Professional transport and taxi
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
SD wants to upgrade road controls with a special police unit and a separate budget to combat illegal cabotage and crime 1. SD believes that the legislation must be modernized and the penalties toughened 1 2. M wants to increase the length and weight of trucks and demands that the police prioritize combating illegal freight traffic and taxi operations 3. M believes that lower fuel prices and reduced reduction obligations have strengthened competitiveness and created growth 3 4. MP argues that Sweden should invest in its own biofuels and electrification 5 6. S wants to introduce a professional traffic inspection to combat fraud 7. S believes that the taxi industry suffers from a market failure 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.
Thomas Morell (SD)
Mr. Speaker! I vote in favor of the committee's proposal and against the reservations.
Mr. Speaker! I shall mainly focus on three matters in my speech: rest areas, the control of professional traffic, and the maintenance of winter roads.
For professional drivers, it is important that they can take their breaks and rest periods at safe rest areas. Unfortunately, the supply of rest areas along the country's roads is too small, and they are also decreasing in number. It becomes even worse when roadside restaurants remove parking space for heavy vehicles and instead place charging stations on that space. The municipalities are also introducing parking bans in their industrial areas for heavy traffic. For professional drivers, this becomes a problem because they are required by law to take their breaks and rest periods, otherwise they risk heavy fines.
For road safety, it is important that drivers get good sleep, which places demands on a calm and secure environment. The proportion of female professional drivers is increasing, which is pleasing, and it places additional demands on secure rest areas to offer the rest and sleep every driver needs.
Mr. Speaker! The limit of maximum 24 hours of use of rest and parking areas is rarely respected by foreign actors, and it has become a problem for the professional drivers who must take their rest or daily rest. Many rest areas are used for long-term parking while waiting for new transport assignments. When the driver cannot find a suitable place to stop, the employer also risks extensive sanction fees because the Transport Agency then considers that the employer has not planned the working time for their driver. With today's situation, it becomes almost impossible for drivers and employers to follow the requirements of the legislation when the supply of rest areas is so limited.
Here in the Tidö parties, we have a close dialogue with Trafikverket, and already next week I personally have a meeting with Trafikverket's Director General.
Mr. Speaker! Even though Trafikverket must improve its delivery regarding the expansion of rest areas, there is another problematic dimension, and that is the illegal commercial traffic rolling on our roads. The unauthorized cabotage traffic is extensive, and these vehicles are often parked for long periods at the rest areas.
In recent years, the conditions for the serious trucking industry have been debated extensively, not only here in the Riksdag but also among the general public. More and more people understand the connection between illegal freight transport and other criminal activities. It has been noted in the media that stolen goods worth approximately 2 billion kronor are transported out of the country annually, and in that case, we are only talking about the goods that are insured. The road is the criminals' most important tool, and it is time to put a stop to it.
We Sweden Democrats have for many years put forward the need for a well-functioning road safety control activity. Now we have a good dialogue with the government regarding both the needs and possibilities to develop road controls. Together with MP Sten Bergheden, we have raised this issue directly with the Minister for Justice.
An effective control is important to protect serious business but also to make it difficult for criminal networks to acquire economic resources. An illuminating example of the extent of the criminals' activities is the seizure in Helsingborg in January when an estimated three tons of cocaine were seized. It is by far the largest narcotics seizure ever in Sweden and is valued at approximately 3 billion kronor. What did not come out in the media reporting was that an additional three and a half tons were on their way to Sweden but were seized before they reached here. Then one understands the extent of this activity. The three tons that reached Sweden were obviously planned to be transported further by truck, and here the criminals have the entire logistics flow in their hands. It is time to grind the machinery for the criminals.
Mr. Speaker! The Sweden Democrats want to upgrade the road checks and ensure that well-educated officials inspect professional traffic. We want to place the inspection activities in a special unit within the police, with its own budget and its own management. The unit should not be linked to regular police activities but have its own given mission: to perform checks on the road. Transportstyrelsen's company inspections shall also be placed within the unit. Naturally, the legislation shall also be modernized and the penalties tightened.
Mr. Speaker! An important part of the transport industry is our taxi companies. They live in a situation where the competition from illegal taxis is fierce. The serious taxi companies are in need of support from society, that is to say, controls. It is certainly time that we see a change. In several newspaper reports, we have been able to read about the widespread cheating within the taxi operations, a cheating that literally knocks the legs out from under serious entrepreneurship within the taxi industry.
