Response to interpellation 2025/26:175 on crimes against small business owners
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M considers that crimes against entrepreneurs harm the economy and trust in the justice system 1. M argues that the government has given the police resources, clear expectations for crime clearance 1, introduced export smuggling, expanded the customs' powers, and initiated a review of access bans 1. M emphasizes that 85 percent of new police officers shall be placed in local police areas 2 and that police growth is now occurring in the countryside 3. M argues that the lack of police growth is a legacy from previous governments 3 and that more crimes should be counted 3. C argues that small business owners do not get a present police force 4, that the police often drop reports 4 5 and that the government bears the responsibility for the lack of results 6. C wants to level out geographical injustices 5 and wants habitual minor thefts to be seen as theft of the normal degree 7. C agrees that the police should answer the phone 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! Ulrika Liljeberg has asked me if I consider that the Swedish Police Authority is working in accordance with the government's mandate when it comes to the so-called quantity crimes affecting small business owners. If I do not consider that, Ulrika Liljeberg wonders if I intend to take measures to solve small businesses' problems with quantity crimes.
I want to start by thanking Ulrika Liljeberg for raising an important issue. We know that crime affecting business owners can have, and all too often does have, very large negative consequences both for the business owners themselves and for society as a whole. It concerns economy and economic values, of course, but it is also about trust in the justice system and trust in society as a whole.
It is often specifically about thefts and frauds, but also about various forms of threats and extortion. The work to prevent and deter such crime must become more offensive; I completely agree with that. If the crimes still occur, they must also be resolved to a greater extent than today in order to provide redress for the crime victim.
Competitive Swedish companies are, of course, crucial for Sweden's economy and for our common welfare. These companies contribute to innovation and create jobs, and they are a prerequisite for our prosperity. This means that crimes that affect companies and entrepreneurs do not only affect the business sector but, in the long run, the entire society.
These so-called property crimes, namely thefts, frauds and acts of mischief, cause large economic losses, create insecurity and risk undermining trust in the justice system. Furthermore, they are now frequently linked in various ways to organized crime.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the government has, over time, provided the Police Authority with very large resource increases. This is also accompanied by very clear expectations, among other things, regarding an increased crime clearance rate. This also applies when it comes to the so-called volume crimes. This is very clearly stated in the regulatory letter to the police, but also in the mandate that the National Police Commissioner received when she took office about two years ago.
Based on this, the police are also working to strengthen their local police presence and to increase the efficiency of crime investigation activities in various ways. The authority also carries out active crime prevention work, among other things to prevent thefts committed by international theft gangs.
The Government is also working purposefully for its part to provide the law enforcement authorities with even better and even more effective tools. On September 1 of this year, the crime of export smuggling was introduced. This means concretely that it will become a criminalization of exporting stolen goods from Sweden. It is quite hair-raising that it was not criminalized previously, but pleasingly, it is so now.
The Swedish Customs Service has, for its part, received expanded powers to body-search and search various means of transport in border areas both upon entry to and departure from Sweden. The Act (2023:474) on police powers in border areas has given the police better opportunities to conduct internal immigration controls and intervene against, for example, smuggling or the export of stolen goods in border areas. In addition to that, both the police and the customs have received better opportunities to conduct camera surveillance in these areas, including with technology for automatic recognition of license plates.
The government has also initiated a review of the legislation on entry bans to, among other things, shops that was introduced in 2021. Based on views from Svensk Handel and other actors in the industry, an investigation was commissioned in September this year with the aim of reviewing how the regulatory framework regarding entry bans can be further tightened. The investigator is to present their proposals in July 2026.
In addition to this, the government has received proposals from an inquiry that had been tasked with reviewing the sentencing scales and the penalty system. The inquiry has, among other things, proposed changes to the rules on sentencing for multiple offenses. The point with that is that each individual crime shall have greater significance for the sentence imposed. We know that this is an issue that has been raised by many small business owners. One might be a crime victim among many, but the specific crime one has been subjected to is not investigated and prosecuted – and so one receives no redress. Added to that are proposals for other changes, for example, the tightening of minimum sentences for aggravated theft and aggravated fraud.
The government is following the developments closely. We have a close dialogue with various actors who are either affected by the issues themselves or represent others who are affected by them. We are continuously considering the need for additional measures to counter the fact that companies are exposed to crime, as well as measures intended to contribute to increased security and competition on equal terms for Swedish companies.
