Response to interpellation 2024/25:586 on transport services in the entire Nordic region
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns transport services in the Nordic region and how border obstacles can be resolved. M considers that the right to transport services is an important prerequisite for participation in society 1 and that it is a prioritized issue in the Nordic cooperation 2. M emphasizes that the responsibility is regional and municipal 1 3 4 and argues that the current cooperation works well 2. S considers that the pace for resolving border obstacles needs to be increased 5 and that Sweden should take the lead in promoting free movement 6. S proposes a transport ministerial council to resolve infrastructural issues 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.
Statsrådet Jessica Rosencrantz (M)
Mr. Speaker! Heléne Björklund has asked me if I intend to take any specific measures to enable persons with disabilities to have the right to transport services throughout the Nordic region.
I would first like to welcome the fact that Heléne Björklund points out that the Swedish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers last year placed a particular focus on free mobility in the Nordic region and that this work is also prioritized this year through Sweden's presidency in the Nordic Council. Solving border obstacles is a central part of the work to achieve the vision that the Nordic region shall be the world's most integrated and sustainable region by 2030. It is in my role as Nordic Cooperation Minister and with the focus on the overall responsibility that I, together with my Nordic colleagues, have for the implementation of the vision and the work on border obstacles that I answer this interpellation.
Regarding the specific question about the right to transport services for persons with disabilities in the entire Nordic region, it can be noted that the Nordic countries have different national transport service systems for persons with disabilities and that these are mostly administered at the municipal level. In Sweden, the Transport Services Act constitutes the framework law that sets the outer limits for application, and it states that each municipality is responsible for ensuring that transport services of good quality are organized within the municipality. The municipality may delegate its tasks to the regional public transport authority in the county, which has occurred for the majority of Sweden's municipalities. The Transport Services Act does not set any obstacles for a more generous application and provides opportunities for municipalities in border regions to organize transport even across the border. The right to transport services is an important prerequisite for persons with disabilities to be able to participate on equal terms in society. The responsibility for local and regional public transport is a regional matter, and the same applies to the transport services.
The broader Nordic cooperation for the inclusion of persons with disabilities is prioritized. During 2024, the various ministerial councils of the Nordic Council of Ministers adopted decisions on new cooperation programs with clear goals and priorities for the continued work to achieve the vision. Within the social and health sector, there are clear goals that the Nordic societies shall accommodate and include everyone and that everyone shall have equal opportunities to live good, independent lives. There is also a special advisory body, the Council for Nordic Cooperation on Disabilities, which provides support to the various policy areas and the entire Nordic cooperation to contribute to this inclusion. This so-called Council for Disabilities has, among other things, a recurring dialogue with the Council for Barrier-Free Design. During the previous year, under the Swedish chairmanship, a meeting took place in Reykjavík in connection with the Nordic Council's session between the working committee of the Council for Nordic Cooperation on Disabilities, the secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and a representative from the Nordic Council of Ministers' Council for Barrier-Free Design.
There is thus a broad Nordic cooperation and commitment both to resolve border obstacles and to create an inclusive society for all, which we from the government side will continue to contribute to.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Mr. Speaker and Minister Rosencrantz! Freedom of movement is an important part of the Nordic cooperation. The Prime Ministers' vision of an integrated Norden is to be realized by 2030. There are not many years left now, and there is much to do until then.
For this group, people with disabilities, free movement does not apply. There are also no particularly large ambitions that it should apply to them. It should be said that the issue has been discussed for 30 years. It is therefore not only Minister Rosencrantz who has had responsibility for the issue.
The Minister refers to various meetings, to the Council for People with Disabilities, and to collaborations that have existed. That is true, and it is good. It feels as if everyone agrees that the issue should be resolved. But it is not resolved, and it also does not seem to be on the agenda when it comes to specifically transport services.
One cannot imagine anything worse than already being marginalized and dependent on others and receiving one's transport service but not being able to visit the neighboring country. It becomes extra special for those who live in a border area and perhaps have relatives and friends as well as work or studies and leisure activities in another country. It is not enough.
When the world looks the way it does and considering the serious situation, this may seem like a small issue. But for the people affected, it is a very big issue. I mean, therefore, that we should, with united forces, ensure that it is resolved.
My more concrete question to the Minister is whether it will be on the agenda that this border obstacle shall be written off during this year. By that, I mean that the issue shall be resolved.
