Response to interpellation 2024/25:699 on the proposal for a new inspection regulation
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 delay of a new inspection regulation for vehicle testing and the need for stricter environmental controls. KD states that a new regulation is to enter into force at the beginning of 2026, but that the referral has been delayed due to changes regarding low-beam headlights 1 2. KD emphasizes that they share the ambition for improved environmental control and that the authority is working in that direction 2 3. S argues that Sweden has too weak limit values compared to Europe, which threatens people's health 4 5. S considers that Transportstyrelsen has been slow and put the work on the back burner despite repeated assignments 4 6 5. S demands that the minister speeds up the process 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.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Jytte Guteland has asked me how it is going with the decision on a new inspection regulation for the vehicle testing and whether it will arrive in June.
Transportstyrelsen's work to revise its regulation on inspection has indeed had the timeline that decisions on the regulation amendment would be made during the summer of 2025 and enter into force in the beginning of 2026. The referral of the new regulation has however been delayed somewhat. The reason is that some additional new changes to the regulation were included in the work at a late stage, including regarding better control of vehicles' sidelights.
The authority states that the timeline remains that a new regulation should be able to enter into force at the beginning of 2026, but given that the referral has been delayed, it cannot be ruled out that even the planned entry into force may need to be moved forward somewhat.
What I am communicating here has been communicated by the Transport Agency to the industry's representatives continuously during 2025.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister Carlson, for participating here today and for the announcement regarding the most current timeline!
The Swedish limit values for exhaust measurements differ in Europe in a negative way. The Minister is well aware that emissions from traffic cause great damage and in practice are a greater threat to people's health and lives than traffic accidents are. Air pollution from traffic leads to 1,400 premature deaths per year, according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and environmental researchers at the Institute for Water and Environmental Research, IVL.
Despite the fact that there is new technology to better measure and sharpen environmental controls, which is successfully used in, among others, Germany, the Transport Agency has not taken any steps at all to introduce this in Sweden, even though the EU Commission has urged us to do so. Now we receive notification from the Minister regarding a new timeline for how the Transport Agency intends to act. But I want to remind the Minister that this has been debated for a long time. The Transport Agency has postponed this not just once but several times. Taken as a whole, the discussion has been ongoing for several years.
When the Minister debated this in the Riksdag earlier this year, he said that the Transport Agency reported its conclusions in February 2023. Based on these conclusions, the Transport Agency was at that time working on reviewing its regulation on inspection. The timeline was that new rules would be decided by the summer of 2025 with application from 2026.
Now we are told that the new timetable is not expected until the beginning of 2026. This means that the implementation can be expected to occur even later. This is very worrying, also against the background that it has been postponed previously as well.
The authority does not provide the same picture as the Minister, that is to say that this would somehow be important. On the contrary, the authority has expressed in the media that there is a lack of interest in renewing the methods for inspections. The Transport Agency significantly lowered the inspection requirements as early as 2018, and both the Riksdag and the government are aware that the change has resulted in a large reduction in the number of vehicles that receive environment-related remarks during the inspection.
This is worrying in the context of how it harms people's health. Could it be that Transportstyrelsen does not want the exhaust measurement to be changed because it would become too accurate and thus mean that vehicles emitting too much would be detected? This should not be seen as a problem, but it should be a fundamental purpose of the inspection activity, that is, to detect defects in the vehicles, so that they are not dangerous from a traffic safety perspective or because of their emissions.
The question of obtaining better control over the vehicles also concerns those who own the vehicles. Vehicle owners have inspections to have control over their own vehicle, how it functions and that it is safe, but also so that subsequent owners can know and take responsibility for how well the car functions.
That the regulatory authority does not seem to respect the purpose of the inspection is very worrying. I therefore want to ask Minister Carlson once again if the government and the Minister are certain that the new timeline applies and if the Minister is certain that the Transport Agency shares the view that these are important changes that will increase safety for the Swedish people.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Let me be very clear. In my response, which the member refers to, I said that this would begin to be applied from 2026. Transportstyrelsen's work with the regulations has been delayed somewhat, partly due to the issue of better control of vehicles' sidelights. The authority does, however, state that the timeline remains that a new regulation should be able to enter into force in the beginning of 2026. I believe it is important to clarify that application and entry into force are not two different things and that this has been delayed somewhat because changes were made at a late stage. The statement I gave that this shall enter into force in the beginning of 2026 therefore remains, but it cannot be ruled out that it may need to be moved forward somewhat. What I said when we debated this in November was that it would begin to be applied from 2026, and that still applies.
