Response to interpellation 2023/24:469 on the customs' increased commitments
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government is actively working to strengthen Tullverket through better tools, a clearer focus on the criminal economy, and increased resources 1. M emphasizes that Tullverket is receiving new powers and that the government is conducting impact analyses to allocate funds 2 3. M asserts that a bill will be submitted and that the government is working extremely hard to break crime 3. M believes that the customs service has a very important task and that the criminal economy must be choked 4. S argues that the government is late with answers and that it is unclear when a bill will be submitted or if it is being funded. S believes that the customs service needs nearly half a billion in extra resources. S criticizes that the government does not analyze the effects of its policy. S argues that the government does not provide a clear answer on how they handle the hard work at the borders in relation to the budget messages and that action is required rather than just words 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.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Madam Speaker! Patrik Björck has asked me whether the government intends to provide the Customs more resources and, if not, whether I am prepared to take the initiative for an analysis of what effects that would have for the Customs' operations.
Serious organized crime is a threat to the system. To combat it, the criminal economy must be strangled. The Swedish Customs Service is on the front line in that fight, for example through the seizure of narcotics and weapons.
The government has therefore actively worked in several ways to strengthen the Swedish Customs Service. This involves better tools to strengthen the Swedish Customs Service's control and crime-fighting activities, a clearer focus on strangling the criminal economy together with other authorities, and better tools to increase the safety of customs officers.
The Government has also allocated increased resources to the Swedish Customs. In total, the Customs' appropriation increases by 135 million kronor in 2024 as a result of investments in the budget bill for 2023 and the budget bill for 2024. The Government will return to the question of the Customs' appropriation level in the ordinary budget process.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! There have been some discussions between me and the Minister for Finance this spring. The first one we had on January 31st, I believe it was. Then I asked the question why it has taken so long for the Minister for Finance to produce proposals to strengthen the Swedish Customs Service in its important work. At that time, I proceeded from the bill that was announced on March 19th.
To that question, I actually received no answer. The Minister for Finance did, however, refer to the fact that the government had had a lot of work with the EU presidency during 2023. It was an answer that I thought was perhaps a bit far-fetched. That is normally included in the government's work. Managing a presidency at the same time as the regular work is a planning process that takes place over several years.
It was a question period here in the Riksdag in the middle of last month. At that time, I asked the Minister for Finance: Can the Minister for Finance promise here and now that the bill on the tariff will actually arrive on March 19? If it arrives, can the Minister for Finance then promise that there is funding?
Nor neither on those questions did I actually get any answers. The Minister for Finance did not discuss the announced bill and did not take up the financing at all. The second attempt from my side to get answers to the important questions was not successful.
Madam Speaker! When this interpellation was written, I did not know that a government bill would not be submitted on March 19. The interpellation we are discussing here today, I wrote at the beginning of February, that is, one and a half months before the announced government bill was to be presented.
The last opportunity for questions was on March 5, which is one month earlier than when the answer will actually arrive. It is not only the bill that is delayed, but the answers to important questions are delayed. It is important to keep that in mind.
I then asked the questions: Does the government intend to provide the customs more resources? If the customs is not provided with more resources, is the minister prepared to take the initiative for an analysis of what effects that would have for the customs' operations?
Madam Speaker! I unfortunately have to state once again that I am not receiving any answers to those questions. No bill is coming. We know nothing about when it will arrive. We raised the question in the debate: If a bill comes, when will it then enter into force? Now it is so delayed that we know nothing about when the opportunity will come for the customs to work with the new powers that may eventually come in the potentially upcoming bill.
I was concerned at one point at the end of last year that nothing was happening despite the government having a completed investigation. In principle, when the Finance Minister took office and entered the Ministry of Finance, there was an investigation that could have been started on immediately in September 2022. Now we are in April 2024.
In addition to the questions I have posed in the interpellation, I want to add the question: Will a government bill even be forthcoming on these important issues? The Finance Minister and I agree that these are important issues, so I will not repeat all those arguments. We essentially share the analysis of how important it is.
Will a government bill be submitted? Will it be funded? If it is not going to be funded, will an analysis then be conducted on what effects that would have for the Customs' operations?