As I understand it, there are representatives from the taxi industry sitting in the gallery during this debate.
We cannot stand by silently while serious entrepreneurs are driven out of the market, resulting in drivers being left without work and the state losing tax revenue. The state has a duty to fight crime and protect its citizens. That duty must also apply to companies and drivers within the professional transport sector.
Combating road-based crime is important from several perspectives. Of course, it is about protecting serious business, but it is also important to combat the criminal networks. Increasing the controls on the road is a pure investment for society.
Mr. Speaker! With an effective control on the way with well-educated officials, Sweden can once again offer the serious transport industry fair conditions. We also get the opportunity to limit the criminal networks' ability to use our infrastructure for criminal activities.
Mr. Speaker! Even though winter is fading away, it will become winter again. Be certain of that! We can state that the maintenance of our winter roads has been catastrophically poor, with accidents and major disruptions resulting from this. Trafikverket has received extensive criticism from professional drivers, which is completely natural, as it is their workplace in question.
The situation is unacceptable, and many of us have pointed out to Trafikverket that they are failing in the most fundamental part of their mission: to keep our roads passable. Sure, the weather can sometimes be overwhelming, but it can hardly be snow chaos across the entire country at the same time.
But it looks like it is brightening on the horizon. The conversations we have had directly with the director-general have been constructive. The maintenance of the winter roads has been a standing point during this winter, and now we look forward to changes before next winter.
Roads are an important part of the supply chain for our industry. Traffic stops automatically mean stops in important production. Professional traffic is an important cog in society's machinery. It is certainly something to consider!
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for your speech regarding this important report, Member Thomas Morell!
I requested the floor when Member Thomas Morell mentioned the taxi industry and the situation prevailing there. We had both Transportarbetareförbundet and Taxiunionen in the committee on the initiative of us in Socialdemokraterna and Vänsterpartiet. I also see that there are representatives for Taxiunionen in the gallery.
This is an important issue. Thomas Morell shares the problem picture but unfortunately presents no solution to the problem. We have, for four years now, put forward various proposals and committee initiatives in the committee, but the Sverigedemokraterna have nevertheless chosen to vote together with the Tidöre Government. They do not want to, for example, conduct a review to check what the situation in the taxi industry looks like.
It is, of course, gratifying that the problem is confirmed from the rostrum, but politics is also about presenting proposals. My question to Member Thomas Morell is: Why did you not vote for the Social Democrats' committee initiative to remedy the order that prevails in the taxi industry?
Thomas Morell (SD)
Mr. Speaker! The answer is incredibly simple. The proposal submitted in the committee was not good enough. I have spoken with you in the Social Democrats on repeated occasions. I can help you understand the legislation and what must be done during a check. You are constantly proposing a professional traffic inspection, but that is not the solution to the problem. If one is to address the problem out on the roads, one must have the entire legislative toolbox with them. It is the police who do the job there.
Suddenly, one faces a crime that lies outside of road traffic but which has a connection to it. In that case, the personnel out there must be able to take action. They cannot stand there and say: Excuse me, we can do nothing. We do not have support in the law, so you can go on.
It is not sufficient. If we are to have such a control on the road, we must have personnel who are well-trained and have support in the legislation, regardless of what they encounter. Then the professional traffic legislation is not enough. At one moment it can be resolved with sanction fees, but in the next moment it is a crime under the Penal Code. Then it is a completely different legislation that comes into play. I have tried to explain this to you in the Social Democrats several times. You must sort this out, because you are showing and exposing that you do not have a grasp on the problem in its entirety.
I have personally stood out on the roads and worked for twelve years, so I know what is required to be able to do a good job in connection with a roadside check. It is not enough to stop a vehicle, introduce oneself and say "Good day", the job begins once the vehicle has been stopped. That is when it starts to become complicated, because one starts at the front and ends at the back of the vehicle. Your proposals are not sufficient there.
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Mr. Speaker! I asked a question about why the member Thomas Morell from Sverigedemokraterna did not vote for a committee initiative concerning the taxi industry and about conducting a review and looking at the problems in the industry that Transportarbetareförbundet, Taxiunionen, and the employers' side are alarming about. That was my question, but Thomas Morell chose to speak about the trucking industry and the Swedish Transport Agency.
