Systems of multilevel governance[1]

Representation: The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (the SALAR) represents local government vis-à-vis the central government and the Parliament. The SALAR is both an employers' organisation and a local government organisation. It represents and acts on their behalf with expertise in relevant fields.

Information: During the legislative process, information is provided to the LRAs by means of publications on the Parliament's website.

Consultation: The consultation procedure is not well defined; nonetheless, the SALAR is the privileged interlocutor of the national government authorities. The responsibility for the consultation rests with the ministries. They usually consult the SALAR before the promulgation of new regulation affecting LRAs, especially in case of legislation with a financial impact. Moreover, individual LRAs are sometimes invited by ministries and agencies to participate in hearings on proposals that have a local/regional impact. Consultation procedures are usually informal. [2]

Coordination:

At the regional level, the County Administrative Board (“Länsstyrelse") is a de-concentrated government agency representing the central Parliament and Government. Its role is to make sure that decisions adopted at the national level have the best possible effects in the Region and to monitor their implementation by the local authorities. Each County Administrative Board is chaired by a governor (“landshövding"), appointed by the central Government, thus comparable to a prefecture‑type system.

As regards horizontal coordination, Municipalities may form local federations in order to perform tasks of regional impact. Regions and Municipalities often coordinate their work in several areas, such as healthcare and medical treatment.[3]

[1] Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Consultation procedures within European States, 2007.

[2] Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Study on 'Consultation procedures within European States', 2007, pp.211-215.

[3] SALAR, Startpage › Municipalities, County councils and Regions › Regional development.