Response to interpellation 2023/24:467 on Sweden's expansion of the total defense
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 expansion of Sweden's total defense. M argues that the government has taken measures through dialogue meetings, agency management, and regulatory simplifications 1. M emphasizes that the Armed Forces need expanded training activities and that defense investments have doubled 1 2. M argues that the county administrative boards have an important role 1 and that they have raised amount limits for more effective cooperation 3. M prepares opportunities for changes in the Environmental Code for faster decisions 3. S argues that the expansion is proceeding too slowly and that the interests of the total defense weigh lightly in conflicts 4. S proposes a state coordinator 4. S argues that the expansion is going too slowly due to bureaucracy 5. S considers that regulatory changes to facilitate decisions and the reporting obligation are good and correct 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.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! Lars Isacsson has asked me what the government is doing to remove obstacles for the construction of the total defense. Lars Isacsson has asked a number of questions, and therefore my answer will be quite long.
The questions concern what initiatives I and the government have taken to remove obstacles to Sweden's military expansion in regulations, ordinances, and laws, in what way the government has ensured that the Fortification Agency has the right competence and resources on site to manage the expansion of the total defense, in what way the government has tasked the county administrative boards to contribute to Sweden's military expansion instead of slowing it down or stopping it, and whether the government is ready to resolve goal conflicts in favor of the total defense.
The security policy situation in the world around us requires that Sweden has a stronger defense. There is a broad political consensus that the capability within the entire total defense, both the military and the civil defense, must be increased urgently. The government has therefore taken several measures to enable this.
Successful growth of the military defense requires coordination between the personnel area, defense materiel, and infrastructure. The process from ordering capability in the defense decisions to the delivery of usable capability is extensive. The lead times within the areas of personnel, materiel, and infrastructure differ slightly but share the commonality of being long.
During 2023 and 2024, I have taken the initiative for dialogue meetings with relevant authorities regarding how governance and follow-up can be developed and to discuss how the authorities can develop their collaborations to achieve better conditions for growth in the military defense. I note that the authorities are actively working to shorten lead times and streamline their collaborations.
Purpose-appropriate infrastructure and training areas are a prerequisite for the Armed Forces to be able to grow at the rate required. The Armed Forces need to significantly expand its training activities. The processes for changing the authority's environmental permits are, however, extensive and take a long time.
In order to be able to exercise to the extent required during the time it takes to change the environmental permits, the Swedish Armed Forces have requested temporary changes to the environmental permit and reporting requirements in the Environmental Code. The Swedish Armed Forces' ability to exercise purposefully is important for the government, and the matter is currently being prepared within the Government Offices.
Fortifikationsverket has an important role in the expansion of the military defense. The Government has therefore, in the regulatory letters for 2023 and 2024, clarified that the agency shall contribute to the overall goal for the military defense being achieved.
It is the management of Fortifikationsverket that bears the responsibility towards the government for the operations being conducted in a well-functioning and efficient manner. The government has appointed a new board and reassigned the agency's director-general to ensure that the management of the agency has the right competence and stability to be able to handle its tasks.
The County Administrative Boards have an important role both as coordinators of state interests in social planning and in the development of total defense. They shall support the regional and local level in the development of total defense and are responsible, among other things, for the follow-up of the municipalities' work with civil defense. To ensure the County Administrative Boards' possibilities to support the municipalities' work, the County Administrative Boards were allocated 60 million kronor annually from and including 2023.
The County Administrative Boards are to handle permit and license cases in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In cases concerning defense, the government is the final instance of review.
The Government will continue to take the necessary measures to ensure that the total defense is developed at the required pace.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister of Defence Pål Jonson for the answer. I think that in many respects it is a good answer, but still it does not quite work. I thought that we could debate this more today.
The security situation in our immediate vicinity has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Sweden needs to arm both its military defense and its civil defense. Our ability to meet a worsening security policy situation must be powerfully improved. Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin expressed it as that the situation keeps him awake at night.
Now, however, reports are coming in one after another that the expansion and the increase in capacity are proceeding very slowly. Mikael Oscarsson from Kristdemokraterna was quoted in Dagens Nyheter when he said: "It takes an eternity."
Dalregementet, I 13, has been re-established in Falun. Dalregementet is a modern light infantry that trains shooting battalions. Following Russia's war of invasion in Ukraine, we have seen the infantry's decisive importance for a country's defense capability against an aggressive and authoritarian attacker. For I 13, this includes, among other things, the protection of the connection to Norway and the protection of important total defense facilities.
It is also moving slowly in Falun. In a few years, the regiment is expected to reach full capacity, hopefully with the possibility, option, to be able to become a brigade. But the increase of the infantry's capacity in Falun is currently threatened by a number of processes that counteract each other.
In the processes for securing land, premises, and training, different interests collide. It concerns detailed development plans, environmental issues, and so on. Each interest is judged as equally important and is handled by individual agencies and not as a whole. This leads to the total defense's interests weighing lightly, and other individual interests are judged as more important. Falun is just one example among many others.
