Response to interpellation 2024/25:63 on strengthening academic freedom

Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! Anders Ådahl has asked me how I intend to act to strengthen the autonomy of higher education institutions when it comes to their funding, organization, and distribution of resources between teaching and research.

Academic freedom is an important component in a democratic and strong society. It cannot be taken for granted but needs to be actively promoted and protected. Free pursuit of knowledge and free dissemination of knowledge includes being able to ask controversial questions and present unexpected results without, for example, being subjected to hate or threats. To strengthen the criminal law protection for practitioners of certain socially useful functions, the government proposed that the penal provisions on violence or threats against a public official and assault against a public official should also apply if someone assaults a practitioner of a certain socially useful function in his or her performance of duties. By practitioners of certain socially useful functions, for example, educational staff within the school system and higher education are meant. The Riksdag then decided in accordance with the proposal in June 2023.

The core activities of higher education are education and research. The activities differ in many respects from a majority of other state administrative agencies, not least against the background of the principles of freedom of research and academic freedom. The Government therefore wants to reduce the administrative superstructure and provide conditions for the higher education institutions to focus on education and research. Statskontoret has therefore been tasked to analyze the consequences of the administrative tasks of universities and higher education institutions (U2024/01755). The assignment is to be reported in September 2025.

The Ministry of Education has also recently received a proposal (Ds. 2024:21) which implies that a number of research projects shall be exempted from requirements for ethics approval. The investigation has made a balancing act based on what is necessary, sufficient, expedient, and appropriate so that the whole shall meet both protection needs and research needs, as well as to promote good research practice without imposing unnecessary administrative burdens on research principals and researchers.

Educational institutions have an important social mission, and citizens should be able to expect that the resources the state allocates to universities and colleges are used well. Universities and colleges have great flexibility in how they can use their resources. They can, for example, save up to 10 percent of the education grant between years. For the research grants, 100 percent can be saved. This provides good opportunities to manage changed demand for education and long-term conditions for conducting research.

The University Chancellor Office's report Academic Freedom in Sweden - Government Mandate on the Higher Education Institutions' Work to Promote and Protect Academic Freedom (2024) shows that Sweden has a high degree of academic freedom in an international comparison. On the other hand, one-third of the surveyed teachers, researchers, and doctoral students state that their own academic freedom has been challenged.

The Government is closely following the developments in order to assess the needs during the coming years. In the upcoming research and innovation policy bill, the Government will present the overall research policy. In the bill, estimated investments in research of 6.5 billion kronor from 2028 onwards will be presented, and the Government has already announced that the direct research grants to higher education institutions will be increased. Furthermore, the Government will make collective assessments and prioritizations of resources for research during the coming years, including what the distribution of research funds to universities and colleges will look like.

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Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! Let me first say that it is pleasing that the government shares the objective. It is said itself that academic freedom is an important component in a democratic and strong society. It cannot be taken for granted but needs to be actively promoted and protected. So far, it is good that we have the same objective. Academic freedom is central.

Let me remind you of the Center Party's priorities within the policy area: We want to safeguard academic freedom, we want to see a higher education that is accessible throughout the country, and we want to achieve more excellence in Swedish research.

Academic freedom - how should we view it, Minister for Education? Is it a dry subject for academics? No, it is not, of course. It is one of our most important freedoms. If we want to see a civilized society, if we want to see growth and development, it is absolutely necessary that academic freedom is protected. That is how we get the best quality in research, and that is also how we get the best companies so that Sweden can grow as a country and receive tax revenues for strengthened healthcare, strengthened schools, and so on.

The situation is serious on quite many deep levels. The decline in academic freedom is linked to the decline of democracy in our world. The decline in academic freedom is also strongly linked to the increasingly poorer research results in Sweden. We have had a downward trend for twenty years, and I dare to assert that the impaired academic freedom is a major cause of that.

Looking out over the world, we see a decrease in 22 countries over the last ten years. China, India, Mexico and the USA are examples of countries where academic freedom is in decline. Sweden ranks low in Europe. Swedish higher education institutions have a relatively low organizational and financial freedom. The autonomy of higher education institutions and academic freedom have a weaker legal protection in Sweden than in other European countries.

Unfortunately, the political governance of the higher education institutions in Sweden has increased. It is deeply unfortunate. We also see increased control and increased bureaucratization, which was recently reported in an in-depth report.

We will never be able to rise as a research nation, or even as a nation, if the state views the universities as its development department in some kind of AB Sverige. We will never develop if we, as in recent times, increase the political governance of our educational institutions. The situation is serious, and I am actually worried about the policy pursued by the government.

