Response to interpellation 2025/26:427 on Postnord and the state's ownership policy and corporate governance model
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns Postnord's challenges with digitalization, reduced letter volumes, and delivery times in rural areas 1 2. KD argues that the company management's responsibility is to manage daily operations and localization 1 3. KD considers it reasonable that deliveries take longer in rural areas 4 2 and that the new delivery times create conditions for the company to manage its finances 2. KD also considers that 100 million kronor is a small amount compared to a potential deficit of 1.5 billion 2. S argues that Postnord's actions are not compatible with the state's ownership policy due to varying delivery times 5. S considers the market for parcel delivery in rural areas to be a market failure and proposes state investments in PTS 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.
Civilministern Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Isak From has asked the Minister for Finance partly whether she intends, within her area of responsibility, to take any initiatives to enable Postnord to carry out its social mission, and partly how she ensures that Postnord fulfills the social mission of letter and parcel services up to 20 kg to all households in the entire country while Postnord's actions are compatible with the state's ownership policy and corporate governance model. The interpellation has been handed over to me.
According to the Postal Act (2010:1045), there shall be a society-wide postal service, that is, a postal service that exists throughout the country, which is of good quality and which means that all users can receive postal items and can, at reasonable prices, hand over such items for transport. By postal items, addressed items weighing at most 20 kg and which are handed over in the final form in which they are to be transported by a provider of postal services are meant. This means that the society-wide postal service refers to both letters and parcels.
The digitalization of society is fundamentally changing the postal market. Since the year 2000, two out of three physical letters have been replaced by digital communication in Sweden. This means that the Swedish postal market is under a great pressure for change. Calculations show that the letter volumes that Postnord handles will continue to fall, and in five years they may correspond to approximately one-third of today's level. The Government assesses that Postnord and other actors in the market thus face major challenges.
The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, PTS, is the supervisory authority for the postal area and issues permits to conduct postal activities supported by the Postal Act. The permits may be combined with conditions requiring the permit holder to provide a universal postal service. PTS has designated Postnord to provide parts of the universal postal service, such as postal services for written messages weighing a maximum of two kilograms.
How Postnord conducts its operations within the framework of the corporate purpose, which is based on the Riksdag's decision regarding the company's mandate, and the permit conditions are, however, a matter for the company's board and management, who are responsible for the company's administration, organization, and daily operations. This is regulated in the Companies Act (2005:551), which applies to both state-owned and privately owned companies.
Regarding the market for parcel services, PTS has in its supervision been able to observe that the market is characterized by good competition throughout the country and has therefore judged that there are no grounds to designate a single company to deliver parcels across the entire country. Postnord shall, however, provide certain postal services for parcels weighing a maximum of 20 kg to certain vulnerable groups who, for example, are in digital exclusion or live far from a delivery point.
It is important that people have the opportunity to live and work in the entire country. At the same time, the society-wide postal service needs to be adapted to the conditions prevailing in an increasingly digitized society. PTS has the government's mandate to monitor, analyze, and describe the development of the postal market. The government is prepared to take necessary measures to ensure a postal service of good quality in the entire country.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I initially submitted this interpellation to Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson, because she is the one responsible for the state-owned companies. I did that nearly two months ago. Since then, the interpellation debate has been postponed. It was then handed over to the Minister for Civil Affairs, who then pushed the debate forward a few more times. It is clear that I became a little worried that it might be postponed again.
The background to this interpellation is Postnord's public service mission and questions as to whether Postnord acts in accordance with the public service mission and whether Postnord's actions are compatible with the state's ownership policy and corporate governance model. I submitted the interpellation to the Minister for Finance because she is responsible for precisely those state-owned companies.
Postnord has for a long time requested to be allowed to introduce two-day delivery, something that the government has now approved. Postnord has also announced that they will therefore also shut down three operations in Västerbotten in three municipalities – Dorotea, Åsele and Sorsele – and that they intend to start transporting the mail from other terminals instead. This may sound like a reasonable measure as the amount of mail and letters becomes smaller, but nevertheless, the distances will become very long. If one is to transport mail from Storuman to Ammarnäs, it is over 20 mil one way.
This has prompted us in Västerbotten to take action. We have written op-eds. We have also met with Postnord's management at the Postnord terminal in Umeå. There we were made aware that Postnord intends to proceed and close down the terminal in Nordmaling as well, and that they do not see that it hinders the mission. This has also been conveyed to us, not least from the entrepreneurs in Västerbotten.