It is a major problem if we as a country cannot handle important interests for the realm in a cohesive and satisfactory manner. For this reason, I posed four questions to Defense Minister Pål Jonson. In the response from the Defense Minister, it is stated, among other things: "The lead times within the areas of personnel, materiel, and infrastructure differ somewhat but share the commonality of being long." It also appears that the minister has taken the initiative for dialogue meetings with the relevant authorities.
I think that dialogue meetings are very good, and I think it is very good that the minister is taking the initiative for this. The State Council, however, cannot lead the daily work. My experience, which I believe I share with many other current and former municipal councilors who have worked with larger establishments, is that the state is incredibly fragmented and works very much in silos.
The County Administrative Board has a responsibility to coordinate the state, but no authorities or state-owned companies have a responsibility to let themselves be coordinated. The municipalities and establishing companies, or in this case the Armed Forces, shall have contact with the County Administrative Board, the Swedish Mapping Authority, Svenska kraftnät, Vattenfall, the Transport Administration, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
In what is now described as the worst security situation since World War II, the expansion of the total defense must be prioritized. We cannot be content with noting that what is common to the lead times is that they are long. It is not possible to ask Russia for extra time or a waiver.
Madam Speaker! I wonder if the Minister has considered having a state coordinator for the expansion of the total defense, similar to the one that exists for the industrial transition in northern Sweden.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Lars Isacsson, for a broad but also urgent interpellation! I know that Lars Isacsson does not sit in the Committee on Defence. I am extra pleased with those members who engage in our area even though they work in another committee and because they are engaged in the construction of the total defence in their own home districts.
In several respects, I share many of the analyses that Lars Isacsson makes in his interpellation. At the same time, I want to neither paint a black or a rosy picture of the development. The Defence Investigation conducted a checkpoint of the total defense decision that the Chamber adopted on 15 December 2020. At that time, they evaluated how the work proceeded up until the spring of 2023.
There it was noted that the timeframes that were in the defense decision 2020 were, in all material respects, keeping pace. Then there were problems in exactly those three areas that Lars Isacsson raises. It was infrastructure, personnel and materiel, but it followed the schedule.
Regarding what has influenced the development of the total defense, and which I believe one should have respect for, are the Swedish Armed Forces' prerequisites. The Swedish Armed Forces are affected by the deteriorated global situation. This also affects growth in at least three respects.
NATO membership affects growth to the extent that a considerable number of officers will be engaged in NATO's command structure. It takes a lot of power and energy to now work with NATO's joint defense planning.
Of course, the deteriorated security situation also affects the Armed Forces' growth given the readiness measures that the Armed Forces are now taking. The Armed Forces are now working much more actively and moving resources and capabilities around the entire country to manage a deteriorated global situation.
But it is not least about the support for Ukraine, on which there is a broad consensus.
These are the prerequisites, I want to emphasize, and growth is naturally affected by those factors. That being said, we from the government side at the Ministry of Defence, both I and Carl-Oskar Bohlin, have worked relatively intensively on these issues in order to be able to create better conditions for growth.
If it was previously the case that we were short on money but had plenty of time, we are now in a situation where we have doubled the defense investments from 2020 to 2024 from 60 billion to 119 billion. It is a doubling. We now have significantly more money than we have had previously. But we have less time, because the security situation has deteriorated. Therefore, it is urgent, just as Lars Isacsson says in his interpellation, with the buildup of the total defense.
The measures we have taken are those that a government can influence. For example, it is agency governance. We have tasked FMV with simplifying its decision-making processes. We have also tasked Fortifikationsverket, the Armed Forces, and also FMV to look at regulatory simplifications. I believe that can be important. I know that the agencies are working intensively to create the regulatory simplifications internally and between the agencies that are important.
We have, of course, also added more funds. An agency such as Fortifikationsverket, for example, has a key role. At the same time, Fortifikationsverket now has a lot of work to do as we re-establish the Armed Forces in a long series of locations. We are re-establishing four regiments.
Fortifikationsverket has increased its staff strength by 10 percent in one year. It is absolutely necessary in order to be able to shorten various lead times and achieve a more efficient process and a faster and stronger buildup of the total defense.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answers!
It is quite clear that Defense Minister Pål Jonsson knows much more about the global situation, the security situation, Nato and Ukraine. I am stepping down a bit to the county administrative board level, which I have some experience in.
In the minister's answer, he says: "The County Administrative Boards have an important role both as coordinators of the state interests in social planning and in the development of total defense. They shall support the regional and local level in the development of total defense and are responsible, among other things, for the follow-up of the municipalities' work with civil defense."
The Minister also states this: "To strengthen the county administrative boards' possibilities to support the municipalities' work, the county administrative boards were allocated 60 million kronor annually starting from 2023." That sounds a bit like business as usual to me. The county administrative boards are to handle matters according to current laws and regulations. There is no clarified mandate regarding the importance they have in relation to the expansion of the defense.
I do not believe that the lack of case officers at the county administrative boards is the problem. I believe it is more the interpretation of the Environmental Code that causes case officers to propose restrictive decisions. The authority follows what the case officer or the technical expert has said. I do not believe that 60 million kronor more to the county administrative boards is the solution.
