Response to interpellation 2024/25:702 on church antiquarian compensation
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M notes that the government proposed an increase of the grant for church antiquarian compensation by 30 million kronor from 2025 1. 1 M argues that it is welcome that S is now engaging in the issue after four S-led governments have not increased the grant 1 2. 3 M emphasizes that the government has prioritized the issue despite inflation and recession 3. 4 M considers that decisions on which churches are kept closed are up to the Church of Sweden 4. 5 S argues that the compensation has in reality decreased in value and that the church needs a successive increase to 700 million kronor per year 5. 6 S wants to see a review of the model and the Cultural Environment Act 6. 4 M considers it the government's responsibility to ensure that the Church of Sweden has the funds to make good prioritizations 4. 4 M argues that the financing and the preparedness work are the two biggest issues for how the ecclesiastical cultural heritage should be managed 4. 4 M considers that the state and the Church of Sweden must do this work together 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Louise Thunström has asked me if I and the government intend to take further initiatives to ensure that our ecclesiastical cultural heritage is preserved for the future.
In the report The cultural-historical values within the Church of Sweden – on the management of the ecclesiastical cultural heritage (skr. 2023/24:109), the government points out two future issues that are judged to have decisive importance for the future management of the ecclesiastical cultural heritage: financing and preparedness work.
Regarding the financing, I can state that the Riksdag, at the government's proposal, has decided on an increase of the grant for church antiquarian compensation by 30 million kronor, from 460 million to 490 million kronor annually from and including 2025. This is the first increase of the grant's nominal amount since 2010. Four Social Democratic-led governments and two control stations managed to pass before the current government proposed an increase. The Social Democratic interest in the ecclesiastical cultural heritage is therefore a welcome news.
Regarding the preparedness work, the government notes in the communication that the importance of measures that strengthen crisis preparedness has increased due to the current global situation, which also affects the work with the ecclesiastical cultural heritage. It is the government's assessment that this is a development that will persist and be important to follow up, for example within the framework of upcoming control points.
The Church of Sweden is represented in the council for the protection of cultural heritage which, following the government's mandate on 29 February 2024, has been formed by the Swedish National Heritage Board, the National Archives, the National Library, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the County Administrative Boards and the National Property Board. According to the mandate, the council's purpose shall be to contribute to effective contingency planning for the protection of collections of cultural heritage as well as culturally and historically valuable properties and environments in Sweden. An interim report was submitted in February 2025, and the work shall continue until 28 February 2027.
In conclusion, I would like to draw attention to the fact that the government in the letter makes the assessment that the state – through the government, the Swedish National Heritage Board and the County Administrative Boards – together with the Church of Sweden should also continue to take responsibility for ensuring that the ecclesiastical cultural heritage is preserved, used and developed.
Louise Thunström (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for Culture for the answer.
It is in the use that a cultural heritage gains significance. It also means that the protection of the cultural heritage is not only about saving it for posterity but also about it having to function and be accessible, adapted, relevant, and usable.
The Church of Sweden is present throughout the country, in cities, in small towns, and in the countryside. The church buildings are scattered across the entire geography, sometimes as the only remaining meeting place in smaller communities. This means that they have a function not only as religious spaces but also as a community resource and are therefore both a local and a national matter.
The Swedish Church's parishes and pastorates are collectively Sweden's largest stewards of property protected for its cultural-historical values. It is not only the cultural heritage that is unique in many ways, but also the form of management.
After the change in the relationship between the state and the church, the Church of Sweden took over the responsibility for the care of these cultural-historical environments. In return, the state established the church antiquarian compensation to compensate the Church of Sweden for the restrictions and increased costs that the protection provisions in the Cultural Environment Act entail. The ecclesiastical cultural heritage is, in fact, not solely the responsibility and interest of the Church of Sweden but belongs to us all, regardless of membership in the church.
The compensation has since 2010 amounted to the same amount, 460 million kronor annually, which means that it has in reality fallen sharply in value.
In the budget for 2025, there was a very welcome increase in the church antiquarian compensation from 460 million to 490 million kronor annually. It is an increase that was included in both the government's and the Social Democrats' budget proposals, and it is the first increase since 2009. However, this is far from what the Church of Sweden has assessed to be both reasonable and necessary, and during 2024, the Church of Sweden carried out active campaign work to demonstrate the needs.
