Response to interpellation 2022/23:7 on local cooperation in major transport projects
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned local cooperation and holistic solutions in large infrastructure projects. KD assumes that Trafikverket works to minimize disruptions and that the authority has routines to enable local influence 1. KD emphasizes that the government follows up on the operations through annual reports and ongoing dialogue 1. KD argues that information and dialogue are crucial for creating acceptance and avoiding misunderstandings 2. C argues that the authorities do not see the local community, municipalities, and companies in practice 3. C believes that the government must take responsibility for ensuring that authorities see the big picture and do not overlook individual individuals 4. C wants the government to take the lead and dare to steer towards difficult solutions 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Martina Johansson has asked me several questions regarding local cooperation in large infrastructure projects. In part, she asks what I will do to ensure that Trafikverket works more with holistic solutions in its projects, in part how I will work to clarify the mandate regarding local cooperation and acceptance, and in part how I will follow up to ensure that local cooperation increases.
Madam Speaker! I assume that Trafikverket, in all its projects, works to minimize the disruptions that occur during the construction period. A good dialogue with local actors is often both a prerequisite and an opportunity to find good holistic solutions.
I want to emphasize that cooperation with other actors is an important part of Trafikverket's mandate. According to its instruction, Trafikverket shall have well-functioning routines, methods of work, and forms of cooperation that safeguard and enable local influence. I assume that this is something Trafikverket continuously reviews and develops within the framework of its mandate.
The Government monitors the Swedish Transport Administration's activities in several ways. In each annual report, the Swedish Transport Administration accounts, among other things, for how the agency's planning activities, maintenance activities, and investment activities have been conducted during the year. The Government Offices also have an ongoing dialogue with the Swedish Transport Administration where this type of questions are discussed and, if necessary, followed up when so required.
In conclusion, I state that as a minister, I cannot comment on an individual case.
Martina Johansson (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank Andreas Carlson for the answer. At the same time, I am somewhat disappointed by the answer. I believe I am opening up a new path for the new government to approach these types of issues by focusing on the needs and opportunities of the local population, the municipality, and the business owners. I could have received this answer even if I had submitted the interpellation to the previous government. I believed that the Minister and the new government would make a difference, for that is what has been said.
The example that I raise in my interpellation, and which I know the Minister cannot comment on in substance, shows very clearly that the assignment is not working in practice. There are many different proposals. Now I took up a proposal concerning traffic, but there are corresponding proposals in my home county Sörmland where the local community is not seen when it comes to the expansion of power lines. This is somewhat symptomatic of our authorities. They do not see the local community, the residents, the companies and the municipalities, their needs and their wishes to be involved.
Trafikverket has a mandate to coordinate and plan. This is reported annually. That is absolutely the case. But it doesn't work. The Government has a great responsibility to push, among other things, Trafikverket to create an interest in seeing the whole. Who else is it that is supposed to take the overall responsibility and conduct the societal analysis? What job opportunities risk being lost if a company cannot continue to deliver because it is cut off? Who is supposed to take responsibility for the climate when residents have to travel an extra four miles every day to be able to get to work? It is about the individual's economy, but above all about the climate.
It is a matter of trying to find examples of how things can be done in a different way. No one is questioning that the bridge I mention in the interpellation should be replaced, but it is about how Trafikverket can try to achieve a good solution for those who live nearby. This shows deficiencies in the overall picture and the coordination.
I have also received information showing that there is a lack of interest in finding out what the situation looks like. In the interpellation, I bring up figures from traffic measurements. Today I know that the Transportverket's measurement was made five kilometers away from the bridge. They did not even measure on the bridge, which the individual association did. Therefore, it differs by 700 cars per day. It is a symptom that one does not see the whole picture.
My purpose with the interpellation is to show that it does not work in practice and to give the government the chance to change this early and take the lead. Once again, I ask the minister: Who is it that will be responsible for ensuring that the overall solution works? Is the minister ready to clarify the mandate to prioritize local acceptance and local cooperation? How will the minister work to follow up that it works in practice?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Martina Johansson for the questions and for the commitment. I know that it means a lot when a local or regional Member of Parliament highlights and brings up issues that are important in the individual locality or in the individual region. I naturally regret that the answer I delivered in my first speech led to disappointment. But it is not possible to change the government's work in such a way that we, from one day to the next, begin to express ourselves as ministers in individual matters.
I have noted that Martina Johansson submitted a written question to the previous government and received the answer that the government assumed that Trafikverket is working on these parts. It is not a coincidence. It is important that Trafikverket, within the framework of its mandate, continuously reviews and develops its routines.
The question to me here tonight also concerns how the government follows up on the responsibility that lies with the very important and large authority Trafikverket. This is done, as I mentioned in my interpellation answer, in several different ways, including in the ongoing dialogue with Trafikverket where this type of questions are discussed.
I note in the member's post interesting information that we of course must look further into, analyze, and perhaps take as examples of things that can be developed. But I cannot comment on individual cases. That stands.