Ulrika Liljeberg (C)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for Justice for the answer.
The reason for my interpellation is that Sweden has an organized crime on the rise. Commonly occurring crime areas are trade in drugs and weapons, black labor, trafficking, illegal gambling and identity theft. Also, fraud, environmental crime, welfare crime and protection activities are often included in the criminal activity.
To this, we have thefts of various degrees and other crimes of magnitude that are many times committed as part of organized crime. Small businesses across the country are extra affected by the thefts. It can involve vehicles, machines, tools, fuels, and technical equipment of various kinds. Several industry organizations highlight exactly that crime which their members are exposed to as a major problem that hampers the growth and investment willingness that is so necessary for the country. It also causes insecurity to grow and trust in the justice system to decrease.
Madam Speaker! A category that is extra vulnerable to theft is food retailers. Some of these quantity crimes are committed by individuals acting alone, but a large part of the thefts can be attributed to organized crime. Affected retailers describe gangs that steal meat and other high-theft items on a large scale. In total, the value of the thefts in stores is estimated to amount to 10 billion kronor per year.
The retailers, however, describe in their own account how the police to a large extent drop their police reports, even though they submit evidence. They state that the police often do not even come to the crime scenes to secure evidence. They describe a situation where they believe the social contract is failing.
Up in the audience gallery, we have with us today a number of food retailers, including the grocery store owner Robert Larsson from Stenungsund. He was part of Uppdrag granskning a few weeks ago and was also mentioned in Agenda on Sunday when the police commissioner was questioned about precisely the quantity crimes.
Centerpartiet has stood behind the large implemented and planned resource increases for the police and the rest of the justice system. We do not see that the small business owners in our country receive a share of these increased funds in the form of a present police force with a focus on volume crimes, as has been promised and as it is said shall be prioritized.
We have now received the Minister's response. We obviously view it positively that the justice system must become more offensive and resolve organized crime on a larger scale, and that the police are working based on the government's mandate to strengthen the local presence. But when I meet with Maskinentreprenörerna, Fastighetsägarna, Företagarna, Svenskt Näringsliv, LRF Entreprenad, Livsmedelshandlarna and individual companies, they say that this is not correct. These are actors who say that they do not actually want to engage in party politics but that they are bewildered that more is not happening. They are here because they protect Sweden and their companies.
I want to ask the question to the minister again, because I do not feel that I am getting an answer: Does the minister think that the police are working in accordance with the assignments they receive? It is said that the police must do this, that it needs to be done and that there are high expectations. But does the Minister for Justice believe that the police take these crimes as seriously as it is said they should? And does he intend to take any further measures, besides legislation, to ensure that the authority does its job?
Anders Ådahl (C)
Madam Speaker! I have just taken over the industrial policy portfolio in the Center Party and intended to proceed from an industrial perspective. I also live in the constituency where Stenungsund is located, so it is extra important for me to be able to participate in the debate here today.
Stenungsund is located in an electoral district called Västra Götalands län västra. It consists of eleven municipalities that surround Gothenburg to the east and north, a kind of Sweden in miniature with city, countryside, forests, sea, and a global research-intensive business sector where, among others, AstraZeneca is included. There are also many smaller towns with a local business sector. We have, for example, Skärhamn on Tjörn, Gråbo in Lerum, Öjersjö in Partille, and Lindome in Mölndal municipality. These are towns that must function. They are towns where the local business sector is the very lifeblood of society. They are towns where the grocery store becomes like the church in the middle of the village. If the local business sector is threatened, the entire local community is threatened.
Yesterday, we had a business policy debate in the chamber. There, I pointed out four perspectives for Swedish business policy that we in the Center Party base ourselves on. One of them is that we must level out geographical differences and injustices in order to set our entire business potential into motion. We shall have growth on equal terms.
The geographical injustices become particularly clear when it comes to theft, not least against food retailers. When we go and shop in the store and spend a hundred kronor, I have understood that approximately 2.8 percent goes to profit but 5.1 percent to costs linked to crime. Those are not wise figures, if one thinks about it.
