Response to interpellation 2024/25:198 on national action plan for the social economy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the government's intention to develop a national action plan for the social economy. L argues that the government's policy is already in line with the EU Council's recommendations and that they therefore do not intend to develop an action plan 1. L emphasizes that they prioritize ensuring that Arbetsförmedlingen receives better conditions to help people far from the labor market and that authorities have been tasked with developing innovative methods of work 2 3. S argues that an action plan is necessary to create growth, strengthen local communities, and help the long-term unemployed 4 5 6. S believes that the government is missing opportunities by not providing social enterprises with the right infrastructure 5 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Åsa Eriksson has asked me what I intend to do so that Sweden will also receive a national action plan for the social economy.
I want to begin by emphasizing that the EU Council recommendation on the development of a framework for the social economy affects many policy areas. The social economy encompasses various business and organizational models that prioritize societal purposes, including social and environmental goals, over profit.
I also want to remind that Sweden received a large amount for its positions in the negotiations.
The Council recommendation is not legally binding but provides guidance to the Member States to focus on the area of social economy and social entrepreneurship in order to promote access to the labour market, social inclusion, skills supply as well as social innovation and economic development. The Member States thus have room to take greater account of national circumstances in order to achieve both national goals and the EU's social goals by 2030.
It was particularly important for Sweden during the negotiations on the council recommendation that the Member States should not be directed too specifically in their national work. The Member States also agreed that the requirements for reporting back to the European Commission should not become too extensive. In order to limit the administrative burden, it was decided that the Member States may use existing tools in their reporting and take national circumstances into account.
The government's policy is in many respects in line with the council's recommendation. The government therefore has no intention of producing a national action plan for the social economy.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the very clear answer! Even in this debate, the political dividing lines between the SD government and us Social Democrats will become extremely clear. We simply want different kinds of societies.
Madam Speaker! I believe that the Minister and I, on the other hand, are in complete agreement that everyone's ability to work shall be taken into account regardless of what it looks like. At least, that is what it usually sounds like from the government.
I believe we are also in complete agreement that all people feel best when they can support themselves, be part of a working community, and feel needed. But what sets us apart very clearly is how we view the social economy. That it is an important tool to achieve these goals is what we Social Democrats, at least, believe.
Madam Speaker! Social economy consists of organizations that have social utility and social goals as their primary driver, i.e., not profit. This includes, for example, cooperatives, non-profit associations, foundations and social enterprises, which play an important role in strengthening local communities, creating employment and giving people who have difficulty entering the ordinary labor market a foothold and an opportunity to use their abilities. By focusing on each individual's ability and needs, work-integrating social enterprises can contribute to reducing long-term unemployment and social exclusion.
Madam Speaker! The Minister stated twice in his answer that the EU Commission has provided great scope for national conditions and specific characteristics, and that is true. And if it were the case that Sweden had a declining unemployment rate, if we had few people who stood far away from the labor market and if we had a low youth unemployment rate, I would understand that the government does not prioritize producing a national action plan for the social economy, but that is not how the situation looks. On the contrary, we have a record-high unemployment rate, apart from during the corona pandemic, we have a record-high youth unemployment rate and we have many who are assessed to stand far away from the labor market.
Madam Speaker! The Minister says in his response that the government does not intend to produce any action plan for the social economy. That is petty. It could be an important tool to kick-start growth in our country, to get more people into work and to develop local communities even in the countryside.
Madam Speaker! According to Arbetsförmedlingen's report for 2023, almost 85 percent of the long-term unemployed are assessed to have a weaker position on the labor market than others. They are therefore not attractive for the ordinary labor market and need some type of interventions to get into jobs or alternatively a broadened labor market.
Since Mats Persson does not want to invest in the social economy as a tool and does not want to provide better conditions for work-integrating social enterprises, I wonder: In what way does the Minister intend to ensure that the work capacity of these people is also taken into account?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Åsa Eriksson, for your commitment to this issue! I think one can feel this in the chamber.
It is important to say that the government wants us to have different types of interventions that make it easier for people who are far from the labor market, something that I assess there is broad support for in the Riksdag. We shall not have just a single model for this, but we shall, so to speak, let a thousand flowers bloom when it comes to establishing many different interventions locally, close to the citizens, in order to create more paths into the labor market.
It can be about social projects linked to community life or sports life. It can be about projects linked to different types of social enterprises that carry out various kinds of activities to give people who are far from the labor market a chance to get in.
From the government's side, we are now prioritizing in the budget that Arbetsförmedlingen receives better conditions to prioritize those who are very far from the labor market. Arbetsförmedlingen has a number of different activities concerning giving people a place in society.
The government has also during the year tasked a number of agencies to develop innovative working methods regarding the social economy to ensure that different actors can cooperate to better reach these types of groups.