Many rural parishes bear a particularly heavy responsibility. These often have a large number of protected buildings but a shrinking membership base and thus limited resources. The County Administrative Board in Norrbotten describes this as an unreasonably large cultural heritage responsibility in relation to economic conditions. When an ever-increasing proportion of the parishes' finances must go toward the maintenance of church buildings and premises, other activities must also take a backseat. This can involve children's and youth activities, choirs, diaconia, counseling, integration work, and cooperation with civil society. The parishes get less opportunity to be present where people actually are. In the long run, the church's role as an open and living part of the local community is also affected. The risk is that one is simply forced to prioritize buildings over people and activities.
To meet these challenges, the Church of Sweden wants a successive increase of the compensation to 700 million kronor per year by 2027, with subsequent index adjustment. There is therefore a lack of 210 million kronor annually.
My question to the Minister for Culture is therefore: How does the Minister for Culture assess the Swedish Church's proposal to gradually increase the compensation to 700 million kronor per year until 2027, given the needs reported in the control station report?
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I can state that I cannot comment on budgets that have not been negotiated or presented yet. The question of money is something I will have to return to later on.
But sometimes, Mr. Speaker, one is amazed. Let me remind both the member and the Chamber once again of the fact that four Social Democratic governments and two control stations managed to pass when not a single krona was spent on the church antiquarian compensation. It is, of course, welcome that the Social Democrats are now engaging in the issue, but I can state that the member does not have an answer either on how to finance the 210 million kronor that the member claims are missing. I can also state that of the 563 points and political decisions made at the S-congress, not a single one concerned the church antiquarian compensation.
It is well and good that S at least shows interest in the issue in the speaker's chair in the Riksdag.
Louise Thunström (S)
Mr. Speaker! I had not actually intended to pose my questions to the Minister for Culture in the form of an interpellation, but the answer I received from the Minister to a previous written question made me feel somewhat prompted toward debate anyway.
As the Minister for Culture formulated her written response, and also in the response I heard now, she implied that previous governments have shown a lack of interest. The tone in the response can also be perceived as mocking. It is remarkable. Therefore, I want to clarify that it is part of my mandate as a Member of Parliament to monitor the government's work, and that is done, among other things, through questions and interpellations.
I asked a question as to whether the government intends to take further initiatives for the ecclesiastical cultural heritage, and I was then informed in the written response what the Social Democrats have not done. In a debate, that type of argumentation may have its place, but when it comes from a department and in a response to a written question, I think it is simply unprofessional.
Until 2015, Mr. Speaker, the money was sufficient. At the time of the next control point, 2019, and the subsequent years, we were also in the middle of a global pandemic. The cultural sector was one of the hardest-hit sectors. Much of the political power and resources went toward securing the survival of the cultural infrastructure and the independent cultural creators. This, of course, also affected the priorities regarding the church antiquarian compensation.
We Social Democrats agree with the government that the state shall also in the future take responsibility for ensuring that the ecclesiastical cultural heritage is preserved, used and developed. The government argues that it is of importance that the Church of Sweden ensures the oversight of the cultural heritage conservation authorities. We Social Democrats also want to emphasize the importance of the antiquarian need going hand in hand with the Church of Sweden's need for an adequate operation.
The church antiquarian compensation is aimed at protection and preservation, but the issue is actually larger than that. For cultural heritage to be relevant, it also needs to be living, and the antiquarian perspective may therefore need to be supplemented with more perspectives in order to reach the political goals that a cultural heritage should be used and developed.
The resource issue will be on the political agenda for the foreseeable future. Given how culture is prioritized, or perhaps not prioritized, I find it very difficult to imagine an increase of an additional 210 million per year for church antiquarian compensation during the coming years.
I also mean that it would be a pity if the discussion stopped there. Many churches stand unused today when they could be filled with content that gives cultural heritage life and makes it accessible to more people. The agreement with the state and the church was concluded in the 90s. With that said, I do not mean that the model has not served us well, but the design and application of the model and perhaps even the Cultural Environment Act may need to be reviewed in order to improve the conditions and long-term perspective.
Can the Minister for Culture imagine initiating such a review?
