Response to interpellation 2023/24:414 on the state's governance of the Swedish National Heritage Board
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 state's governance of the Swedish National Heritage Board and the authority's conditions for assessing cultural heritage impact during the establishment of offshore wind power. M believes that an adjustment of the governance is not necessary as the county administrative boards, with the support of the Swedish National Heritage Board, already have a mandate to produce planning documents. M emphasizes that the authority has a clear mandate and that a national development work is underway to consider cultural heritage values in large-scale societal processes 1 2 3. S argues that the Swedish National Heritage Board finds it challenging to map the cultural heritage due to a lack of national data, which creates uncertainty for developers 4. S believes that the government should clarify the mandate and allocate resources to deliver a cultural heritage plan for the seas and coasts.
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! Isak From has asked me if I intend to take any initiatives to change the state's governance of the Swedish National Heritage Board so that the agency is given good conditions to carry out its work in assessing where new offshore wind power can be established.
We heard earlier here that electricity production needs to increase to provide the conditions for a green transition. Offshore wind power naturally plays an important role in this.
In the establishment of offshore wind power, broad cooperation is required, and many different perspectives need to be considered. For this, purposeful planning documents are also required, including for the cultural environment. In the regulatory letter for 2021, the government tasked the relevant county administrative boards to, with the support of the Swedish National Heritage Board and other relevant authorities, develop a purposeful planning document for cultural environments in the national marine spatial planning.
I Energimyndigheten's account of the assignment regarding new areas for energy extraction in the marine plans will provide better conditions for upcoming analyses of the cultural environment in the marine planning in the continued work - partly by virtue of the county administrative boards' account of the regional planning bases, and partly through the development work being conducted at the national level.
Against this background, I assess that an adjustment of the management of the Swedish National Heritage Board is not necessary at this time.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Culture Parisa Liljestrand, for the answer! Just as we heard in the debate before, we need more green energy. This can involve fossil-free energy in the form of nuclear power, but it has shown that this is quite far off in the future. Large-scale offshore wind power can generate a significant supplement as early as 2030-2035.
It is based on this that I have submitted this interpellation, not least from the perspective that the Minister for Culture has, namely that a mandate was given to the Swedish National Heritage Board in the regulatory letter from the previous government. The Swedish National Heritage Board has responded to this. It is said that it has been very challenging to carry out this mapping. The Swedish National Heritage Board also argues that there is a lack of appropriate cultural environment data for marine planning at the national level, which has made it difficult for the Swedish National Heritage Board to fully assess in what way wind power installations may come to affect the cultural environment.
Then an uncertainty creeps in, which I have perceived, that makes it difficult to take a stand on this. In some cases, it may be that the County Administrative Board has a competence that makes the basis sufficiently strong, but the National Heritage Board has nevertheless requested guidance.
When I read the regulatory letter to the Swedish National Heritage Board for 2024, this issue is not included. Nor is it included in the budget that the government thinks the Swedish National Heritage Board should prepare a new cultural environment basis for marine spatial planning.
I would therefore like to ask whether this is intentional or if the government considers that the Swedish National Heritage Board already has this mandate and will manage it with existing resources. Is there an ongoing discussion in the government that makes the Minister for Culture see that an updated steering is needed so that the Swedish National Heritage Board feels more secure? Right now, it is flagged that there is uncertainty, which also creates uncertainty for those developers who may want to establish themselves in a certain area of the sea. This is, after all, the single most important measure to supply the southern parts of Sweden with electricity, where there is currently a great shortage.
The government is also responsible for how energy supply should be ensured until 2030. There is no real goal. The government has set the goal for 2045, but for new investments from industry to be realized, perhaps especially in Gothenburg and Mariestad linked to new battery factories, new, large-scale offshore wind power is required.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! This is not an interpellation debate on energy policy, but I cannot help but say that we agree that more energy is needed and that offshore wind power will play a major role when it comes to Sweden's energy supply. But we are probably not in agreement that it should be the only or the most important energy source, as the government is also carrying out active work to promote nuclear power and its possibilities to supply Sweden with energy in the future.
With this said, I shall continue to debate what the interpellation de facto is about: the protection of our cultural heritage and our cultural environment near seas and waters. The portal paragraph of the Cultural Environment Act states that it is a national matter to protect and care for the cultural environment and that the responsibility is shared between several, which means that both individuals and authorities shall show both consideration and care when it comes to the cultural environment.
Social development naturally also plays a role in this and places high demands on the existence of cultural environment competence, both locally, regionally and nationally. I believe therefore that it is extremely important that when large social transitions and social change processes occur, one looks from different perspectives. The competence needs to represent different perspectives.