We must be proud of Sweden. Sweden is a country that has as its starting point to take care of all people and to give all people a chance. We have a number of different initiatives around our country, all of which aim to create more paths into the labor market for those who are far away from it. This applies not least to the social economy and to utilizing the power that exists in Föreningssverige to create more paths into the labor market.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for this answer.
Innovative ways of working to help the social economy sounds good. But I wonder what it actually means, because civil society and the social economy are still calling for a national action plan for the social economy. They do not see that development is moving forward but rather backward. Therefore, they argue that the government needs to take a holistic approach.
Madam Speaker! Another area that the EU Commission points out regarding the social economy and its importance, where it can be significant, is rural development through, for example, energy communities and cooperative farming. It is not something that primarily lies on the Minister's desk. But these are issues that are important for our resilience and for our crisis preparedness. These are also areas where important jobs can be created, not least in rural areas.
We need more job opportunities, even in places that are far from university towns and large industries. In northern Västmanland, where I live, there are very many self-employed people who do an incredibly good job, support themselves, and have more work than they can manage. But they are not prepared to take the step of hiring a person, because they then, in addition to the employer's responsibility and everything that entails, must ensure that they at least double their revenues to be able to afford to support two people.
But if Mats Persson and the government were to produce the long-awaited national action plan for the social economy and ensure that there is a good infrastructure for different types of cooperatives, economic associations, or other entities within the social economy, so that one could work together in work communities and hire people together, then I am sure that the companies would flourish, more work would be performed, more people would get jobs, and we would contribute to better growth in Sweden. It is a growth that, unfortunately, is currently in the EU's "scrap heap" with this government.
Madam Speaker! I would wish that the Minister's reluctance to develop an action plan for the social economy were due to the fact that the sector is flourishing. But that is not the case. We receive ongoing reports of social enterprises that are forced to shut down operations or that are forced to apply for bankruptcy because they are not given the right conditions for their activities. Then we miss opportunities for much-needed development for our country. Furthermore, vulnerable people, who have had their income, their work, and their community in a social enterprise, are left without work, income, and connection. It is sad.
Madam Speaker! I ask the Minister to reconsider his and the Government's position and seriously provide the social enterprises with the conditions they need to be able to contribute to more job opportunities, to more adapted jobs, and to much-needed growth for our country.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Åsa Eriksson for this interpellation debate. I think we should be proud of Sweden. We have so much to offer and to feel pride about when it comes to how we treat people who have a tough economic situation and a tough social situation. There are few countries in the world that have so many and so large initiatives as Sweden. There is a broad political consensus around that, and I think we should be very proud of it.
For a local entrepreneur in Västmanland, there are already today a number of different opportunities to receive support to employ someone who is far from the labor market. One can make use of a subsidized employment. If one is a sports club, one can get help with wage subsidies to in that way have the possibility to contribute and employ more.
From the government's side, we are of course ready to listen to all proposals regarding making this even better. But I think it is important to say that even today there are a number of activities that we as a country do, which aim to take care of people who have a tough economic situation and a tough social situation.
On point by point, we therefore have measures. And I am, of course, prepared to listen to all good proposals. But it is important to say that it is not the case that we are doing nothing.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for this. But I must say that it is somewhat surprising that a conservative Minister trusts a state agency so much, which is rather square and limited and which has a limited number of tools in its toolbox, when there are fantastic private initiatives, where there is an opportunity to let a thousand flowers bloom, as the Minister said in his first speech, if we give them the right conditions and the right infrastructure for it.
I must admit that the Social Democratic-led government did a lot for the social economy, but not enough. I wish we had gone even further, so that today there would have been more companies that could have been sustainable over time, even with a bourgeois government, instead of having to go bankrupt and lay people off.
Madam Speaker! In 2018, our government launched a strategy to promote social entrepreneurship and social innovation. It was good, but we now need to move forward. This country needs an action plan for the social economy, for increased resilience, for more people in work, to take advantage of more people's abilities, and to contribute to increased growth in our entire country.
I hope therefore, once again, that the Minister is prepared to reconsider his position. I do not expect any changed or different answer here today, but there are still a couple of years left of the government's mandate period. Therefore, I ask the Minister, with warm greetings from the social enterprises and civil society, to produce a sharp and powerful action plan for the social economy.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Åsa Eriksson for her commitment. I perceive that there is a broad consensus regarding the importance of this. Then, we are not entirely in agreement on exactly which tools we should use. It is comical to hear a Social Democrat who breathes a bit of skepticism towards Arbetsförmedlingen. It was refreshing. But I judge that the member and the government largely share the commitment and the view that this is important and on several of the tools that we have to use. Then we can always discuss whether tool X or tool Y is needed. But let this discussion continue.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.