Ulrika Liljeberg writes in her interpellation text: ”The merchants describe, however, how the police to a large extent dismiss their police reports, despite them submitting evidence. They tell about how the police often do not come to the crime scenes to secure evidence or in any other way investigate and solve the crimes. They describe a situation where the social contract is breaking down.”
Madam Speaker! I wonder what the government and the Minister for Justice are doing when it comes to quantity crimes and such issues in order to level out the geographical injustices so that we can achieve a flourishing local business sector.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to both Ulrika Liljeberg and Anders Ådahl for the opportunity to discuss these important issues today! A special thank you also to those who have traveled here and are affected by the issues we are speaking about here!
I would like to repeat what I said in my introduction. I believe that everyone who thinks about it understands that this, in addition to the terrible consequences it has for the individual trader, the individual crime victim – which in themselves are sufficient reasons to go on the offensive against this crime – entails a very large cost for our entire society.
Just by thinking about the dizzying sums involved – both the value of the proceeds from crime, if we are talking about shoplifting for example, and all the money that the private business sector has to plow into various security measures – we understand that a large economic cost arises in society.
To that comes what you testify to here and what we have become aware of through various testimonies in the media as well as through our own meetings with and visits to various shop owners around Sweden, namely what this does – how it eats away at the trust in the justice system and in society as a whole.
I was in Uppsala and took a walk together with the police not so long ago. We visited an ice dealer. We visited the staff in a clothing store. We visited a franchisee of a Pressbyrån store at Centralen. We took their testimonies. What they said underscored the importance of things having to happen and that it must happen promptly.
So what do we do then? The first thing one should take away is that when we now invest record sums in the police's operations, it of course reflects the development in organized crime, the gangs, the shootings, the explosions and so on. But it is also an expression of that we want to both manage that task and ensure that there are funds to invest in combating all other crime.
If I look ahead, I would say that the next big front is the quantity of crimes. There, we know that with the fantastic journey the police have made when it comes to, for example, the most serious crimes of organized crime – violence – the crime clearance rate has soared. It is incredibly positive.
In the assignment we have given to the police commissioner, it is very clear that we must see the same development for the volume crimes as when it comes to the solving of the serious gang violence – not least the crimes that affect business owners in their everyday lives. We follow up on this in our management of the police in a number of different ways.
Another important matter that was also highlighted here is that the police do not come when you call. First and foremost, the police must answer the phone if you call. Therefore, we have set a measurement point on response times on the phone. One should know that if you pick up the receiver, you should not end up in a long telephone queue but get an answer directly.
We have ensured that it becomes easier to report crimes, for example digitally, for the citizen or the entrepreneur who is affected by it. The police have introduced a new rule stating that 85 percent of all new police officers shall be sent to the local police areas, because we know that it is close to the shop that one both prevents and stops crime and has a reasonable chance of solving it.
We have also ensured that the police have sat down with Svensk Handel and gone through all these questions together. A number of different points have been identified regarding how trade can become even more efficient in its way of reporting crime, but also what the police can do to meet the need in an even better way than today.
Let us return to this question every day and every month for the rest of the term! We really must reverse the development.
Ulrika Liljeberg (C)
Madam Speaker! Those were welcome messages from the Minister for Justice, despite the risk of sounding arrogant when one says that the police shall answer the phone. We agree and see the same background. We want this to work.
It is welcome that there is an increasing focus on the quantity crimes. What I hear from food retailers and others in the industry is that they do not get the attention they want. It is also said that they report less and less. The willingness to report has decreased.
The National Police Commissioner says that thefts reported in connection with crimes now have a higher clearance rate. But many experience that clearance does not mean that the crime is solved or prosecuted. It can instead mean that it has been written off against other crimes or dismissed. We therefore still think that the levels are far too low.
Why is it then extra important to focus on the quantity crimes, perhaps specifically against food retailers? Yes, besides the fact that we buy our Christmas food there, they are now present throughout our country and are an important part of our local communities.
One aspect that makes me extra upset about the 10 billion that is stolen is that it is taken from companies that are large employers of children and young people. It is an industry where many get their important first job and can take a first step that can be completely decisive.
We – the Minister for Justice, myself and other justice policy spokespersons – have earlier today had conversations about gang crime. In a world where gang criminals recruit young people, we in the good society, in the right society, need to actively recruit children. A job with a small salary can be a first important step toward being recruited into the society we want to build – the good society. It is important that the police are on site both to ensure that no one steals and to protect these workplaces.
