Response to interpellations 2024/25:50 and 55 on business development in rural municipalities
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns business development in rural municipalities. KD argues that the time-limited state grant to 39 municipalities has fulfilled its purpose 1 and that the government is now conducting a review of rural policy 1. KD argues that lower inflation eases the municipalities' finances 2 and that the government is implementing increased investments in transport infrastructure 3. S argues that the government prioritizes large cities and high-income earners instead of rural areas 4. S argues that the government is cutting back on regional development 5 6, withdrawing state services 7 and not funding support for basic accessibility 5. S wants to increase the compensation support for farmers in Norrland 5 and wants the government to postpone the phasing out of the 2G system 8.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Ida Karkiainen has asked me which impact assessment has been conducted in light of the fact that the support to municipalities in support area A is now disappearing, and how I and the government intend to support smaller and sparsely populated municipalities in their business and enterprise development. Anna-Caren Sätherberg has asked me if the need to support the business development of rural municipalities has decreased, and if I and the government intend to support the business development of rural municipalities in some way.
Good conditions for companies and the business sector are fundamental for it to be possible to live, work and live in all of Sweden. Since some rural municipalities have specific challenges regarding the business climate and business sector, 39 municipalities in the inland of Norrland and certain municipalities in Dalarna and Värmland have, over seven years, been awarded a special state grant to long-term strengthen their development capacity.
The municipalities have, with the help of the time-limited state grant, increased their long-term capacity to develop the business climate in collaboration with the business sector. The municipalities have also improved their cooperation with other municipalities and actors within the framework of regional development work. This was also the purpose of the state grant, which is now concluding as planned.
I would like to mention in this context the parliamentary Equalization Committee (SOU 2024:50), which has been tasked with conducting a broad review of the system for municipal economic equalization. The committee's report was submitted to the government on July 2 this year and is currently under consultation.
In conclusion, I would like to mention that the government has appointed an inquiry to review future regional development policy and rural policy (Dir. 2024:69). Experiences from previous initiatives will be taken into account in the inquiry. A final report is to be submitted on July 1, 2026.
The First Deputy Speaker noted that Ida Karkiainen (S), who submitted one of the interpellations, was not present in the chamber.
Anna-Caren Sätherberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Rural Affairs, for the answer to the question! I submitted it in September, and I am glad that it is finally being answered.
I live in a rural municipality in the inland of Norrland, where 60 percent of Sweden's area is located, well aware that none of the cabinet ministers live north of Borlänge. Then, Mr. Speaker, one does not meet villagers in the grocery store, travels long distances to deliver goods and services, or meets those who work at a municipal office with few colleagues, all of whom have difficult priorities to make when resources are to be distributed.
This is what this debate is about – how a rural municipality is to manage having a mostly high tax level and a low level of service while simultaneously focusing on the important business development.
Mr. Speaker! To help with this, the Social Democratic-led government introduced in 2018 targeted support to develop the business sector in 39 rural municipalities. For these 39 municipalities, which as I said are characterized by long distances to services and customers, the state grant has been important in order to be able to work with a better business climate.
In my home county of Jämtland, all municipalities have received a share of the money, and this has in different ways strengthened business development. For example, Bergs municipality has invested in conditions for more housing and increased attractiveness. In Ragunda, the money has been used, among other things, for recruitment-promoting initiatives for the business sector, projects for relocation, and the preparation of a new comprehensive plan. In Åre and Bräcke, initiatives have been able to be made, among other things, for community life and companies thanks to the money being sufficient for a stronger business unit. And Härjedalen has been able to focus on local food entrepreneurship, sustainable fishing, and co-financing of various projects within companies and community life.
The latest evaluation shows that since 2018, more than two-thirds of the municipalities have improved their business climate. The clearest improvement has occurred within the municipalities' interactions with companies as authorities.
In the government's budget for 2025, the special government grant for the business development of rural municipalities is no longer included. It is not a large sum, Mr. Speaker; it is about 70 million kronor. At the same time, we know that the government is investing 60 billion in new expenditures during the year and prioritizing high-income earners in large cities.
I did not quite receive answers to my questions in the interpellation to Peter Kullgren. Has the need to support the business development of rural municipalities actually decreased, and does the minister and the government intend to in any way continue to support the business development of rural municipalities?
The only thing I perceived in the minister's answer was an investigation, but it is not supposed to be in place until July 1, 2026. It will take a good while before any proposal comes from it.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister and the interpellants Ida Karkiainen and Anna-Caren Sätherberg for the opportunity to debate the issue of the withdrawn business support to 39 of the municipalities in Sweden that are struggling the most.
