Response to interpellation 2025/26:388 on the legal status of snowmobile riders
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 legal status of snowmobile riding on others' land following the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's new guidance. S argues that the guidance creates great uncertainty for both snowmobile riders and forest owners because it implies that civil law conflicts should be resolved in court 1. S criticizes that the guidance is based on an investigation that was previously rejected and argues that the issues should be decided in the National Snowmobile Council 2. L emphasizes that the guidance is not legally binding but only advisory 3. L argues that it is important to find a balance between landowners' rights, outdoor life, and tourism 4. L informs that the government is investigating the issue if needs arise 5 3 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.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! Isak From has asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to initiate a dialogue with responsible authorities in the near future or to take any other initiatives in light of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's new interpretation of the off-road driving law. Isak From has also asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to take any other initiatives in the justice area to clarify the unclear legal status regarding snowmobile riding on others' land.
The work within the government is distributed such that it is I who shall answer the interpellation, and I would like to begin by thanking the member for this interpellation!
Naturvårdsverket provides general guidance on issues concerning snowmobile traffic, the off-road vehicle legislation, and the right of public access (allemansrätten). After several years of work, Naturvårdsverket has published an update of the guidance on snowmobile driving.
According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the purpose of the update to the guidance is to clarify which rules apply to snowmobile riding. It is the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency that is responsible for the guidance and the update of this. At present, no changes are planned for the legislation that regulates snowmobile riding.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! This is a rather debated issue in my home county of Västerbotten, not least because the snowmobile is a fairly common occurrence as both a utility vehicle and a leisure vehicle. I want to bring up some clarifying facts because some describe this as a small issue.
In Västerbotten County, there are 75,500 registered snowmobiles in a population of approximately 275,000. Of the registered snowmobiles, 83 percent are in northern Sweden as well as in Dalarna. The industry estimates that it generates approximately 20 billion kronor and that approximately 5,000 employees are connected to it. It is therefore a quite large and extensive activity.
In my home municipality Norsjö, which I usually describe as fairly large but which is small in terms of population, there are over 2,000 registered snowmobiles for a population of just under 4,000. If one considers this fact, the question is therefore not small but rather significant.
Mr. Speaker! Driving with snowmobiles is regulated in the off-road driving act which was added in 1975 and which has been revised a number of times since then. It is clarified in that snowmobile riding is generally permitted on snow-covered ground, but not in prohibited areas. It is also clarified in the off-road driving act that it is basically prohibited to drive on forest plantations and on farmland.
Now the season is over in large parts, but hopefully more seasons will come. It is clear that in northern Sweden, very many think the snowmobile is a fantastic vehicle to travel with.
I will now move on to the question. I submitted my interpellation to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer after I had posed a question to Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari and received a very vague answer, especially when it came to the legal status.
What the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency writes at the end of its guidance has raised questions, not least from the police, regarding the individual cases where property owners do not consent to snowmobile riding on their property. It states that any civil law conflicts may be resolved in court. That, Mr. Speaker, implies great uncertainty both for the snowmobile riders and for the forest owners. Here, the conditions have been changed from having legislation that clarified where you may ride and where you may not ride to now suddenly saying that the question of riding on someone else's land is a civil law matter and shall be resolved in court. This creates great uncertainty among all parties involved.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you again for the interpellation. I do not think this is a small issue. For many people, this is a very big issue. People want to do the right thing, and then the regulations must be clear. But it is the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency that is responsible for the guidance.
As I mentioned, no adjustments are currently planned for the legislation regulating snowmobile riding, but of course, we continue to follow these issues. Should a need arise to take action, the government will investigate the matter further and review possible measures.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is using the off-road driving investigation as leverage. It was an investigation that the Social Democratic government both commissioned and threw in the wastebasket after a referral process and after the Ministry of Justice had very clearly concluded that it did not measure up at all. It was not possible to move forward with a change in legislation in that area. From that perspective, it is even more astonishing that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's guidance now is based on an investigation that was thrown in the wastebasket and which the Ministry of Justice did not consider to measure up.
The Acting Minister for Climate and Environment says that Naturvårdsverket is responsible for the guidance. That is true to some extent. The National Snowmobile Council, which the Acting Minister perhaps is aware of, is responsible for these issues. There, ten different parties are active, including the snowmobile organizations, the county administrative boards, Naturvårdsverket, LRF, reindeer husbandry, and the police. When a party now proceeds and issues a guidance, should all other parties also issue their own guidances based on their viewpoints? Would it not be good if these issues could be decided within the National Snowmobile Council, where all concerned parties are represented?
Now there are further questions, which I have not, in fact, asked in this interpellation. But in the law, it is clarified that farmers, foresters, reindeer herders, rescue services, police, and several others have the right to drive snowmobiles. It is clarified quite specifically that those occupational categories have the right to drive. But in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's new guidance, there is no such reasoning.
Does the legislation as it is designed apply, or is it Naturvårdsverket's new guidance that applies? It is quite interesting for both the rescue services, the police, and reindeer husbandry if an authority has suddenly made its own assessment of the responsibility that affects many more parties.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! Let us work through the question regarding the guidance. It is, fundamentally, not legislation and, in that way, it is also not directly legally binding.
Isak From asks in his interpellation whether the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's guidance can be used as a legally binding document in civil law proceedings. As I said, guidelines are precisely guiding and not legally binding. But it is clear that they can be used as one of several bases for interpreting the legislation.
It is not the government that approves the agencies' guidelines, but the agencies are responsible for the guidance they provide. As I pointed out in my previous statement, we continue to follow these issues. Should a need to take action arise, the government will investigate the matter further and review the possibility of measures.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! It was nevertheless a clarification from the Acting Minister for Climate and Environment that the guidance is not legally binding. I believe quite a few are grateful for that.
As late as 2018, regulations were also introduced in the legislation which meant that there must not be regulations that constitute any unnecessary obstacle to driving that is of benefit to the local population or that is needed for professional practice or other useful purposes. The regulations were introduced when the then government saw that there were reasons for the municipalities to have the right to introduce regulations and prohibited areas or to be able to designate certain areas that would not be permissible.
This is very clearly stated in this legislation. There was, in fact, some concern that it would be to the detriment of professional workers, recreational skiers, and the local population if the municipalities were given the right to introduce new prohibited areas. But a clarification was included in the law that this was not to be allowed.
Then the question is: Why has Naturvårdsverket proceeded on its own with a guidance that the responsible minister here says is not legally binding? The other parties gathered in the Nationella Snöskoterrådet, for example the police, have, on the other hand, said that the guidance that Naturvårdsverket has presented has increased the concern and uncertainty about what is permitted and what is not.
I thank you for the debate and for that we have received a clarification on the snowmobile's great importance for northern Sweden.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you again, the interpellator Isak From, for the discussion! I think this sheds light on an issue where uncertainties seem to arise from how an authority has formulated its guidance. I note this.
Regarding snowmobile riding, there are many interests that must be balanced within different land areas. Many goal conflicts need to be managed, not least in the mountains. It is about the landowners' rights, about the public's opportunity for outdoor life, about the tourism companies' opportunity to conduct their business and, of course, also about people's opportunity to privately ride snowmobiles. Finding a good balance between the different interests provides a basis for good regional development.
It is my hope that the relevant actors will find common ways forward to accommodate all these interests. But as I said earlier, the government will look closer at the issue and investigate it if a need should arise. It should be easy to do the right thing.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.