concrete questions, for example: What support can the affected municipalities count on from the government and Ebba Busch moving forward based on this strategy? Will it make a difference if one is inside the geographically delimited area in the strategy compared to if one is outside it?
Madam Speaker! When a strategy is developed, the purpose is often to aim towards the future. No one is served by a strategy that is outdated before the ink has even had time to dry on the paper. But that very fate risks hitting this strategy because one misses what opportunities the green industrial transition can mean for even more counties and municipalities, especially in northern and central Sweden with good access to clean, fossil-free electricity, if one in this way limits the scope to only the two northernmost counties.
What we see is a powerful and in many ways fantastic development that goes beyond Norrbotten and Västerbotten. In my previous post, I mentioned some examples of larger establishments, and in this context, it is worth noting that all those I mentioned have been added in a period characterized by sharply rising interest rates and considerable concern in the financial markets. But that the investors feel secure that northern and central Sweden is the right place says something about what we can expect ahead. We have probably only seen the beginning.
Madam Speaker! Now the goal must be to enable more such establishments. Therefore, it is important that the government develops a strategy that clearly and distinctly signals that one does not just watch from the sidelines what is currently happening in Dalarna, Västernorrland, and Jämtland, but that one also intends to support this development. What is needed is a signal of an active state that intends to support municipalities facing major transformation. Here, the government and the state can truly be an enabler, but it naturally requires that one does not mentally limit oneself.
My question remains: What risks does the government see in developing a strategy that is also relevant for how the green industrial transition develops beyond Västerbotten and Norrbotten? What is the worst that can happen if one points out that the resources that are important in Norrbotten and Västerbotten are also important in, for example, Jämtland and Västernorrland?
Peder Björk (S)
Madam Speaker! Before today's debate, I thought, just as I expressed in my first contribution: that it is commendable and good that the government, for once, sees northern Sweden and that one wants to develop a strategy for specifically northern Sweden. But the Minister for Enterprise's answer here is that one has to see a bit who or whom this strategy should include. Those who raise their hands can be included. But in the answers to the written questions we have posed to more cabinet ministers than the Minister for Enterprise during the spring, it has been clear that the focus should be on specifically Västerbotten and Norrbotten.
Madam Speaker! We have much to learn from Västerbotten and Norrbotten, for they have led the way. But if one is serious about this being a strategy for northern Sweden, one should also include the counties that actually are part of Norrland and northern Sweden. Then one cannot say, as the Minister for Enterprise, that those who want to can be included and that things are also happening in Västra Götaland. In that case, it is indeed a strategy for the green industrial transition in all of Sweden, but then we are talking about something completely different.
The point of a strategy must be that it should be governing for how decisions are made, how priorities are set, and ultimately how resources are allocated. But what I am hearing now from the Minister for Enterprise is that we have to see who gets to be included in the strategy. It might only be two counties, but there could be more counties. It might be Västra Götaland as well. How then are the funds to be prioritized and allocated?
Madam Speaker! This answer is not sufficient. This does not seem to be a strategy for northern Sweden. This seems to be a strategy that the government puts on the table but does not know what to use it for.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I perceive that a fight is being sought that is not there to be had. I will not fight on the other end here. I am not interested in participating in any kind of polarization where we instead need to join forces.
It is very clear that we need to develop a specific strategy for northern Sweden where we point out that Västerbottens and Norrbottens län have a completely exceptional position that is actually difficult to beat even if we look globally. There is a historical investment pressure at the same time as there is a lack of people to be able to be part of the green transition. The will is there. There is an enormous pressure locally both from the business community and the political leadership, but it is going too slowly in the decision-making processes. State, region, municipality and county administrative board do not hang together - different parts of Agency Sweden are moving at different speeds.
A specific strategy needs to be developed to be able to meet this. But the perspective required to be able to solve these problems is a fruit that I believe everyone who carries out these types of important green transition projects can enjoy, such as Dalarna and Jämtland, and we see it as an opportunity also for Västra Götaland. To take a concrete example, when a smaller town gets a very heavy industrial establishment and heavy influx, a need for seven new preschools can suddenly appear. How do we then ensure that the welfare can keep up, when the tax revenues might only come much later? How should the state step in? What is the state's responsibility in that situation to support the municipality? We see an acute need to be able to answer those questions in Västerbotten and Norrbotten. But I see that lessons from this will be able to be used in more places.
Another such concrete issue is the allocation in the electricity grid. We have seen major problems with so-called air bookings, where companies enter and take capacity so that they almost burst and say that they will need very much electricity, and then they block out other companies' opportunities to know that there is enough electricity for their investment the year it kicks in. This is what we are now trying to address with more active regulatory oversight. It is particularly useful here, but it can also be used for more parts.
I think there is a particular logic in that Norrbotten and Västerbotten receive a special focus. But it is not that we stop working with other parts of the country, and it is not that other parts of the country with similar issues – even if not to the same extent as is so exceptional here – cannot learn from this or cannot also actively contribute to the work and also reap the fruits of the work. With that, I hope it has become a bit clearer.
Kalle Olsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I believe I dare to assert that municipal councillors in Ludvika, Timrå or Östersund want more than just to be given perspectives. I believe that, just like the political leadership in Norrbotten and Västerbotten that Ebba Busch speaks about, they also want to feel that the government will take an active part in the major societal transformations that will now also take place in these municipalities and counties and that the government is actually concretely involved in that work.
Madam Speaker! In this interpellation, I have not chosen to delve so much into the objections and the criticism that one can have against the government's policy in substance, such as the cuts at the county administrative boards' permit units and the abolished investment subsidies for housing construction – things that actually strike directly against what the government, with its strategy for northern Sweden, wants to promote.
I have instead chosen to focus on the consequences of a too narrow perspective. We are in complete agreement regarding Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties. They were early in preparing opportunities for the green industrial transition to truly take off in Sweden, and in many ways they have shown the way. But now, as mentioned, more counties and municipalities are following suit, especially in northern and central Sweden. It would be unfortunate if the government, in one of its most important and governing documents, chooses to adopt a too narrow perspective that excludes these parts of the country that face similar challenges. To travesty the minister from last week's party leader debate: Come on, Ebba Busch! Raise your gaze, and take the chance to formulate a forward-looking strategy for northern Sweden that carries into the future!
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by saying that the greatest gain for those living in electricity area 1 and 2 is actually this government, which I have the privilege of being a part of, which puts a stop to an energy policy that placed very much weight on the idea that southern Sweden's electricity problems should be solved by taking northern Sweden's relatively cheap and emission-free electricity and transporting it south. Now we are ensuring instead that we pave the way for expanded power production in southern Sweden that stands in parity with the need, so that northern Sweden can keep its power production. This is needed if we are to be able to continue to welcome all heavy investments and be able to continue to be leading in the green transition and at the same time create more jobs.
The second thing I want to say is that I had quite high expectations for this interpellation, Madam Speaker. But I am a bit disappointed, actually, because I feel that the interpellor has listened with one ear. If you only listen to half of what I say, you only hear that other regions are offered to "take part" in the fruits of this work. But if you also listen with the other ear, you also hear that I have repeatedly said that one is also warmly welcome to contribute and to raise their perspectives. I gladly accept them here from those members who know their home region in a way that is invaluable to be able to take part in, but also directly on site.
Now that we are coming out of the Swedish EU presidency, I look forward to being able to travel more in the country. I would gladly visit Jämtland together with Kalle Olsson. I hope that the people of Jämtland have listened with both ears in this debate and that they have heard that we see, that we are coming back and that we will come with concrete proposals that the whole country can take part in as an important part of strategy north and for all of Sweden.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.