Support area A covers municipalities facing significant challenges regarding improving companies' opportunities to operate and develop. For a municipality to be included in support area A, a number of criteria must be met.
Municipalities with low population density and long distances to larger markets, municipalities with depopulation trends and unfavorable climatic conditions, and municipalities with low gross national product or high unemployment can be included, as well as areas undergoing a comprehensive structural transformation or are in a sharp decline. It is, therefore, municipalities that are having a very tough time.
Mr. Speaker! I want to bring up two local examples from Dalarna, where 5 of 15 municipalities are included in support area A.
From Vansbro, municipal councilor Marcus Kock reports that 50 percent of the support of 1,760,000 kronor per year has been used for physical planning and 50 percent for business development and skills supply. In Vansbro, they have had a detailed plan during the previous 15 years. With the money they have received, they are now working on implementing or completing eleven plots for multi-family dwellings and single-family dwellings, industrial plots, and plots for school activities. It may sound like a little, but it is a significant development in Vansbro, where not much has happened in 15 years. Marcus Kock writes further that when the funds disappear at the turn of the year, they are forced to adjust their work back to a level of austerity, even though the challenges, needs, and opportunities continue to exist.
In Malung-Sälen, municipal council member Hans Unander reports that the support has enabled a joint talent development program for future leaders in Malung-Sälen municipality, which they have established together with the local business community. There are eight people from the public sector and eight people from the business community participating with an equal number of mentors from both parties.
These are just two examples of the often both innovative and unconventional projects that the state gets out of its targeted investment of 70 million kronor, which corresponds to approximately 0.0054 percent of the state budget.
Mr. Speaker! I want to ask the Minister for Rural Affairs what is the motive for removing the targeted support to strengthen local businesses in 39 of the municipalities in Sweden that have the toughest conditions.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Anna-Caren Sätherberg and Ida Karkiainen, who could not be here, for a good and important interpellation.
I live in Norsjö municipality, which is one of the 39 municipalities, and I can testify to how positive the support has been. The Minister for Rural Affairs is certainly aware that the municipal group called R10, which includes eight inland municipalities in Västerbotten as well as Arvidsjaur and Arjeplog in Norrbotten, has written letters and pointed out how significant the support has been and what has been able to be done with it.
Competence supply is often completely central, and a small municipality has very small resources to promote business development, but with these relatively limited funds, they have nevertheless managed to maintain a business office to support the local business community. In all sorts of matters, this has been extremely important.
This support is now being removed. Now, the conditions for living and working in rural areas are being worsened in more areas, and a large savings condition has been given to Statens servicecenter. The question to the government and the Minister for Rural Affairs is: Which service centers does one intend to have removed?
They are significantly cutting support for student unions, which in rural areas often maintain the entire infrastructure for culture and leisure. It is actually most often ABF and Vuxenskolan that are on site and maintain this. Now come reports that office after office will probably have to be closed because the government is cutting back on adult education.
What remains of the Rural Committee's report, which was adopted here in the chamber by broad agreement? What analyses has the government conducted before cutting the support, which has been described by Tillväxtverket as extremely accurate, important, and one of the best initiatives that has been made? What analysis has the government conducted before removing just this small support?
Then they removed millions of kronor from other parts; they have placed a large savings condition on Statens servicecenter. At the same time as they change the previous government's ambition to outsource 10,000 state jobs to the rest of the country, they are now placing new agencies here in Stockholm and in the large cities.
It is actually a quite large change in rural policy. Here in the chamber, there was a broad consensus that we need to do this, and there were quite a few—even in the Minister for Rural Affairs' own party—who said that more must be done. But in the government's policy and budget, as well as in the Tidö Agreement, one sees nothing. There, it is rather the case that the countryside has completely disappeared.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The time-limited grant to a number of municipalities has, as I mentioned, been paid out during the period 2018-2024. The assignment concludes this year, entirely in accordance with the government decisions taken by the then Social Democratic government. I am very happy that these municipalities have been able to build a more robust and unified organization to support the business sector in times of both crisis and societal transformation. The assignment that the Social Democratic government gave was, however, time-limited, and the assignment has now been fulfilled.
The Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure has begun a review of the overall rural policy. We will present proposals that are to strengthen the conditions for rural areas, and in that regard, I welcome all proposals for new measures and solutions. A part of that work that I think is worth mentioning is the reference group that the government has formed in order to be able to receive views and input from civil society actors.
Regional development policy has a close connection with rural policy. Therefore, the demarcation between the different areas sometimes becomes quite unclear. An important purpose of the aforementioned investigation is therefore to clarify the scope, delimitation, financing, and follow-up of both regional development policy and rural policy. One way to reduce the existing ambiguity can be to clarify the demarcation between the different policy areas, and another can be to merge them into one area.
