Response to interpellation 2025/26:346 on the expansion of the Discrimination Act
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 expansion of the Discrimination Act to create a uniform protection in public activities. L argues that the principle of non-discrimination is a cornerstone and that the government is working towards a strong protection 1. L emphasizes that the expansion is a complex matter that requires careful consideration and that the issue is being prepared in the Government Offices 2 3. L also highlights that the government is taking other measures, such as opportunities for declaratory actions linked to the pay transparency directive 2 3. S criticizes the government for not having produced any product or legislative change despite previous promises and press releases 4 5. S argues that the government lacks the ability to implement the expansion 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.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Sofia Amloh has asked me if I intend to act so that an expansion of the Discrimination Act is implemented promptly.
Initially, I would like to emphasize that the principle of non-discrimination is a cornerstone in the work to ensure that every individual can fully enjoy their human rights.
Specific legislation against discrimination has existed since 1979, when a ban on gender discrimination was introduced. Since then, the protection in the legislation has been progressively broadened to more grounds of discrimination and more areas of society.
The Government continues to work for strong protection against discrimination. Protection against discrimination in public activities varies today. It can be stated that today's legislation means that individuals have a weaker protection against discrimination in contacts with certain authorities compared to other authorities.
In the report Extended protection against discrimination (SOU 2021:94), there are proposals for extended protection against discrimination regarding public activities. The proposals in the report are being prepared in the Government Offices.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer and for that we are given the opportunity to stand here again and conduct this debate on the important issue of the Discrimination Act.
I completely agree with the Minister's answer that the protection against discrimination in public activities looks different today. We cannot have that. It cannot look different depending on which authority one comes into contact with, and that the law would therefore be applied in different ways.
Let me take this from the beginning, Madam Speaker. An investigation was appointed which submitted its report in 2021. It was sent out for consultation in the spring of 2022. When this government took office, it arrived at a well-prepared table. Both the investigation and the consultation round were complete, and the government could proceed. We can state that in 2026, at the end of this mandate period, this government has not proceeded. Despite that, many have participated in the debate on the need to expand the Discrimination Act, so that there is no difference in where one is located in public activities.
The Equality Ombudsman and representatives from other agencies that handle discrimination issues wrote a debate article in 2023. The Government itself sent out a press release in April 2024 about expanding the Discrimination Act and ensuring that these differences disappear. It is almost two years ago. There was an increased need for coordination in connection with the establishment of the visitation zones so that the handling would be legally correct from multiple perspectives. I know that the Minister and her party have expressed this.
Then the answer is empty. It is not enough in the debate in March 2026 to say that the issue is being prepared in the Government Offices. What it is that takes so long to prepare needs to be described in more detail. Why is the work not moving forward? Nothing will happen during this mandate period.
Madam Speaker! The question has been raised, press releases are being issued and the government has said that it will work towards an expansion, but it is not doing so.
Does the Minister intend to do anything more during the remaining months of the mandate period regarding what has been promised? Or does one intend to let the issue run out in the sand and not do more in the area of discrimination during the mandate period?
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Member Sofia Amloh for the interpellation and the contribution. I appreciate the Member's commitment in this interpellation and previous interpellations on the issue.
An expanded protection against discrimination covers a large number of authorities: the police, the customs, the Swedish Tax Agency and the Enforcement Authority. Expanding the protection against discrimination to cover all measures that the authorities take against the individual requires careful consideration and is a complex matter.
As the member correctly points out, the matter is being prepared within the Government Offices. I currently have no information regarding a timeline, but continuing to strengthen anti-discrimination work in various ways, also when it comes to the anti-discrimination legislation, is of great importance. A society that holds together makes a considerable difference in reducing Sweden's vulnerabilities and increasing Sweden's resilience. This applies to both the anti-discrimination legislation and preventive measures against racism, intolerance, and discrimination.
For example, we are taking note of the possibilities that the proposals in the Government Official Report linked to the pay transparency directive allow. We are now proposing a possibility for a declaration action regarding all grounds for discrimination, not just gender linked to pay discrimination. It is one of all the measures that this government is taking to strengthen anti-discrimination work on various levels.
Regarding the question of the timeline and whether the government will return regarding the expansion, that is something being prepared in the Government Offices. More information than that I cannot provide at this stage.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister also took up the pay transparency directive as part of the government's work in this area. There is certainly more there, absolutely. We will have reason to return regarding the pay transparency directive.