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank Patrik Björck for his commitment to the work of the Swedish Customs. It is a commitment that is important. It is important that many of us see the need for both tools and resources for an agency that is currently working at the very front line to combat a part of this crime.
It would be easy for me to answer very briefly. The interpellor has written two questions. One is about providing more resources. I have previously said that we have added resources. We will return in every budget process and state exactly what the resources look like for the next year and so on. To be able to perform its duties, the customs also naturally need resources to do just that. I have also, in opposition, strengthened the customs' work and funding.
The second question concerned whether the Customs will be provided with more resources and whether I, in that case, am prepared to take the initiative for an analysis. Above all, we do not work that way. We have a very clear picture of what the Swedish Customs (Tullverket) should do. It is on the front line, and we have started work to choke the criminal economy. The agency is an important part of this.
It is absolutely self-evident that the Council of Legislation referral that we have decided on and which is now being processed in the Government Offices as soon as possible should also land on the Riksdag's table as a government bill. It is a priority task that the customs service gets better tools. When it is then time for next year's budget, Madam Speaker, we will return to resources so that the Swedish Customs Service can do its job.
It is nevertheless important to emphasize that we have done and are doing four important things with Tullverket.
The first one is precisely about increasing the resources.
The second is that the government, together with the Swedish Customs Service, the Swedish Tax Agency, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority, has developed an ambitious goal for how we can together increase the pace and consolidate efforts against the criminal economy. In that regard, the Swedish Customs Service is important and continues to be very engaged.
The third is what we have just mentioned: the powers of customs officers. We know that they need to have better powers, and that is why we are now gathering everything into a single piece of legislation where it becomes clear what customs officers can do and what they should not do. Above all, they get better powers to perform a job that today looks different than it did ten years ago.
The fourth and final one is that an investigator has worked on the issue of the export of stolen goods and that this shall be criminalized. In December, I received the final part of the investigation, which is now out for consultation as we work on the proposal.
So yes - there is money, and the customs service gets new tools. I know that Patrik Björck is a committed and impatient politician, and I think that is good. From the government, we are working as fast as we can both with tools and with money.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! Then the two questions were expanded by one more. We can note that I have received an answer to question two. The question was: If the customs service is not provided with more resources - is the Minister then prepared to take the initiative for an analysis of what effects that would have for the customs service's operations? The answer was: We do not work that way.
I have received an answer to the question. The government is therefore not working on analyzing what effects a funding or a non-funding of an important activity would have. I find that a bit worrying. I think it would be reasonable for a government that has an entire department's resources at its disposal to analyze the effects of the policy it pursues.
We may have different opinions on how many resources should be invested, whether tax cuts should be made for those with the highest incomes, or if we should break up the gangs, combat the criminal economy, and strengthen the customs. But it is a bit strange that, in response to the question of whether the Minister for Finance will conduct an analysis of the path she chooses in an important issue, I am told: We do not work that way. I am a bit surprised. I am glad that I received an answer, but I am a bit surprised by the answer.
Madam Speaker! Regarding question one, whether the government intends to provide the customs more resources, the Minister for Finance answers somewhat vaguely: We do. The facts in the matter are that before the budget we are working on this year and decided on last year, we Social Democrats had in our proposal 100 million more for reinforcements of the customs' work, because we knew that there was such a strong need.
When the Customs Service now leaves its budget request and takes with it what is assessed to be the effects of the new work and the new obligations it receives, the assessment is made that it needs to be provided with closer to half a billion in extra resources. The Customs Service needs this to manage to perform the work it does today and take the entire responsibility that it has today.
But the expanded work – which the Finance Minister and I fundamentally agree on – will also require money. In that case, it is of course very important that an agency receives signals and instructions that it can begin working on this and start the work here and now. It is about planning, because it takes time with a new way of working. It takes time when more people are to be equipped, and it involves costs for training. Staff must be trained, and more staff must be hired. All of this requires planning time.
Now we have a bill that we have been waiting for for one and a half years. It was scheduled for March 19 but has been postponed, and we have still not received an answer as to when it will arrive. In that way, one also pushes back the entry into force, and one pushes back the entire question of whether this can be financed. In that manner, one gives the customs administration no opportunity whatsoever to plan for and carry out this important work in a quick and efficient way.