As late as during Wednesday's debate on the government's bill on rural policy, I received an email from a business owner in Överboda outside Umeå, who could inform me that when she orders a package from Malmö to Umeå, it takes four days. Nevertheless, it states that it should take one or two days, and Postnord guarantees that one can meet those delivery times in the vast majority of places, with a few exceptions. Now it turns out that those few exceptions mainly concern rural municipalities, and Umeå therefore seems to be a rural municipality according to Postnord's way of seeing it. I do not think that is correct – it is still a municipality that has had strong growth for very many years.
It also emerged during Wednesday's debate that there is a bit of ignorance among the Tidö parties' members regarding whether Postnord flies. It was claimed that Postnord flies packages up to Skellefteå and Luleå, but that has been discontinued for over a year. Instead, they transport them by truck up to the terminals.
Civilministern Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I must apologize to Isak From – I am in a very kind mood now – for having to postpone this debate once. But it was not several times, as the interpellator claimed. It was only once, and it was simply due to a calendar conflict. I have in no way tried to avoid the debate.
Then we all know that the month of May, not least during an election year, entails a very hectic schedule for all of us. I note that it is quite common for interpellants also to push forward interpellation debates. We are both guilty of this. But I have in no way intentionally pushed forward the debate, rather it has only happened once, and it was due to a calendar clash. But quite quickly afterwards we still managed to have this debate, which pleases me.
I received the report of the Post Financing Investigation quite early in the term. Furthermore, the investigator is an old party comrade of Isak From. According to the investigation, it is completely obvious that with the legal requirements and the financing that apply today, it will become very difficult for Postnord to fulfill the legal requirements given the reduced mail volume in Sweden. According to calculations, by 2030 we could have up to 90 percent fewer mail shipments than in 2000, due to increased digitalization. This is fundamentally very positive, as digital mail is both faster and more secure, but it will of course be very challenging for Postnord to manage the finances under such conditions.
That is why we have now made certain changes so that Postnord can manage a society-wide postal service and fulfill what the Riksdag and the government have decided regarding a good postal service. It will now be possible to ensure postal delivery on two fixed days a week, it has been said, which creates great predictability.
The questions that Isak From raises are questions that should actually be asked of the company's management. So it seems they have also been done here. I therefore cannot answer all of this, because for some of the questions it is up to the company to decide. This concerns, among other things, the location of individual offices. We do not control this in the ownership policy; instead, that question must be asked of the company's management and the board.
As the minister responsible for the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, which is the supervisory authority regarding the Post Act, I have no other expectation than that the law is upheld and that it will also be upheld with the new delivery days and with the organizational changes that the company chooses to make. I have no other expectation than that the Post Act will be upheld.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! It is very well documented how many times the ministers have postponed this debate. Now I said that the Minister for Finance first postponed it, and then she handed over the interpellation. Then it has been postponed again. I will not go into it any further.
I note that the question was whether this action fulfills the public mandate. We can state that when it comes to parcel services, there are now differences in how long it takes to deliver a parcel depending on which part of the country it concerns. It is not reasonable.
Then it is another question that parcel services are no longer primarily a public service. Here we have a market failure. In parts of the country, the market is unable to either receive or deliver parcels. I know self-employed individuals who have to drive nine miles on their own to deliver parcels to the Postnord terminal in Skellefteå because the local post office does not offer the service to receive that type of parcel. One must consider that it concerns small business owners who are thus competing with other small business owners who perform the same service but have significantly closer access to a service point. It has made us Social Democrats wonder: Is this really reasonable?
That is why we have also acted. In our spring revision budget, we have allocated 100 million kronor to improve the postal and parcel service in the most sparsely populated parts of the country. This could perhaps enable the development of rural shop support to also include this service to a greater extent, or that Postnord outsources an operation.
In line with Postnord's decommissioning of its operations, it has become worse. Above all, it is different in different parts of the country. In the state's ownership governance model, it is very clearly stated that this should occur equally across the country. We can see that it is not occurring equally across the country. That was also the starting point when I submitted the interpellation to the Minister for Finance, as she is responsible for the company.