Statsrådet Jessica Rosencrantz (M)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank Heléne Björklund for the question and for raising an important problem. It is also fundamentally important, in the broader sense, that we all work together to truly remove border barriers.
It is correct that transport services within the Nordic countries for persons with disabilities lie as an unsolved border barrier in the border barrier database that the Border Barrier Council uses as a source to identify its priorities. But in the same database, it is also stated that the Nordic countries have different national transport systems for persons with disabilities and that they are most often administered at the municipal level.
A number of expert groups have over the years investigated possible ways forward to address the challenges. The investigations have, among other things, stated that a general design of collective transport means that are suitable for persons with disabilities could reduce the need for special transport services (färdtjänst). There are also good examples of how persons with disabilities can use transport offerings in other Nordic countries. But there are sometimes challenges with administrative orders between municipalities.
The right to special transport is an important prerequisite for persons with disabilities to be able to participate on equal terms. But, as I was mentioning, the responsibility for special transport, as well as the responsibility for local and regional public transport, is a regional matter in Sweden. Somewhere an administrative boundary always arises. Special transport is a municipal matter with freedom for municipalities and regions to design their own application based on a framework law, which can be more generous than the law's minimum requirements.
With that said, much Nordic cooperation and dialogue is ongoing regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities. It is a prioritized task. The Nordic cooperation on disabilities is primarily conducted through a Nordic program for cooperation on disability issues that applies for 2023–2027, and the Council for Nordic Cooperation on Disabilities, the Council for Disabilities, is an advisory body for the entire official Nordic cooperation.
The overall purpose of Nordic cooperation on disability issues is to contribute to an effective inclusion of persons with disabilities through enhanced knowledge exchange and closer cooperation on disability policy issues. This is currently achieved, among other things, by creating conditions for experience exchange and knowledge development regarding the issues, increasing awareness of the disability perspective, and increasing the level of accessibility for persons with disabilities to and within the activities of the Nordic Council.
To address just border barriers, as mentioned, there is the established procedure that the Council for People with Disabilities meets annually with the secretariat of the Nordic Council and a representative for the Nordic Council's border barriers council to discuss these issues. On the agenda at the last meeting was, among other things, the Council for People with Disabilities' proposal to appoint an inquiry into establishing a special relocation service for persons with disabilities for moving within the Nordic region. It is something to look into further.
So there is an ongoing dialogue. There is a broad Nordic cooperation and commitment to both resolve border obstacles and create an inclusive society for everyone.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
It is of course welcome that the Minister tells that it is an important issue, that work is being done on it and about everything that is being done. But my point is that the pace needs to be increased, and I do not hear the Minister say that there will be any new announcements that a solution will be in place.
The Minister also refers to the fact that it is a municipal matter. If the municipalities also cannot cooperate across municipal boundaries, the transport service can be likened to a kind of municipal arrest. But that was perhaps not what the Minister meant.
It is clear that we have different rules and laws, both between the municipalities and between our countries. But it is to solve that which we have the Nordic cooperation. Tax policy is also national. We have nevertheless been able to make great progress with a tax agreement between the countries, in order to promote Nordic integration. Surely one could also do that for the most vulnerable in society.
As a Social Democrat, I think it is a self-evident matter that it is precisely Sweden that drives these issues and that it should be at the top of the agenda for this small but very vulnerable group.
I cannot emphasize enough what great and life-altering significance this has for the few people it concerns. We have previously debated here in the chamber about people who have been forced to travel an extra 30–40 miles because it has not been possible to travel from the airport that is closest due to the restrictions for travel services across national borders. We believe that everyone, regardless of functional ability, should be able to enjoy freedom of movement in order to be able to live a full life, both socially, culturally and professionally.
I therefore repeat the question: Can the Minister imagine prioritizing the issue and raising it concretely, not just within the framework of a cooperation, in order to actually resolve the issue? Another question is whether the Minister can imagine also raising the issue of a transport minister council, where this issue could perhaps be discussed.
Statsrådet Jessica Rosencrantz (M)
Mr. Speaker! I have already said several times that I think this is an important and prioritized issue. These are issues that we, in different formations, groups, and contexts, discuss and have an exchange of knowledge and experience regarding. We see that there are opportunities to work even better in different ways between our municipalities and regions. But I also emphasize that this is a municipal and regional matter, and therefore it is important that it is that path one acts upon if one wants to achieve a change. There are also some opportunities today for municipalities and regions to have a more flexible application when it comes to this. There is, therefore, no doubt that this is a prioritized and important issue.