So, well, half a billion in budget cuts is the Customs' own analysis of what is needed to manage the new commitments. I ask question three again: Will there be a government bill at all?
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Madam Speaker! I have known Patrik Björck for many years, and I know that he heard what I said: A government bill is coming. I have said that many times. The referral to the Council on Legislation is being processed, and a government bill will come. As for what date it will arrive, Patrik Björck will have to wait and see. You can ask the question more times, but you will get the same answer.
When it comes to money, I sometimes think that we in this chamber - in this case Patrik Björck - want to misunderstand our opponents. My point was that it does not work that the government first submits a bill and tells the Swedish Customs Service and other authorities what they should do and then closes its eyes and hopes that they have enough money. The government conducts impact assessments and other analyses of various agencies' work, including the Swedish Customs Service. From there, in various budget negotiations and discussions, we add the funds that we consider necessary for them to be able to fulfill their task. That is quite obvious.
Question number two proceeded from the assumption that Patrik Björck does not believe the government will provide resources. What I meant was that we do not work that way. We do, therefore, provide resources when we give new assignments. But it is naturally up to the member himself to misunderstand as he wishes.
A bill will be submitted. The government has taken action against the criminal economy and will continue to do so. If we do not do it, the killing of children and innocent people will continue. An important part of stopping it is precisely about stopping the brutally large holes in our welfare systems. It is about stopping fraud, and it is about stopping all that other parties have not stopped during their years. The government is working very hard on this.
It is our task to break the crime and make Sweden safe again. Here, the customs also has an important task – a task to stop weapons and narcotics and to ensure that Sweden does not receive all of this, which can also nourish the criminals. It is about both narcotics, weapons and money.
Once again: We have had this discussion several times. For me, Tullverket is an incredibly important agency. The Government has close contact and dialogue with it and will continue to have that. We will, of course, do what is necessary in a time of priorities, where money is finite. Then we will, of course, still ensure that Tullverket can have the resources to carry out its mission.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! Yes, that was the answer from the Minister for Finance to the question of whether the government intends to provide more resources. My question to her is then: How does that answer stand in relation to the Swedish Customs Service's budget request of over half a billion to be able to perform what the Minister for Finance and I have agreed upon? It would be interesting to receive a statement on this.
Madam Speaker! Regarding question three, the proposition gives the Minister for Finance no answer as to whether or when such a thing will come. She says that Patrik Björck has to wait and see. I am used to, Madam Speaker, waiting. But I still have not seen anything. I therefore hope that I will see something eventually, for I am waiting, and I have done so for a long time.
Regarding the Finance Minister's answer to question two, which I interpreted as her not working that way, it was exactly what she said. We can go back to the minutes and check, but that was the answer I received. The Finance Minister now says that I have misunderstood her. It is good if I have misunderstood the Finance Minister, because I would have been sincerely alarmed if one did not analyze her policy.
The Minister for Finance says, therefore, that she is making analyses, and that is good. Then the question is again: How does the government think when one sees the hard work, which only becomes tougher, at the borders and the new requirements, and compares it with the budget messages that I was touching upon? What analysis is it that is being made? The Minister for Finance makes analyses, and she says that I should wait and see and that resources will be added. But that is no answer!
When will the law enter into force? When will there be an opportunity for the management of the Swedish Customs to do something? When will it become something more than just words? Because when it comes to the words – that customs is important and an important part of the work against crime – the Finance Minister and I agree. It is action that is required.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Madam Speaker! It is truly workshop that is required. That is why, from the first day of this job, I have been determined that we shall choke the criminal economy. All authorities working for this within different policy areas shall work together and do significantly more to truly choke it. Here, the customs, as I have said before, has a very important task.
When it comes to the resources for next year, everyone here in the chamber will probably have to show a little patience. Now all the agencies have submitted their requests, and we are going through them, as we always do before budget negotiations. But one can be calm: This government's absolutely most important task is to ensure that Sweden becomes safe again. Sweden has become more dangerous and poorer, and we are now building a safer and wealthier Sweden.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.