At the end of the Minister's response, he states that the government is following the developments closely to assess the needs during the coming years. Translated into everyday Swedish, it means: We see, but we will not do anything. It is unfortunate.

The Liberals campaigned partly on strengthening academic freedom. They, among other things, stated that the constitution should be strengthened. The Liberals wrote as follows in a debate article during the election campaign:

"Protect academic freedom in the constitution. In a time when universities in country after country are subjected to pressure to show compliance with the ruling regime, this is not enough. In the knowledge nation Sweden, academic freedom shall be constitutionally protected in its entirety."

Madam Speaker! In light of what I have just explained, I would like to ask the Minister for Education: Will the government initiate work to provide constitutional protection for academic freedom? I also want to ask: Will the government reduce the political steering of our universities?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! I am very pleased that Anders Ådahl is raising this important issue for discussion so that we can clear up all doubts: Academic freedom in Sweden is strong, but it can be further strengthened. Not least, it concerns the extensive administrative and bureaucratic burdens that, perhaps unnecessarily, fall upon universities and colleges. The Swedish National Audit Office is now looking at these burdens to facilitate their ability to manage this themselves. These authorities are a unique case among other authorities regarding the need for governance, monitoring, and control, and how the Riksdag and the Government choose to govern. This we shall protect and strengthen. It is an important part.

For the freedom of research, it is also important to remove all possible bureaucratic parts regarding ethics review, as I mentioned. Right now, I do not have much more to say than that the investigation is very welcome. It is to be sent out for consultation, and I do not want to anticipate what it lands on.

The government is working on several constitutional issues to strengthen the protection of democracy in Sweden. For example, we are working on strengthening the independence of the courts. We are also working intensively to be able to include a woman's right to self-determination over her body in the constitution. We thus have a broad scope of work in strengthening democracy in Sweden.

For the Liberals, in my new assignment, I will push to further strengthen academic freedom. With that said, Madam Speaker, I also want to be clear that we will not be sending resources into empty space. We have focus and demands for quality. We have focus and demands that Sweden - and then the academy broadly must be involved and help so that we can, for example, be able to realize the STEM strategy that we are now working on and hope to soon be able to present in close connection to the research and innovation bill - shall be able to become a stronger country when it comes to the future issues that are embedded in science.

To reach that, the requirement for freedom of research is very strong. We must never go back to the time when, for example, research on Swedish nuclear power was stifled. Those were purely political decisions that were not good. Now, we should rather encourage that we continue to be a country that is at the forefront and can be leading in groundbreaking technology such as AI, robotics, and everything else that we know is crucial for Sweden's competitiveness.

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Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! It is pleasing that the government is working to increase the freedom and constitutional protection for our Swedish courts and the legal side of our society. I unfortunately do not receive any answer to the question of whether the government is also interested in introducing a constitutional protection for academic freedom. The Minister for Education is welcome to return to that in his next contribution.

We completely share the view when it comes to the fact that politics should not be involved in and micro-managing. That is precisely why it is so unfortunate that the government has taken this specific path. We have seen several examples during the two years that the government has been in power. Among others, the appointment of university boards has been noted.

There are, however, other ways to govern academia than direct control. The two most common are, on the one hand, which financing system one has, and on the other hand, what organization one has in the sector. When it comes to the organization, we have almost only administrative universities and administrative authorities for the research and the higher education at our institutions. It is a rather unfortunate construction, because it means that one comes very close to the government power. Academic freedom is, as it were, not decoupled from politics.

But let us talk about the financing. In the budget bill, the government has announced that it will make an investment that, when fully expanded, gives the area an additional 6.5 billion kronor. If one looks a bit more closely at that table, one sees that universities and colleges are to be reached by 1.6 billion, while the Swedish Research Council, to take just one of our research councils, is to be reached by 2.6 billion. We see that a much larger proportion goes to the research councils than directly to the universities. That implies an indirect steering, because then the research councils, i.e., others than the researchers, will decide what are the important issues. It is therefore an interesting area to drill into.

Since we are on the subject of the investments in the field, I cannot help but mention that I happened to come across the Swedish Research Council's short document Good Research Practice from 2017. There, eight points were listed, and the first was: You shall speak the truth about your research. Imagine if we transferred that to politics, I thought then: You shall speak the truth about your politics. I actually become a bit upset when the Minister for Education announces the research investments as the largest ever, because that is not true. They are the second lowest in the five most recent research bills. Looking only at the last year, they are in second place. So it is not true, and I think that is unfortunate. I will not dwell on that any further, but I still want it said here in the chamber.