The Minister concludes his response with: "The Government will continue to take necessary measures so that the total defense is developed at the pace that is required." It is very good.
Madam Speaker! I wonder if the Minister can be a bit more concrete about which measures are being referred to.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! We have also given a mandate to the county administrative boards to see how secrecy is handled. It is a challenge. In the preparedness units, there is an opportunity to handle secrecy. But when we enter matters concerning the Planning and Building Act, the Fortification Agency, and the Armed Forces, information is also required to be able to handle secrecy. This is regulated in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, Chapter 15, Section 2, regarding defense secrecy. We have identified this as a challenge for growth.
In addition, we have done things to simplify for the authorities. With the total defense decision that we made in December 2020, we have said that we shall move towards more goal-oriented management of the authorities and less detailed management. We shall also simplify a number of processes.
We have done this, for example, by linking it to the Access Ordinance. This means that a government decision is required as soon as a foreign warship or a foreign state ship enters Swedish territory. Instead of it being a government decision, we have given the authorities a framework decision. If the ship comes from a NATO country, an EU country, or from Switzerland, no government decision is needed. It is an example of a regulatory simplification.
We have also facilitated for authorities to make decisions so that they can make decisions faster without going to the government. This concerns, for example, Fortifikationsverket.
Previously, a government decision was required for an amount that stood at 75 million. Lars Isacsson knows better than I do that when it comes to the Planning and Building Act and investments in infrastructure, it does not go that far when one is to re-establish new regiments.
Instead of 75 million, the government has decided that one can go up to a limit of 200 million so that we shall have a more efficient and better cooperation between our agencies but also in the interaction with the government. There shall be more goal-oriented management and less detailed management, all in the sense of accelerating the development of the total defense.
Let me also touch upon the Environmental Code. I have respect and understanding that Lars Isacsson, as a former municipal council member, can do this much better than I can. We have also worked with it at the Ministry of Defence and then in close dialogue with the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise.
In order to more quickly meet the defense's operational needs, we are now preparing at the Government Offices the possibility of amendments to the Environmental Code. Activities that are currently subject to a permit requirement shall instead be able to become subject to a notification requirement. We are looking at this until 2029.
It could, for example, be that the Natoländer who come in and practice should also be covered by the Armed Forces' environmental permits. It could also simplify processes so that faster growth can be achieved.
It is some of the issues that we have worked on at the Government Offices. We have also given an increased procurement authorization to FMV to be able to make orders without necessarily having to go to the government in every given instance.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answers!
The Minister states that the rule changes, that it shall become easier to make decisions and that a reporting obligation shall replace a permit requirement, are good and correct.
I know that there are calls to the municipalities to speed up the process to find solutions as soon as possible. I believe that most municipal executives, municipal boards, and municipal councils embrace that and do so. Most often, however, it is the state that lags behind and cannot cooperate.
There is a broad political consensus on the importance of expanding the total defense. Nevertheless, the expansion is proceeding too slowly. Today, I have raised the re-establishment of Dalregementet I 13 in Falun, but this does not only apply to Falun. We need to increase the pace of the expansion of the defense, and slow processes and bureaucracy must not be stumbling blocks.
Much is done correctly on paper, but in reality, it stops. The Minister of Defence has accounted for a number of decisions, orders, reinforcements, and other measures, and that is good. Still, it stops here and there. I experience that the work of strengthening Sweden's total defense fails due to bureaucracy, complications, and sub-optimization.
I intended to take the opportunity, Madam Speaker, to submit some concrete measures to the Minister of Defence that I believe could accelerate the process. We need to have a clearer mandate for the county administrative boards in the buildup of Swedish defense capability. We need to carry out a revision of the Environmental Code with the aim of enabling a faster development of the total defense. We also need to complete the review of national interests with the aim of reducing the number and, within the framework of the development of the total defense, clarify how goal conflicts shall be handled in favor of the buildup of the total defense.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Lars Isacsson, for your commitment to the issue and for concrete input that I take with me!
I have had the privilege of visiting I 13 together with Carl-Oskar Bohlin. We have also had a summary meeting with all 30 garrison locations in Sweden, where Falun was also represented, to discuss these issues at the state level, at the regional level with the county administrative boards, and at the municipal level, and how we can create better conditions for growth. I appreciate that dialogue, and I also appreciate the commitment and the broad consensus in this chamber for a stronger total defense.
Something that we have worked a lot on at the Ministry of Defence, in conclusion, is the support for Ukraine. The Ukrainians can teach us a great deal about the importance of rapid growth and the capacity for rapid growth. Much of the support we have provided to Ukraine, we have been able to provide in weeks and months. It has gone fast, it has been successful, and it has been good. Many of our own national processes take years and decades.
A good deal of these questions concern structures, but there are naturally also cultures that need to be worked on within agencies and between agencies. We may also need to work with them within the Government Offices in both action and meaning in order to achieve a stronger total defense that creates better conditions to be able to contribute to peace and stability in our surrounding area.
Thank you very much for the debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.