I can inform Thomas Morell that we, of course, have a handle on our proposals and what they entail. If the Sweden Democrats do not think the Social Democrats' proposals are good enough, what then are the Sweden Democrats' proposals? Why are you not coming forward with a proposal or a committee initiative regarding the taxi industry?
Thomas Morell (SD)
Mr. Speaker! For goodness' sake! I just explained to the member why we do not support it.
(KADIR KASIRGA (S): The taxi industry!)
It depends on the fact that the proposal was not good enough. You cannot divide a control on the road and say that today we control trucks and next time taxis. The staff must be able to handle all professional groups. We are talking about professional traffic. Taxi is professional traffic, just as driving a truck is. Then one must have support in the legislation for every step one takes.
One concern with the taxi industry is that it still has the fairy tale book to report its time in. Even when I went through the police training, 1297 was part of the control, and it is exactly the same legal text today, 30 years later. It has not developed. We have submitted proposals – Sten was with me inside with the Minister of Justice with a thick bundle of proposals – on how we should solve the situation on the roads. They include trucks, delivery vans, and taxis.
One must have personnel on the roads who can handle the legislation in its entirety. To only highlight one thing does not lead to a solution.
The problem is also – I have known this since before – that if you have once received one thing, you must be satisfied. One must conduct a total review of the entire professional traffic. One must sharpen and improve the legislation. Above all, one must ensure that one has a control activity that is equipped for the mission. We do not have that today, and that is due in part to the previous government, which simply mistreated and dismantled the traffic police.
When I finished in Skara, there were three legal teams with nine people in each. Today there are a total of five people. How are they going to manage the work?
Sten Bergheden (M)
Mr. Speaker! This is, therefore, a debate on TU14 regarding the professional traffic.
Professional transport is the country's lifeblood. It ensures that goods and people get where they need to go, on time and in a safe manner. I want to extend a big thank you to professional transport for the work it does to keep the country running and ensure that companies and private individuals receive the transports that are necessary for Sweden.
Mr. Speaker! It is no coincidence that Sweden has two of the world's largest truck manufacturers. The need for truck transport has been, is, and will continue to be great in Sweden.
Our freight transport is the bloodstream of Sweden. It is about the milk that is collected at the farm, driven to the dairy, and then driven from the dairy to the store so that we all have food on the table.
It is about pulpwood and timber transported from the forest to the sawmill and the pulp industry, and from there as products to the trade. This cannot be managed in any other way than with trucks, but for truck transport to be able to function, navigable roads are needed both in the summer and in the winter. In that case, it is not possible to do as the Social Democratic government did, which, guided by the Green Party, reduced road maintenance and instead tried to build unprofitable high-speed trains. We have now stopped the high-speed trains and are instead investing in maintaining our roads and railways.
Mr. Speaker! We Moderates intend to ensure that the roads in Sweden are maintained and repaired so that the transport of people and goods functions.
I and the Moderates have worked for a long time to try to achieve better competitiveness for our Swedish trucking industry and professional transport. Our companies, our jobs and our growth depend on us having functioning transport throughout the country. It is important that we have competitive trucking companies and taxi companies operating throughout Sweden and that drivers and companies pay tax in Sweden.
More rest areas are needed, and they must be safer and more secure and function for both male and female drivers. Trafikverket has a clear mandate here, and we are trying to speed up the expansion of rest areas even further. The speed of the expansion of more and safer, secure rest areas needs to increase.
The competitiveness for both trucking and the taxi industry is important. Lower fuel prices have both strengthened competitiveness and lowered the inflation rate.
Mr. Speaker! When we took over after the Social Democrats' government, fuel prices were high, and inflation was at around 10 percent. Interest rates rose, and Sweden's competitiveness was strongly threatened. We have now reversed this. We have lowered the fuel taxes and lowered the reduction obligation. We have brought down inflation and interest rates, which is absolutely necessary to create growth here in Sweden.
Mr. Speaker! Lower fuel prices strengthen competitiveness and ensure that foreign vehicles now prefer to refuel in Sweden, which means that we receive tax revenue and reduce the proportion of poor diesel from the eastern states.