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Regarding the review, the Church of Sweden reports back every year. We receive an annual report on how the grant has been used, what the grant has sufficed for, and what priorities have been made within the framework of the grant. It is also the annual reports that then form the basis for the discussions one has when reaching a control point and must see how to make the money last in the best way. The annual reports exist, and they formed the basis for the control point that existed previously, which we have now made a decision on regarding the budget, and will continue to do so in the future.
Mr. Speaker! I must nevertheless stop at the member's description of previous governments' work. It is clear that as the opposition, one has a mandate to scrutinize the government. I welcome that. But I still think it is appropriate to remind both the member and the chamber of what the previous government actually did. In that case, it is completely relevant to bring forward facts, namely that four S-led governments did nothing about the church antiquarian compensation.
The member stated that the money would last until 2015. So be it. But in 2019, the member claims that it was not possible to provide any funds due to the global situation and the pandemic, that is, the priorities that had to be made. I respect that. I understand that just as this government must make priorities, the member's previous government was also forced to make priorities.
Let me remind the member of the situation we have in Sweden and the world today. We have a war in our immediate vicinity. We have an elevated security situation in and outside Sweden. The global situation is anything but calm and quiet right now, and it places very high demands on us to work with our preparedness and security both nationally and internationally.
We have joined Nato, and we have had an inflation of 11 percent that we inherited from the S government. And Sweden is in a recession. Despite these circumstances, this government chose to prioritize the issue of the church antiquarian compensation and actually allocate 30 million kronor more. I still think that is a signal to the member about what the government thinks and wants when it comes to the Swedish ecclesiastical cultural heritage.
Louise Thunström (S)
Mr. Speaker! It is becoming a strange dialogue, discussion, or debate here. Before 2015, the Church of Sweden fared relatively well, and that is also stated in the control station report that has been submitted.
Mr. Speaker! If the Minister for Culture had listened to what I said. I actually said that the ecclesiastical antiquarian compensation is aimed at protection and preservation, but the question is larger than that. For a cultural heritage to be relevant, it also needs to be living, and the antiquarian perspective may therefore need to be complemented with more perspectives on cultural heritage.
It would be a pity if the discussion regarding the ecclesiastical cultural heritage ended up specifically at the church antiquarian compensation in money. It is implied in the audit report from the Church of Sweden, and I also think so, that the design and application of the model, perhaps even the Cultural Environment Act, may need to be reviewed in order to create improved conditions and improved long-term perspective.
There is a tough economic situation. I find it difficult to imagine that the government can allocate an extra 210 million next year for the church antiquarian compensation, but I would wish that we can find a broad consensus moving forward on how the state and the church can together take responsibility for the ecclesiastical cultural heritage.
We have a rich and extensive cultural heritage, which we can be proud of in many ways. But it also contains difficult and painful parts. Those parts are also our cultural heritage, and we also need to show them.
As has been said, it should be a living cultural heritage. It would be a great shame to have closed churches in the countryside that are beautiful on the outside and which perhaps cost money, but still do not give us access to the cultural heritage.
With this, I thank the Minister for Culture for the debate. I wish a pleasant cultural summer and hope that we can find a broad consensus on how we can, in the long term, take responsibility for the ecclesiastical cultural heritage.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I understand that the question is broader than just the church antiquarian compensation. But ultimately, several of the issues the member points out are matters that the Church of Sweden must be involved in and also make decisions about. Which churches in the countryside are kept closed or not is not something that the government should decide on or take responsibility for. It is up to the Church of Sweden to make those decisions and make those priorities.
It is, however, our responsibility to ensure that the Church of Sweden has the funds – that is why we return to the finances – and can make good prioritizations within the framework of the activities it carries out. The ecclesiastical cultural heritage is a large part of that.
In the communication that we submitted to the Riksdag, it was also stated that the two biggest issues when it comes to how we should manage our ecclesiastical cultural heritage are, above all, the financing and the preparedness work. That is what affects the government and the Riksdag in the work that we have ahead of us.
But this is obviously a task that must be done hand in hand. The State and the Church of Sweden must do it jointly and together. We have an established process for how such a thing should proceed, with checkpoints, annual reports, and dialogues in between. I look forward to continuing that work also in the future.
It is clear that we all desire a broad consensus on important issues. These are important issues when it comes to our common cultural heritage. I also look forward to us being able to have good conversations moving forward.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.