In the autumn, the Supreme Court decided that the value limit for petty theft should be raised to 1,500 kronor. This means that up to that amount, the act is not to be considered theft but petty theft. I can now say before Christmas that in the Center Party's Sweden, 1,500 kronor is not petty. It is not a negligible sum. In the Center Party's Sweden, we take 1,500 kronor seriously. It is the judges who set the practice, but my question is still how the Minister of Justice views the increase and whether the government plans to take any action on account of that increase in the near future.
Centerpartiet has submitted a motion that if someone habitually commits petty thefts, regardless of the amount limit, it should be able to be viewed as theft of the normal degree with other available penalties. We want, on one hand, that the limit should be able to be lowered, and on the other hand, that habitual behavior should be able to result in stricter punishments. It would be interesting to hear, with the great focus that exists on the quantity crimes, how the Minister for Justice views these solutions.
Anders Ådahl (C)
Madam Speaker! I noted the Minister for Justice's response to Ulrika Liljeberg's interpellation and that the answer states, among other things, that the Police Authority is working to strengthen its local presence, in various ways increasing the efficiency of crime investigation activities and also actively carrying out crime prevention work, including to prevent thefts committed by international crime networks. Good so, so far.
Ulrika Liljeberg, however, posed her questions against the background of the observation that the Center Party has stood behind the large implemented and planned resource increases for the police and the rest of the justice system, but that we do not see that the small business owners in our country receive a share of these increased funds in the form of a police presence with a focus on volume crimes.
Madam Speaker! One might ask if it is only the Center Party that notes how things look. That is not the case. In today's editorial in Dagens industri, one notes exactly the same thing and expresses a deep indignation over the situation. It is clear that there is a very great disappointment within the Center Party, which on one hand supports the government in its ambitions for an expanded police force, and on the other hand notes that the results for the local business community are conspicuously absent.
Madam Speaker! For us, it is a given political vision that it should be equally good to live wherever one lives in the country, that the schools should be equally good, that the local business community should have the same conditions, and that the security should be equally great. At the same time, we now see a society being torn apart. We do not see the geographical injustices decreasing.
For the sake of Sweden, I would honestly have wished for more from the government and that more effort could be devoted to leveling the injustices and having a greater focus on the price-fixing crimes that affect local businesses. Once again – what is the government doing for local businesses when it comes to price-fixing crimes?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! We can indulge in a bit of party politics, since the member wanted to play the ball in that way.
The problems now – that there has been no police growth out in the country, that the police have not answered the phone when people call, and that the police have not had clear direction from the government's side when it comes to taking volume crimes seriously – are therefore such problems we inherited from a government that was, frankly, made possible by the Center Party's active support.
If one is to distribute the burden of blame, I dare say nevertheless that everything the government is now tackling is such as we have inherited from previous governments whose existence rested on the Center Party's mandates. I am therefore calling for a certain humility regarding how the problems have been built up.
Well, now we are where we are. Now we shall look forward. What do we do? We do several things.
Firstly: We are now ensuring that the police growth does not occur at the waist or at the top by having the police make decisions that 85 percent of all new personnel shall be sent to Stenungsund, Uddevalla, Orust, or wherever we are located in the geography. They can also end up in Örnsköldsvik, Nordmaling, or Umeå, to speak of my home region. This is completely central to preventing and deterring crime and to being quickly on site if something happens.
Secondly: We have a clear mandate for the police, the first of its kind if I am not completely out of touch. Now, the volume of crimes must be the next step. In light of that, I think it is very good that the police leadership has now sat down with Svensk Handel to jointly inventory what can happen on the trade side and what can happen on the police side to achieve better pressure in the preventive and crime-solving work.
I completely agree with Ulrika Liljeberg that if the reports decrease, we should not take it as an indication that crime is decreasing. Much suggests that it is a matter of fatigue among the merchants. One does not feel that it achieves anything, and then one refrains.
However, it is very important to see what can be done. The National Police Commissioner points out that the clearance rate for such matters reported in close connection to the crime lies at 50–60 percent. It is nevertheless an expression that in the interaction between the police and commerce, one can ensure that crimes are reported directly, as the probability of clearing it up is much better then.