But, Mr. Speaker, in order to maintain competitiveness, laws and rules must also be followed by everyone. Here, all our authorities have a great responsibility. Therefore, we have provided large resources to the police to increase crime fighting, but the police leadership must prioritize combating illegal goods trafficking on our roads even more and ensure that illegal taxi activity is removed.
It is on our roads that transports of stolen goods, drugs, and alcohol take place, and it is that which sustains organized crime financially. It is here, out on the roads, where the police should be present to check cargo and roadworthiness and to ensure that driving and rest times are followed. Here, the police have a homework assignment to do. They have been given the mandate and the resources to combat illegal transports. Here, we want to see much more workshop to remove the illegal traffic than merely a hunt for the number of stopped vehicles.
Mr. Speaker! I can confirm what Member Morell said. We have had conversations with the Minister about this. It is an urgent matter for the government to address the illegal transports and the traffic on our roads.
Mr. Speaker! No legal trucking company or taxi company can withstand the competition if others are allowed to drive illegally and the controls are absent, so here I want to see a tightening from the police leadership. Sweden cannot continue to be a transit country for drugs. This must be a priority for the police.
There must also be better cooperation between different authorities such as the police, the customs, the Coast Guard, the Transport Agency and also the Swedish Tax Agency to solve this problem.
Mr. Speaker! Today, illegal trucks with drivers who do not follow the regulations can enter the country and compete with the legal transports here in Sweden. Drivers and trucking companies operating in Sweden should be able to make a living by driving legally, not cover transport costs solely because they are transporting drugs, alcohol, and prostitution. All legal trucking companies and taxi operations will be outcompeted by the illegal road transports if nothing is done. This is completely unacceptable.
Mr. Speaker! The police have received both money and resources to combat crime. I expect more work to stop the illegal farming activities, which distort competition.
The police must also allocate resources to better investigate the foreign trucking companies that settle at the country's rest areas while waiting for new journeys. This will continue if the police do not get a handle on it. It is not acceptable that some transporters use existing rest areas as camping and residential sites while waiting for new assignments. The rules must be followed, and compliance with the rules must be better monitored.
Mr. Speaker! The Transport Agency has also received increased resources, which has led to increased staffing and more controls. This is also reflected in the statistics. The number of warnings within the taxi industry has doubled since 2022. These are not empty words, but actual results.
Mr. Speaker! In order to strengthen competitiveness, we also want to increase both the length and weight of trucks. Roads are now being expanded and reinforced to accommodate both heavier and longer vehicles.
Mr. Speaker! We know how the Green Party and the Left Party have actively tried to combat truck transport. They want to reduce the number of trucks and limit the length of trucks. They have raised fuel prices. They have taken away money for road maintenance. The previous Social Democratic government with the support of the Green Party was quite frankly truck-hostile.
The problem is that if you make it more difficult for our truck transports, you also make it more difficult for our industry and our jobs, and thereby you impair the welfare and growth in the country. The transports must function for Sweden's growth and for our jobs.
Mr. Speaker! We have introduced requirements for winter tires for trucks and buses from November to April in an attempt to reduce the number of stationary vehicles and accidents. Sweden's transport companies often have good equipment, while foreign transport companies may have more deficient tires and also truck combinations and overloaded trucks that can constitute a major traffic hazard. But regardless of equipment, it must lead to better winter road maintenance where snow and ice are addressed in a timely manner. The work to improve this is ongoing.
Mr. Speaker! The opposition wants a new occupational traffic inspection, and that sounds decisive. But building up a new agency takes years, costs money, and risks becoming a way of pushing the problems ahead of itself.
We do not believe that more authorities in Stockholm will solve the problems for the rider in Skövde or the taxi drivers in Linköping. We believe in ensuring that the authorities that already have that task also carry it out and do the job they are supposed to do, namely to combat illegal transport. The mission is clear and shall, of course, be carried out.
Mr. Speaker! I can also state that the opposition as a whole here today is not in agreement on any of the reservations, but it is only the left as a whole that is in agreement.
In conclusion, I would like to move for the proposal in the report to be approved and for the reservations to be rejected.
Linus Lakso (MP)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much, Sten Bergheden, for the speech!
I thought the member's speech raised some interesting questions. But some things were also presented that I do not think are correct.