The work carried out today by the country's various cultural heritage actors - the Swedish National Heritage Board, the county administrative boards, local and regional museums - is directly crucial. I have full confidence that the authorities and the other cultural heritage actors manage this in a purposeful manner.
We must remember that the Swedish National Heritage Board is the authority that, at the national level, is responsible for issues concerning cultural heritage and the cultural environment, but which also includes cultural landscapes, objects, and museums. According to its instructions, its mandate, and its regulatory letter, the authority shall look at pressing areas including cultural environments in and adjacent to water. This is in the authority's instructions. There is also an ongoing national development work to produce planning conditions for the indirect impact on the cultural environment.
Mr. Speaker! It is primarily in the large social construction processes and social transition processes that we need to take help from each other and ensure that we join forces at local, regional and national levels. I have full confidence that the authorities and the other cultural environment actors will ensure that this is handled in a purposeful manner following regulatory letters and instructions to authorities.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I am glad that the Minister for Culture took this interpellation debate. I have previously submitted two questions that also concerned the Swedish National Heritage Board's mandate. One concerned the reassessment of hydropower and the industrial cultural environments after running water. The other concerned the rolling cultural heritage. Both were handled by Romina Pourmokhtari. In that respect, I am glad that the Minister for Culture is here and taking this debate.
My starting point is what the Swedish National Heritage Board has written, namely that it has been challenging and that there is still a lack of a purposeful cultural environment law for marine planning at the national level, which has meant that it has not been fully possible to assess in what way offshore wind power installations may affect the cultural environment. This causes uncertainty to spread.
As emerged in the previous debate, the government has allocated funds to the county administrative boards to try to address situations where there are conflicting interests. It is clear that there are conflicting interests also in this issue. It could be about someone considering that the outlook is spoiled because a wind farm is being built a few kilometers out at sea. It could also be about someone's cultural fishing being affected by this.
One must, of course, have the opportunity to make one's voice heard and have one's case examined, and in that regard, it is even more important that the responsible authority - Riksantikvarieämbetet - has the right instructions and the right mandate and feels that it is they who are to do this. The Minister for Culture's answer does not make me feel that I have received an assurance that Riksantikvarieämbetet has all the relevant tools in its toolbox to fulfill this mandate.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! In these processes, cooperation between the relevant authorities and actors who have interests in these issues and can consider different perspectives is important. It is needed in order to achieve a balance. A prerequisite for this is that there are appropriate knowledge, information, and planning bases.
As the interpellator pointed out, it is well known that there are great needs and that work is ongoing at our agencies and at our county administrative boards so that we can put this puzzle together and see how it looks today. It is important that I do not anticipate that process and what the county administrative boards have now been tasked to look at. There is an ongoing national development work. The county administrative boards' regional planning documents will also be submitted, and these will constitute an important basis for the continued work.
I feel secure that authorities and actors responsible for these issues at local, regional and national levels have work underway to map out, conduct information investigations and ensure planning prerequisites. Based on this, we will be able to do work aimed at what I believe is actually the interpellant's intent with the question, that is, that we will be able to look at different perspectives and naturally also investigate the cultural environment perspective when it comes to offshore wind power.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I nevertheless note that this, as I see it, very important issue is not included in what I see of the regulatory letter to the Swedish National Heritage Board or in the government's budget. It is not clarified.
The Swedish National Heritage Board naturally has the mandate. As I mentioned in my interpellation, the Swedish National Heritage Board has pointed out that this has been difficult. It is seen as problematic, especially when there is a lack of a marine environment law for the cultural environments in the marine environment.
This is to some extent a completely new issue for the National Heritage Board, and my position is that the government and the responsible minister should therefore follow up on this. The alternative is, of course, to downplay the significance and say that it can be built in any case.
The County Administrative Boards are likely working quite proactively. In this case, I have confidence in the County Administrative Boards' work, but I also see that what the Swedish National Heritage Board is calling for is a bit more commitment and perhaps also a mandate and a pot of money to deliver a cultural environment plan for the seas and coasts.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I must begin by thanking Isak From for the opportunity to highlight the important work being done to make visible and take into account the cultural heritage values that exist in larger societal processes and, not least, in the vicinity of seas and waters.
We know that the cultural environment is important to us. It is a carrier of our common history and also a marker of our common identity. It is something that we must safeguard and ensure that we take responsibility for in the future. We have had it preserved, and we shall take responsibility for it.
I feel confident that the Swedish National Heritage Board has a clear mandate to work with these issues, that they have joined forces with parties such as the county administrative boards in this work, and that they are working with a planning basis that will be able to provide guidance moving forward.
I look forward to being able to continue working on this issue and to receiving the underlying material when it eventually arrives.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.