I also want to put this in the context of the ultimate priority for Sweden's chairmanship of the Council of Ministers last year, namely to remove border barriers. It has also been welcomed by the other countries in our cooperation that Sweden has so clearly prioritized these issues. I also welcome that the Swedish chairmanship in the Nordic Council also wants to continue working on removing border barriers, according to its program.
I agree with Heléne Björklund that we are now halfway through the time towards the vision. It is quite obvious that we must increase our efforts if we are to reach it. This means both that we must prioritize the work on an integrated Norden without border barriers and that we, the cooperation ministers, must dare to prioritize among those issues. What is it that we shall work intensively on during the year?
I and my colleagues are currently considering in which areas we can do the most good as cooperation ministers. We have a new program for free movement that was adopted during the Swedish chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This gives us a responsibility and also opportunities. Now it is a matter of managing the new mandate in the best way. In which issues is it most important for the cooperation ministers specifically to engage? It does not appear to be a good use of time and effort for just us to work specifically with every individual problem. It is therefore that we are now also discussing which larger challenges we should particularly address in our roles and what beyond that can be best handled at local and regional level, even in a border region.
A question that I see reason for us cooperation ministers to particularly engage ourselves in is digital communication with authorities and companies across national borders. There is an ongoing cooperation in the Nordic Council, but in my opinion, it is moving forward far too slowly.
It was for that reason that, during the Swedish chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers, we took the initiative for a prime ministers' declaration which was adopted in connection with the Nordic Council's session in Reykjavik. In the declaration, the prime ministers undertook to task the national authorities with removing legal and practical obstacles for so-called identity matching in another country, with the aim that one should be able to use one's bank-id or one's e-identification in digital contacts across borders – something that one might think should work today but does not.
This is an area that will continue to have priority in the work on border obstacles moving forward – that is what I and my Nordic colleagues agree on. A solution where the digital contacts across the borders are simplified is something that would also facilitate many who live and work across the borders in the Nordic region, including persons with disabilities.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Mr. Speaker! I think for my part that it sounds as if the Minister for Nordic Affairs is in complete agreement with us Members of Parliament, regardless of party, that a transport ministerial council is needed that can resolve this issue and many other important infrastructure issues in the Nordic region. I therefore welcome a continued discussion on this in the next debate.
I also want to conclude by emphasizing how important the transport service issue is for people with disabilities, for freedom of movement, and so that we can contribute to realizing the Prime Minister's vision of an integrated Norden. I truly want to appeal for Sweden to take the lead in these issues – that we drive them and show that we stand up for everyone in society and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful environments, the jobs, the healthcare, and the opportunities for leisure and tourism that exist throughout the Norden by resolving this issue between nations.
Statsrådet Jessica Rosencrantz (M)
Mr. Speaker! I regret that I forgot to answer the explicit question regarding a transport minister council. It is a discussion that we have had several times. We can probably almost repeat each other's arguments when it comes to this. I can state that it is extremely important that we have a cooperation in the transport area. I also perceive from the various transport ministers that there is a well-developed cooperation today. I place a very great emphasis on what we can achieve in our cooperation, not exactly what forms the cooperation has. What I hear and perceive is that the cooperation works well today. But this we will certainly discuss further.
When it comes to the question of transport services, I again truly agree that it is an important and prioritized issue. It is also something that we repeatedly discuss in various formats, and we will continue to do so. It is, again, an important part of what I consider to be the core of our Nordic cooperation, that is to say, to truly remove border barriers so that it becomes more seamless to live and work on two different sides of a national border.
This is something we, from this government's side, will continue to prioritize in the Nordic cooperation. And I know that the Riksdag will also do so within the framework of the Nordic Council's work. I can emphasize how important it is, because we only have a few years left until the vision we are to reach of being the world's most sustainable and integrated region, that we now really work systematically and with priority. It is what I look forward to doing with my ministerial colleagues in cooperation – to really identify which are the truly big issues that we need to address. In addition, we will also work in various formats with all types of cross-border barrier issues that we need to solve.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.