But this debate in the chamber today is about the expansion of the Discrimination Act, which is something that has been ongoing for several years, as I said in my previous contribution. The investigation was commissioned, and the report was submitted during the spring of 2022 – and it has already been out for consultation. The Government itself stood up two years ago and said that the law shall be expanded.
When one calls a press conference and sends out press releases to draw attention to one's policy and what is to be implemented, it is important that one has largely prepared the matter in the Government Offices, so that the policy can be implemented and proposals can be placed on the table of the Riksdag. But this government has called a press conference and announced its policy regarding the change of this legislation without having prepared the issue clearly. Nothing happens; nothing comes to the table of the Riksdag.
You announced your policy over two years ago, and then nothing more happens. There is no change to this legislation, which you have said you would do. More exhaustive answers are still required than that the question is being prepared in the Government Offices or that you in sweeping wording describe how important the work against discrimination is and how it manifests. When it is brought to a head and it is a matter of producing a product, legislation, that would actually change this, this government does not have the ability to do it. Then the words become very empty.
We stood here last in December and had this debate. At that time, the Minister stated clearly and distinctly: "We will, of course, continue our extremely tough work at a high pace. We will return on a number of different areas. This applies in particular to the area of discrimination." In the debate on expanding the Discrimination Act, my question then is: Where is this high, tough pace of work when it comes to reforms that will land on the Riksdag's table? When I look at what is being presented now, I see that this is not included.
I intend to continue to ask that question, because I think it is appropriate when one has been at it for nearly four years – especially when one oneself in press releases two years ago announced that this was going to happen. So why, Mr. Speaker, has a product not emerged regarding what one has promised the Swedish people that one would do?
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Mr. Speaker! This is complex matter. It involves a number of authorities and their exercise of power, which requires careful consideration. It is a work in progress and a matter being prepared in the Government Offices. I have no timeline to report on this now.
Anti-discrimination work is completely central. Even though we, as Member Sofia Amloh is pointing out, will certainly have reason to discuss the pay transparency directive many more times, as the Member certainly also knows, the implementation specifically in the anti-discrimination legislation. That a possibility for a determination claim is now being introduced is an expansion of the anti-discrimination legislation that applies to all grounds of discrimination. We see an opportunity to introduce this in conjunction with our proposal for the implementation of the EU directive.
Working against discrimination is completely central to being able to have a society that holds together, to reduce vulnerabilities, and to increase resilience. It involves a number of different things, and this government has taken a number of different measures to strengthen that work. It is about the action plan against racism and the strategy for the work against antisemitism. It is about the action plan for hbtqi persons' freedom and rights and a number of different assignments linked to these areas.
The anti-discrimination legislation is an incredibly important area to work broadly within. Work is ongoing, and the issue is being prepared. But that must not prevent us from also taking preventive measures and making other important efforts to tackle this problem, for it remains urgent.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Mr. Speaker! The answers we receive from the Minister today are that this is a difficult matter and that careful considerations are required. Absolutely – it is required for every product, bill, and law that is developed by both the government and the Riksdag.
But that one has not been able to manage to make these trade-offs and sort through this complex matter during the entire parliamentary term is remarkable considering that there are other products that are also very complex, which have been developed and placed on the Riksdag's table. It concerns products that, I would say, can be even more controversial, especially if one looks at the referral responses. There are other products that one has managed to develop despite this.
Regarding this issue, that type of criticism does not exist in the referral responses to the report. This government has not submitted any referral to the Council on Legislation, so it is not that it has stalled – because it was seen that the trade-offs had landed incorrectly or that it would become something else. That has not been done either. No product has been created. Nothing has come, in plain Swedish, from the government on this issue. In that case, I think one could send a press release and say that one will not do anything on this issue, as one has said that one would.
I can state that this government has not managed to carry out the expansion of the non-discrimination act that was so completely necessary, especially considering other legislative changes that this government has made, which have made the need even greater. That is a lesson a new government must take with it.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to Member Sofia Amloh for the interpellation and for the commitment to this issue, which I share one hundred percent. That we can continue the work and sharpen the anti-discrimination work when it comes to the anti-discrimination legislation but also other measures is completely central.
Sweden has had anti-discrimination legislation since 1979, when the ban on gender discrimination was introduced by the then liberal Prime Minister Ola Ullsten. Since then, the Liberals have further intensified anti-discrimination work and improved the work against racism and intolerance at every opportunity we have had, both inside and outside the government. This is work that we intend to continue with.
I understand that Member Sofia Amloh is fixating on a press release that my representative sent, but that does not exclude the fact that continued work is ongoing. Preparation in the Government Offices is underway. Beyond this, there is nothing to add regarding the timeline.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.