Sten Bergheden was very proud that this government has lowered the price of fossil fuels and at the same time accused the previous government of having raised the price. He seems to completely miss or not want to understand that the large fluctuations both in 2022 and now are due to the same thing, namely the world market price of oil. If one does not understand that, the actions may be accordingly.
I wonder why Sten Bergheden is so incredibly eager that Sweden's transports, not least Sweden's trucks, should be powered by energy from the mullas' Iran, Saudi Arabia under sharia laws, Putin's Russia and an increasingly unstable USA. Why does Sten Bergheden consider it important?
Why can't we just as easily run on our own biofuels? Wouldn't that be better and safer and also something that makes us actually reach the climate goals, in contrast to what this government has managed to achieve?
Would it not be better if we favored our own truck manufacturers, as Sten Bergheden himself mentioned? They have developed fantastic products with electrified trucks. This government has destroyed the domestic market for two of our most important companies.
The question is not whether we should have trucks. The question is what they should be powered by.
Sten Bergheden (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the questions, Member Lakso!
I must begin by correcting the member to some extent. It is actually a matter of us having lowered the taxes on diesel and petrol, and of course we lowered the taxes from the level that the Social Democrats and the Green Party had previously.
We have also lowered the reduction obligation from the level that the previous government introduced. This has meant a price that is approximately 10 kronor lower. Had we had the situation we have in the world today, when the transports do not arrive, and had kept a Social Democratic and Green Party government, the prices would not have been at 22 kronor but rather between 30 and 40 kronor per liter instead. That is the situation we would have landed in here in Sweden, and then we would also have started shutting down companies.
Lakso continues to reason that we should not favor things. The concern is that if we knock out our industries in Sweden – our transport companies and other companies – because of expensive transport, production will move somewhere else where there are completely different environmental regulations and completely different requirements for having a clean environment.
It can hardly be the Green Party's ambition that jobs should be moved from Sweden to other places because operations cannot remain because we stay at the highest taxes when it comes to fuels and other things. Or do you in the Green Party want to reintroduce the high reduction obligation that you had when you vacuumed up all of Europe for biofuels and drove up the prices? Do you want to return to that policy again, if the worst should happen in September, and then drive up the price by an additional 10–15 SEK per liter?
Linus Lakso (MP)
Mr. Speaker! The truth is that it is this government's policy that leads to us losing jobs in Sweden, because the competition for new electric trucks and for electrification is fierce, not least from China. We have a window of a few years now to ensure that our important companies, such as Volvo and Scania, actually get a market for their newly developed electrified trucks.
It is therefore this government's policy that leads to us losing jobs in Sweden and Europe and that we instead favor China by remaining in a fossil dependency which also indirectly benefits Russia. If we look at all of Europe, we send more money to Russia via the purchase of fossil fuels than we support Ukraine with. I wonder if Sten Bergheden is satisfied with that and if he does not see that it undermines our own security.
The truth is that we would have been better equipped for the price shock we are now seeing if we had remained at a higher electrification rate and produced more biofuels in Sweden. Then, of course, there would also have been room to actually adjust certain taxes in the short term. Above all, however, it is about the fact that we must see this as a strategic issue.
I want to ask Sten Bergheden how he envisions our automotive industry surviving if we do not keep up with electrification. Above all, I want to ask again – because I did not receive any answer – whether Sten Bergheden is satisfied with us being dependent on oil-producing countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the USA for our transport in the long term, or if we perhaps should switch to our own produced fuels and electricity.
Sten Bergheden (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Linus Lakso, for the follow-up questions! It is quite interesting to hear the discussion from a member of the Green Party, that is, from the former government, about that one should increase the pace of electrification in Sweden. What that government did during its time in power was that it shut down nuclear power in Sweden so that we reduced electricity production and so that we drove up electricity prices to almost double!
Does the committee chair then believe that people in Sweden, companies and others, in that situation will invest in buying electric cars, when they have a government that is willing to drive up the electricity price to a level that makes it no longer profitable to drive around in electric cars? We must exercise some restraint in this debate. Start by admitting that it was a big mistake to shut down the nuclear power plants and drive up electricity prices to a level that scared the market away from electrification! That should have been your homework.