I instead have another question for the Minister for Education, regarding how the government has chosen to distribute the research grants to the councils in relation to direct grants to universities and colleges. We agree that academic freedom builds the best research; we shall not say stop to nuclear research, the Minister for Education said. But then I wonder: How is academic freedom strengthened by giving the research councils very much more money than what is given directly to the universities? I cannot get that logic to add up.

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! The fairly well-established principle is that one measures the investment in research in the fourth year. What will be the new baseline? Then one looks numerically.

In real terms, it is clear that a previous liberal budget may have been somewhat higher numerically. It is important that we stick to the truth here. We should be careful about that. But can we say that it is an extremely large and important investment, Anders Ådahl? I received a nod in response, Madam Speaker.

When it comes to the basic grants, we have announced that they will be increased significantly. But I am aware of the discussion that exists and that people think the basic grants should be even larger and that much less should be sought based on quality.

There are also other research funders. Not all research in Sweden is conducted at universities and colleges, especially not at universities. Research is also conducted in many other places. It is central that many are involved and contribute and ensure that Sweden manages the questions about the future and the great challenges.

So, there are many who are involved here, including foundations that provide direct funding but also companies, sometimes in collaboration and sometimes completely independently, of course. It is crucial for the future to have good research. We think it is a balanced level. We have great confidence in the research funders and that they, through their assessment, which has been ongoing for many years in their operations, ensure that funds are distributed based on quality.

After a number of decades in which higher education and also research have grown, it is clear that it must be at the forefront. That is what benefits Sweden. We absolutely cannot be best at everything - unfortunately. Sweden is a fantastic country. But we are 10 million plus. We must focus.

It happens to be that, for example, STEM, as I mentioned earlier, is crucial for Sweden's industrial direction. I want to continue to industrialize Sweden. The country that is built by engineers shall continue to be built by engineers and all of us others. Good and groundbreaking technological breakthroughs—regardless of whether it concerns medicine, technology, or whatever it is—are crucial for prosperity in Sweden. That is what drives me, but I can promise that it also drives this government.

I am prepared to look at every single issue to further strengthen academic freedom, which Anders Ådahl also mentioned. I repeat that Statskontoret has been tasked to analyze how the bureaucracy can be reduced, Madam Speaker. The focus is to increase the degree of freedom. One should not have to sit and turn over papers and send them back to all possible controls. We shall trust colleges and universities as far as it is possible.

But the change regarding the ethics review will also be important for academic freedom in the future.

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Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister for Education! It is deeply pleasing that we agree that truth is something beautiful that we should adhere to. I think that is a good starting point for the continued debates in this area.

I believe that the Center Party, the Liberals, and the government in general are completely in agreement. There is therefore no discussion about the fact that research is absolutely necessary for Sweden to be able to grow as a knowledge nation and for us to be able to build Industrisverige further. Our unique competitive advantage is that we have a high level of knowledge in society, not least at our educational institutions.

It is not the picture that differs. What differs is how one wants to achieve the greatest success. There, the Minister for Education is, unfortunately, liable for the answer, at least in parts. He mentions academic freedom a number of times, Madam Speaker. But I see no decisions or movements that increase the freedom, partly for the heads of the educational institutions, the rectors, and partly for the researchers.

If we are to mention the financing once again, it is not just about significantly more money going to the councils. When applying for competitions, the councils also very often request co-financing. The money that goes to co-financing must be taken from basic funds by colleges and universities. It is therefore also so intricate that the free funds are hollowed out even more for the most skilled researchers and the most skilled universities. I would have liked to see a reform in this area.

My final question to the Minister for Education will be: How can the government work with a changed funding system to accelerate the untapped potential that exists at our Swedish universities, where people are forced to listen to what the councils say and engage in things that someone else decides are most important?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! The untapped potential that exists there has received and will receive good conditions, as has been signaled.

I would, however, like to emphasize another part regarding external funding. Researchers in general, and the most cited or internationally recognized leading researchers in Sweden, have, when I have met these people, expressed that they feel concerned. When they find their own funding, they see a large part of their grants go towards paying the universities' overhead costs in a completely different way.

There is, therefore, every reason to look for the perfect system. It is a bit difficult to find. It is clear that there is a fundamental historical conflict. There are those who say that we should invest in broad research and who think that there are things that we do not know yet and will benefit from in perhaps 10, 20, or 30 years. But we also see a number of large ships out on the ocean that contain large, crucial questions for the nation Sweden. Then we say that we shall research and focus on quality and groundbreaking technologies.

But that is not the only thing we do. We are fully aware that underlying good research within the, broadly expressed, so-called humanities subjects is also central. When seeking funds for that research, it is also characterized by quality in many respects, regardless of the research funder.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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