There is another issue that I know has been discussed. I hear retailers say that they hand over evidence without anything happening. In some cases, something should probably happen that does not happen. In some other cases, for example, one seems to have evidence in the form of cameras that capture when someone puts the entrecote inside the jacket. But one does not have any footage showing when the person in question walks out through the checkout line. Thus, it is not possible to prove that it was actually a theft.
It is naturally incredibly important that the traders find a common way. Now, I believe that most traders are doing the right thing, but this occurs.
It is important that the police and trade now sit down and work operationally. They are doing so as a consequence of the governance that we have now finally put in place.
What does it mean that a crime is solved? There, Ulrika Liljeberg makes an important point: Just because something is solved and one knows who committed the crime, it is not self-evident that that person will also be brought to justice and convicted, have to pay damages and so on. So it can be with the so-called multiple criminality. It can involve a person who has stolen meat in several places and is then convicted for the first and the second theft but not for the third, the tenth, the twentieth or the thirtieth. That is, of course, completely unacceptable.
This issue will be placed on the Riksdag's agenda during the spring, and I look forward to a collaboration. The whole point of the reform is that more crimes shall be counted so that more crime victims receive redress and that society gets an even better protection against persons who systematically engage in, for example, thefts or frauds.
Ulrika Liljeberg (C)
Madam Speaker! I agree that we sometimes need to distribute the burden of blame, but sometimes we must also look at the burden of responsibility. The Minister for Justice and the coalition of parties have been given the power and authority over our Swedish authorities. A year ago, we had a similar discussion, and it was said then that small business owners would see results from these initiatives after a year. We will continue to follow up on this.
Madam Speaker! With the hope that I will not be accused of deviating from the subject, I would like to say a few closing words about Christmas and the coming year. We will soon conclude not only this debate but also the autumn's parliamentary work. I assume the government is working on it, but I hope that the Minister for Justice will manage to get some leave.
Next year will first bring an intense spring for both the government and the Riksdag. Then we enter an election campaign with general elections in September. We know that the political conversation is often harsh, and many times we are subjected to hate and threats. We politicians have a great responsibility here. We have previously had meetings about this, but in interviews we often point out our differences. But I want to take the opportunity to highlight our common background.
Besides being politicians, lawyers, and hockey fans, the Minister for Justice and I have a spiritual background, and both were raised with organ music, pipe organs, and hymns. Many of us on social media have heard the Minister for Justice play and sing beautiful Christmas carols. I must admit that I do the same on my mother's pipe organ in the basement at home.
Even though much separates us, there are always things that unite us. I would therefore like to hand over a Christmas gift, which is below the bribery limit. For safety's sake, I have run it through the metal detector at the guard. It is a Christmas tree ornament in the form of a pump organ, which unites us, with a wish for a Merry Christmas and a good election year. Please, help yourself!
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I am naturally very moved by the gift, which I also hope will pass the security check in Rosenbad so that it does not remain in Stockholm when the course in the near future heads north towards northern Ångermanland. Furthermore, a network transaction was made the other day. That means there is an order of around 4,000 spänn with a dealer in Umeå. At least this dealer gets a share of our contribution to the Christmas trade.
I also want to point out that it is incredibly good that the questions are being raised and willingly confirm that Ulrika Liljeberg and some of her colleagues in Centerpartiet are happy to raise them. I think that is excellent. It reflects a reality that is very palpable for traders who are affected by this issue. It also entails great costs for our society as a whole.
I hope that the results we have talked about will show themselves as early as when we summarize this year. This could, for example, involve a better crime clearance rate for crimes reported in connection with the theft. But as our exchange of views has confirmed, it is only the tip of the iceberg. It is a figure that does not necessarily reflect a sense of justice for the individual crime victim. There, we must work with other issues.
During the autumn, I have nevertheless noted something that I have, in any case, seen as a very promising interaction between the trade organizations on one side and the police leadership on the other. I perceive this as a confirmation also from the police leadership's side. In the broad scope that is now being taken regarding the large-scale crime that affects citizens at large, particular focus shall be placed on the crime that affects entrepreneurs in their everyday lives. It will become better for them, and it will become better for all of us.
Let us take this insight with us into Christmas and begin there when we meet again in the new year.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.