During my years in this chamber and in the work of the Riksdag, I have seen what infrastructure investments can mean for a locality in terms of higher traffic safety, increased attractiveness, and increased faith in the future. But I have also sat with landowners who have had somewhat mixed feelings, for example, because the road is being laid out in a way that they themselves had not intended. When this type of investment is made, conflicting interests can understandably arise. That is why it is so important that Trafikverket is responsible for the overall solution and has routines and methods to take advantage of influence and dialogue locally and regionally. Trafikverket already has that responsibility within the framework of its mandate today.
I also welcome a dialogue with the Riksdag. As I said initially, I think it is positive that the member raises the issue. I hope that I will have a good dialogue with the Committee on Transport, where Martina Johansson's party colleague Ulrika Heie is chair. I believe I have two meetings booked in the Committee on Transport before Christmas. I look forward to a close and good cooperation with the Riksdag, with the Riksdag's committees and with the Riksdag's members in order to be able to include tasks and bring things into the work that I will carry out at a very high tempo in these important issues.
All of Sweden must function. It is important to have a good and well-developed infrastructure and maintenance of the same. But then it is also important with what Martina Johansson points out: that there are good holistic solutions and that a good dialogue is maintained with the local and regional level.
Martina Johansson (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank Andreas Carlson again for the answer.
The individual cases are what we individual Members of Parliament see very clearly. But my purpose was not only to highlight this concrete example but also to show that this is something that happens continuously and which is symptomatic. It is not about individual employees, project managers, or managers within our various agencies making isolated mistakes, but this recurs.
I hope that we can get a government that takes action on these problems, so that individual people are not affected. As I said before, this is not the only example. I have been a member of Parliament for four years. I have three concrete examples from Sörmland where the individual or the municipality was overlooked, and I believe that it also happens in the rest of the country.
In my interpellation, I mentioned a railway bridge that no one is against. However, one should not have to travel four miles instead of going directly across the railway. It concerns four trains a day that run on this line. I have mentioned the power line between Hedenlunda and SSAB in Oxelösund. In that case, the landowners were bypassed. It leads to strong criticism, risk of appeals, and so on. A third example is the expansion of Ostlänken. It is fantastically good for Sörmland as a region. But suddenly a landowner discovers that a lot of people are in his sheep pasture, where his animals graze, to perform archaeological excavations. He has not been informed about it. It is clear that the excavations must be done. But one must not forget to talk to the people, the companies, and so on.
My most important purpose with the interpellation is to highlight that this is happening in reality. In this debate, the minister, as a representative of the government, must take responsibility for all agencies. If we do not get this in order, trust in politics, for our agencies, and ultimately for our democracy, will decrease. That is why it is so important. It is not about my or anyone else's experience, but it is about the fact that we must be able to trust the system. Then one must be able to see the whole picture.
Our authorities, Trafikverket and others, need to dare to pursue even those things that are difficult to show that they take a social responsibility. It is clear that it is not easy to solve these matters. But they must dare to try the difficult and take new steps.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you again for the commitment. Martina Johansson points out a very important part. It is about trust in democracy, as Martina Johansson mentions, but also in the state and the authorities.
Information is important. It falls within the scope of Trafikverket's mandate today. It is a matter that the government can follow up within the scope of our responsibility and my responsibility as a minister in the dialogue that follows from the mandate.
I am, of course, not speaking about the individual case. But it is actually self-evident things that Martina Johansson highlights. It is about the importance of information and dialogue. It is a matter of creating understanding for a measure or something one does in a process and why one does it.
It can be a very important part to avoid misunderstandings, questions, or the feeling of not being listened to. It can also create an acceptance of the actions. It is important overall to consider and work with. It is something that I assume the Transport Administration and other authorities continuously develop and review within the framework of their mandate.
Martina Johansson has put her finger on an area that is important to the member. I thank her for that. I will continue to encourage a good dialogue also with me if the member discovers other things in their home district or elsewhere. I welcome that and am always open to input.
Martina Johansson (C)
Madam Speaker! I also hope that we can continue to have a good follow-up and a good dialogue. I am not a member of the Committee on Transport, but we can have that dialogue in other ways.
It is again a matter of daring to govern even towards that which is sometimes difficult, and daring to see the individual, the companies, and the municipality and their opportunities and challenges, and to take on the difficult parts.
I presented my concrete examples. If the Minister wants more during these years, they just need to get in touch, and then we can continue to have a good dialogue.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for that, and I thank again for the commitment and for the question and that the member took the opportunity to pose it. It is my first interpellation debate as Minister. If Martina Johansson wishes to make a statement, I expect that I will be here several Tuesday evenings ahead and be available for interpellation debates where we can continue this type of good conversation. That is what is needed.
I believe we share the view that all of Sweden should function. Infrastructure is very important, and that also applies to the maintenance of the same. There, the government has now reallocated parts of the funds in our budget to strengthen road maintenance. Investments needed to be made in railways. It is also important to work with holistic solutions and to have a good dialogue.
The interpellor has put their finger on it today. I thank you for the respect that I, as a minister, cannot comment on an individual case. But I look forward to good dialogue moving forward as well.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.