I also want to mention the investigation on the equalization system which is now out for consultation. The whole idea with the equalization system is to balance differences that result from things such as an individual municipality cannot influence. The goal, which I believe both this government and previous governments have had, is to try to balance such factors through the fixed systems we have.
I am convinced that there was a reason why the previous government gave this assignment - it was about what one wanted to achieve with the funds - and I am convinced that there is a reason why it was not made into a permanent and forever ongoing initiative. There was a goal and a purpose, namely to build up the organization, and for that, support was given during these years. That is the case with very many initiatives from the state, and we will not be able to make all such initiatives or projects permanent.
Anna-Caren Sätherberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for Rural Affairs for the answer.
Last time the right was involved in deciding on an equalization system, they introduced a moderate billion for the big city. I just want to remind the Minister for Rural Affairs of that.
It is halfway through the parliamentary term, and the government has clearly shown what it prioritizes - and also what it de-prioritizes. Now, they are removing the investment in business development in rural areas, and they are cutting the support for regional development by 100 million kronor. We Social Democrats believe instead that people should have access to basic services and be able to buy groceries and pharmacy products regardless of where in the country they live.
Just as Isak From mentioned, the government chooses to turn off the sign for several of the Statens servicecenters' offices. It is a hard blow to the rural municipalities around the country that have seen the state return to the municipality.
The government also chooses to remove the grant of 300 million to small municipalities that are particularly struggling, and it does so just when Sweden actually needs to increase growth.
The government has also made significant cuts to the protection and maintenance of valuable nature. We Social Democrats have completely different proposals for cleaning up littered mountain peaks and ruined hiking trails.
When the National Food Agency went out and said that we who live in northern Sweden should, in the event of a major crisis or war, evacuate south because the food supply is not sufficient where we live, I still thought that the Minister for Rural Affairs would put his foot down, calm the population and speak about what measures he intended to take so that the food supply would function even in the north. It is, after all, unreasonable that the solution should be that everyone moves south. I have, however, not heard a peep from the minister on that matter. One measure that we Social Democrats want to take is an increase of the compensation support for Norrlandsbönderna by 60 million kronor.
The government also does not want to finance the support of 195 million that Trafikverket has requested to maintain basic accessibility throughout the country. Not even basic accessibility is important, Mr. Speaker.
I actually think it is incomprehensible that the government chooses to prioritize reducing service in Sweden's sparsely populated areas and rural regions while spending billions on the wealthy in the large cities. A rural municipality's business development is of the utmost importance, and as I said earlier, it is extremely difficult for a rural municipality to prioritize business development in a situation where one often has high tax levels and a low level of service. And without business development, a rural municipality just becomes more sparse, as Lars Isacsson said earlier.
Does the Minister share that opinion? Is there not the same concern at the Minister for Rural Affairs as there is with me, that is to say, that what has been built up in the rural municipalities during these years and which has improved business development will regress without resources? What does the Minister intend to do in that case – right now? The Minister for Rural Affairs said in his answer that he will soon present proposals to strengthen the countryside. When are those proposals intended to be presented?
Lars Isacsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the debate.
In the government's response, I heard no justification for why this support should be withdrawn. I think it reminds me of when one has to save and streamline in a municipality and proposals are made to cut back on coffee for the staff. It feels like someone thinks the support is an odd bird in the state apparatus and wants to remove it. I think it is poor political leadership.
The government and SD are targeting, with surgical precision, municipalities with low population density, large distances, weak economies, and high unemployment. The government and SD are withdrawing state services, closing service offices, and shutting down train and bus lines in the same areas. Now they are also removing the support for business development. KD's speeches in the election campaign about the heartland, I think, ring hollow.
Mr. Speaker! It is not the economy that is the government's and SD's problem, but it is about the priorities. They had money in the budget but prioritized lower taxes for high-income earners instead of healthcare for everyone, trains that run on time, and support for the municipalities that have it toughest.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Minister for Rural Affairs should perhaps also have a discussion with his party colleague, Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner. We had a debate here in the chamber not so long ago about how agriculture, forestry, and municipalities in almost all of Sweden are raising that the phasing out of the 2G and 3G systems must be allowed to take a little longer.
In not least many small municipalities, the 2G system serves many alarms in elderly care and alarms for water and sewage. In forestry, the 2G system is used from forestry machines, and in agriculture across all of Sweden, it is used when sowing, fertilizing, and plowing.
The Minister for Civil Affairs said that the industry must bear the cost of this itself. If one has not planned for this, something that has been known for a very long time, one has only themselves to blame. It is not acceptable, and the Minister for Rural Affairs must understand that. We cannot have such an answer.