I could stop there. But I want to add that I, of course, share the member's commitment to the issue. Kristdemokraterna stood behind the announcement on improved environmental control that was decided in 2022 and which prompted the previous government to task Transportstyrelsen with reviewing its regulation on control inspection. I have no reason to question that Transportstyrelsen continues to work in the direction that the government mandate prescribes.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the clarification.
My concern was rather regarding when the new regulations are to be decided in relation to when they are to enter into force. I apologize if I was unclear about that.
I am pleased that Minister Carlson is clear that there is a desire from the government to tighten the environmental criteria and environmental controls and that there is a will to get this in place. It is pleasing that we share this ambition.
But I wonder how it can be that Sweden belongs to the countries that have poorer environmental controls during vehicle inspections. Is it the government's policy to deprioritize air quality work and that Sweden should therefore have substandard controls and lax exhaust gas controls with limit values that are wide open so that poorly functioning cars can pass the inspection? Or is it the authority itself that thinks this is a reasonable trade-off? Someone is responsible for the fact that this has taken a very long time and still is not in place, which is to the detriment of both air quality and people's health.
As I see it, there are two different explanations. One is that the Minister and the Government stand behind the agency's sluggishness, despite the Minister repeatedly assuring here in the Chamber that they do not at all see it as a priority to have appropriate controls in place. The other explanation is that the Minister really means what he says in the rostrum and thinks that the controls should be effective. We must assume that it is the latter that applies and that, in that case, it is the agency Transportstyrelsen that is sluggish, letting this lie on the back burner and dodging in various ways when it comes to tightening the limit values.
Then the question arises as to who has the mandate. The Government does have the mandate to instruct the Transport Agency that Sweden shall have effective and purposeful environmental controls and base them on modern technology. If it is the agency that is causing problems, the Minister needs to sort this out, because here in the rostrum it is clear that the Minister wants to see proper environmental control.
I would like to hear the Minister Carlson explain whether it is the Minister or the authority that wants this to be put on the back burner.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Neither the government nor the authority wants that. I do not quite understand the question if it is based on a misunderstanding. When the question was debated in November, I said that this would start to be applied from 2026, and that still applies – even though there may be some delay as better control of vehicles' parking lights has been included in the product to be referred.
Regulatory development work is ongoing at the agency, and the regulatory work currently underway is being carried out independently of when new EU rules can be put in place. But it is, of course, positive that a review of the EU's inspection rules is underway. I personally participated in the Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last week, and the government is putting effort into ensuring that the entire EU has appropriate vehicle controls.
Particle measurement is an interesting new method to better be able to measure a vehicle's emission of particles. According to the Swedish Transport Agency, the recommendations the EU Commission published this year contained some uncertainties, which in turn has led to the countries that have introduced the method doing so in different ways. There are also examples of implementation problems in some countries. Based on these experiences, it is obviously important to see how one can work together within the union. The Commission has, within the framework of the so-called inspection package, put forward a proposal, and it is welcome and reasonable that a new method for measuring particle emissions is discussed jointly within the EU.
The regulatory work that I have reported and referred to is nevertheless ongoing regardless of when the new EU rules may be in place. But I believe they are important to achieve an implementation that is as uniform as possible within the Union.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister again for the review.
I and the Social Democrats see air pollution as a major and worrying problem both in Sweden and the EU as well as globally, and we believe that sufficient measures are not being taken to save people's lives and health. It is many who are affected: those born prematurely, the elderly, and people who already have problems with their lungs or have other diseases, for example cardiovascular disease, and therefore are affected extra hard. But according to researchers, air pollution can also cause diseases to a greater extent than we have previously understood. Already today, air pollution is a greater threat to life and health than the terrible traffic accidents, which are also a major problem. Here, action is therefore needed.
Sweden is one of the countries within the EU that has lower requirements regarding limit values, and the EU Commission urges us to act. Despite this, the Transport Agency has not acted but has put it on the back burner. Since 2018, the Transport Agency has received a series of assignments to review the inspection regulations and how they can be tightened. Already half a year after the changes in 2018, the agency was tasked with investigating the consequences of this because a proper review had not been conducted in connection with the regulatory change. Unfortunately, the Transport Agency did not do this particularly well, as they overlooked the changes that were made for, for example, diesel vehicles. A couple of years later, it was time again.
What worries me and the Social Democrats is that this is going to continue to sit on the back burner. I therefore want to hear that the Minister intends to speed this up.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! We agree that it is important to have a good control environment during the inspection of vehicles. But the debate is not about that, but about when this can be implemented, and the authority informs that the timeline remains that a new regulation shall enter into force at the beginning of 2026.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.