The electrification continues. Now we have brought down the inflation, which was 10 percent during your time, and we have brought down the interest rates. People have regained their faith in the future and dare to invest again. Who dares to invest with an inflation of 10 percent and high interest rates when they are to make investment decisions about slightly more expensive trucks or slightly more expensive electric cars? It is about the total economy, and it is about us giving the people in the country a sense of security and safety regarding the fact that they can trust the government and that it does not just work based on ideological reasons but also actually weighs in the economic reasons.
Kadir Kasirga (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by moving for approval of reservation 7.
Let us begin with the basics: Road transport is one of Sweden's most essential societal functions. A very large part of all goods is transported by road, and without the truck, industry, trade, and everyday life come to a standstill. At the same time, the transport sector accounts for approximately one-third of emissions. This means that this industry is crucial both for the economy and for the climate transition. The trucking industry itself has a will to transition, but the investments are expensive and the conditions are uncertain. When the government lowers ambitions and creates uncertainty, the climate transition is also slowed down.
Mr. Speaker! Order and tidiness on our roads should be a matter of course, but the reality looks different. Fraud, unserious actors, and unfair competition are spreading in the professional transport and taxi industries. What is the government doing? Well, they refer to ongoing investigations and lean back.
This report is fundamentally about what kind of society we want. Do we want a transport sector where serious companies are competed out by cheating, where drivers are pressured into unreasonable conditions and where safety is put at risk, or do we want order and decent conditions that apply to everyone?
For us Social Democrats, the answer is obvious. We have presented concrete proposals for a professional transport inspection to obtain more and sharper controls, for measures against cheating, for a review of the taxi industry, and for better working conditions. All of this is, however, rejected in the report. It is not because the proposals are incorrect, but because the Tidö Government, together with the Sweden Democrats, chooses not to act.
Mr. Speaker! Let me be clear: This passivity is not new, but Sweden has had four lost years where the government, together with the Sweden Democrats, has chosen to stand still on issues that are crucial for the transport sector. It is about four years where the cheating has been allowed to continue, four years where the controls have not been strengthened, and four years where the climate transition has been slowed down. The industry wants to transition, but the government meets this with unclear rules of the game and lowered ambitions. It is not just bad climate policy; it is also bad industrial policy.
Mr. Speaker! Let us also look at the reality in the taxi industry. We recently read in a debate article in Expressen that today, one gets into a taxi and hopes for the best. That says something about how poorly it functions. In a report from Transportarbetareförbundet and the think tank Tiden, the development is described even more clearly. There is talk of a system where people are in practice forced to work on a piecework basis. We have a system where prices are free but difficult to understand. The employer's responsibility is unclear, and the working conditions are being pressured. It is the very definition of a market failure.
Behind every taxi is a human being – a driver responsible for people's safety but often without security in their own everyday work. Many work on a commission basis, and that means they do not get paid when they are waiting for the next ride. It is as if the staff in a store would only receive a salary when a customer is standing at the checkout.
Mr. Speaker! The consequences are clear: 74 percent work more than full-time, and many work up to 60 hours a week. The stress affects both the work environment and traffic safety, and this is not worthy of a country like Sweden.
Mr. Speaker! What we are seeing is a growing gigification of the labor market. Digital platforms organize the work, but without any employer responsibility being taken. The report from Transportarbetareförbundet also shows how the management takes place via apps and algorithms, while the responsibility is shifted onto the individual. The driver has to take the risk, but not the digital platforms – and they escape employer responsibility.
The most serious thing is that this will not stop at the taxi industry, unless the politicians act. This business model will spread to all professional transport, unless the politicians put a stop to it. Then we will get more gig jobs, fewer permanent positions, and pressured collective agreements. It would be a systemic shift away from the Swedish model.
Mr. Speaker! This is not just about transport, it is also about what kind of working life we shall have in Sweden. Either we accept a development where responsibility is shifted from companies to individuals, or we stand up for security, fair conditions, and order and clarity.
We Social Democrats are not content with just describing the problems, but we also want to solve them. Therefore, we want to tighten the control in the taxi industry, ensure the connection between apps, taximeters, and reporting, strengthen the working conditions for the drivers, and above all, restore trust in the industry. It is about restoring order and competition on equal terms.
Mr. Speaker! Taxis and all professional transport are part of our society-sustaining infrastructure, and they must be treated as such. We cannot afford more lost years, not for the jobs, not for the competition, and not for the climate. The time has come to move from words to action.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.