The small municipalities' ability to have time to transition is absolutely crucial. It is not about money. Both the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority and Telia have said that the government must provide directives. If they are to accelerate the phasing out, the government should take such an initiative. It cannot rest on the market and the industry. It cannot rest on the telecommunications companies to decide this themselves. It is an all-too-important issue.
This is only one part of what the government must take into account. The Riksdag has taken a position on a rural area bill that is to evaluate rural policy to ensure that rural areas and sparsely populated areas are competitive.
We have not received any answer as to what effect the removed 70 million will have and what evaluation has been conducted.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The most important thing that has happened for the municipalities' finances in recent years is that we have dealt with an all too high inflation. It affects the municipalities and regions economically by an enormous amount. This applies in particular in terms of pension agreements and so on. It has eased the pressure and will ease the pressure in very many municipalities. Furthermore, lower inflation leads to interest rate cuts, which contributes to increased opportunity for investments and better economy for both households and companies, if we look at the bigger picture slightly.
Anna-Caren Sätherberg was about to say that the Swedish Food Agency has stated that people living in northern Sweden need to flee from there if a crisis or even war occurs. It was not the Swedish Food Agency that said it, but it was an individual official at the Swedish Food Agency. It was therefore not the agency's position.
It does, however, point out something important. We have too little food production in our country, not least in northern Sweden. Therefore, we are making a long series of efforts with investigations and other measures to reverse the development, which is extremely central. We ensured, among other things, that the farmers got to keep the money when we changed the currency regulation, instead of these funds simply going into the state treasury as they have done in previous revisions. This is a directly improved economic condition for our Swedish farmers with just over three hundred and seventy-five million kronor. It will make a difference.
The temporary funds that not I, but the previous government decided should go to various municipalities for the purpose of increasing robustness are more to be seen as a project. Let me ask an honest question. If it was not intended as a temporary project, I wonder why you did not extend these pocket money funds during your years. You had a bunch of years to do that. Why was it not a permanent initiative from the beginning? Should we see all temporary money, all projects, and all assignments intended to develop something to establish a structure as forever ongoing? Then we will eventually have problems with the state's finances if we add everything up. It is truly a sincere question.
Wasn't the intention that it should be concluded? If that wasn't the intention, I wonder why you did not ensure that it became an extension when you had that opportunity.
Anna-Caren Sätherberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! I want to bring up two things. The Minister speaks very much about inflation. We can thank the Riksbank for the work that has been done to combat inflation, perhaps more than the Swedish government. But I am, of course, very pleased that inflation has gone down.
This debate, however, is not about inflation but about the fact that the government had investments of 60 billion in this year's budget. Of these 60 billion, they did not want to continue with an investment of 70 million. They have also not disclosed any consequence analysis that served as the basis for why they did not proceed with these funds.
With a project time of eight years, the minister has had two years to explain, check, and conduct a consequence analysis of whether these rural municipalities are sufficiently robust now. I do not consider them to be. But the Minister for Rural Affairs must think so, because resources are being removed from Sweden's rural areas with surgical precision, as Member Isacsson said earlier. This applies both to the 300 million for small municipalities with fewer than 9,000 inhabitants and the 70 million for business development.
We currently have the worst development for the business sector in all of Europe. We are at the bottom. All money for business development is needed, even in rural areas. The only thing happening right now is that the Minister for Rural Affairs is making the rural municipalities even sparser. He had every opportunity to bring in 70 million of 60 billion. Of these billions, most have gone to high-income earners in large cities.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I hope it has become a bit clearer what the government is doing in some of the issues, in any case in the original questions of the interpellations. Let me repeat a little.
We have, as we have said, appointed an inquiry that is to review future development and rural policy. The experiences from the assignment on state grants to the 39 municipalities and other initiatives will be taken into account in that inquiry. A final report is to be submitted on July 1, 2026.
The government is implementing increased investments in transport infrastructure with reinforced road maintenance from 2025. We are also implementing an extra investment in individual roads. The development of rural areas concerns not only certain individuals within the government but many different actors. We all have important roles to fill in different ways.
In addition to the public actors, I see great value in civil society organizations, in the form of, for example, local development groups, community centers and sports clubs.
The opportunities of rural areas differ very much. Therefore, a breadth of measures within many policy areas is needed.
We have a collective focus: The conditions for living, residing, and working in the entire country shall be strengthened. It is among other reasons why we are taking action and working on a new rural policy proposition. It is not something we do in a heartbeat, but it takes time, in the same way as previous propositions of that kind. It is, however, important to achieve breadth because very much affects the different rural areas in Sweden.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.