That the government has approved the two-day delivery means that operations will disappear. Then the state, the state's companies, should also consider: Is it reasonable, given the state's requirements in both climate and environmental terms, to drive very long distances? Would it not have been possible to keep post terminals in the sparsest parts of the country? Postnord says that it is not reasonable. It is not feasible with the current conditions. Then we can conclude that the conditions are different across the country. You take away from one part of the country. It creates worse conditions.
We can also see that the parcel services have progressively become worse – from an already poor level to a completely unacceptable level, as an entrepreneur wrote to me. So, Mr. Speaker, we cannot have that.
Civilministern Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I understand that Isak From has posed this question to Elisabeth Svantesson because she is responsible for the state-owned companies. At the same time, the postal law and postal issues are my responsibility. Therefore, we find ourselves in a bit of a gray area here. The assessment has been made that it is I who should take this interpellation, but that has the disadvantage that it prevents me from answering regarding the companies' ownership directives, for example. That does not fall under me, and I do not want to go into details on this.
These are, of course, questions that can be raised in the ownership dialogues, but it is difficult for me to answer exactly whether what Isak From is now describing prompts us to change in the ownership directives and other such things. I actually have to pass on that specific question.
On the other hand, we should have a postal service and a mail delivery that works in the entire country. Then I think everyone understands that if there are several miles between buildings and shipments in sparsely populated parts of Sweden, it will take a little longer than if you live in very densely populated areas, for example, in central Stockholm. I believe there is understanding and acceptance for that. But that being said, everyone should be able to expect a postal service with reasonable delivery times regardless of where in Sweden one lives.
Even though we are now moving to two-day delivery, one should remember that we are tightening the requirement for the five-day delivery time from 95 to 97 percent of deliveries. It is an improvement we are making as well with the change we are now making.
Otherwise, the questions in this introductory debate now mostly concern the ownership directives and the company, and I do not really have the opportunity to answer those.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I note that the government is not in a position to answer what the interpellation was actually about. But since I have also raised several different parts here that Erik Slottner can answer, I proceed from that in my further questioning.
Erik Slottner says at the end of his answer that the government is prepared to take necessary measures. When we met the management of Postnord in Umeå, they could state that their changes and announced closures had met with much resistance from the affected municipalities. It is clear that it is perfectly reasonable that the municipal leaders and the citizens in Dorotea, Åsele, Sorsele and now also Nordmaling will think that this is not good.
Postnord could then say that it is not only Västerbotten that thinks this has become worse, but Postnord has also had meetings in Uppland. Meetings have also been held here, which have dealt with the mail deliveries in the Stockholm archipelago. Residents in several locations in more sparsely populated parts of the country think that the operations have gone from worse to unacceptable.
We Social Democrats note that digitalization is here. It is fundamentally good. Then politics also needs to step up. We have indicated that in a first stage we intend to invest more money in the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority so that they can perhaps procure supplementary services that enable parcel delivery within a reasonable time throughout the country. We will have to come back to that.
Men, Mr. Speaker, this issue is significant in the affected parts of the country, both in archipelago municipalities, in the inland of Norrland and in more sparsely populated parts of Småland. The debate will not end here in the chamber of the Riksdag today, but I can guarantee that it will continue.
Civilministern Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! It is naturally the case that increased digitalization and an increased digital mail flow has the disadvantage that it becomes more difficult to maintain a physical mail delivery of high quality. It is a huge challenge. It has been a challenge for the responsible company Postnord throughout the entire 2000s. We see that the challenge will increase even more, and it naturally has consequences. We try to handle this as responsibly as possible.
I am still happy, considering that the Post Financing Investigation showed that Postnord risks a deficit of 750 million with current legislation. There is talk of a need for state support of over 1 billion. There is talk of deficits of 1.5 billion. We are tackling that now. I believe that with the new delivery times we have now established, we have created the conditions for Postnord to manage its finances and fulfill its mission, while the population in Sweden can expect a postal service with deliveries within a reasonable time.
This shall, of course, apply regardless of where in the country one lives. At the same time, I believe there is an acceptance that it may take somewhat longer in very sparsely populated parts of the country, for quite obvious reasons.
It is heartbreaking that the Social Democrats have allocated 100 million kronor to this in their spring amendment budget. We will have to see if this becomes a reality in a real budget. But it holds up quite well compared to the 1.5 billion that could be the effect if nothing is done. That is also what I want to have said.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.