Introduction

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament (Riksdag) is unicameral, and its members are elected for a four-year term. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, chosen by the Parliament on the principle that a person can only be accepted as Prime Minister if he or she does not receive a majority of active negative votes by the members. In other words, a majority of combined yeas and abstainers is sufficient to be elected to office. Newly elected members of parliament first vote on the incumbent prime minister, and if a majority votes no, it is the Speaker of the Parliament who is responsible for proposing a candidate to the Parliament (who, again, can be the incumbent Prime Minister regardless of results of the first vote). The formal Head of State is the oldest living monarch descendant, male or female, to Crown Prince Johan Baptist Julii, later King Karl XIV Johan, as described in the Succession law to the throne.

Sweden is a unitary and decentralised State; the Constitution recognises local self-government in certain areas and delegates certain responsibilities to the local administrations.[1] There are three levels of governance: central, regional (formerly counties), and municipal. The county (län) dates back to 1634, and the division itself dates back to the 1862 local government ordinances, which fixed the municipal boundaries and created county councils.[2] Some minor changes in the 1960s and the 1990s modified the number of municipalities and counties and enhanced their financial autonomy. In 1991, the Local Government Act extended the freedom of organisation of Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs). In 1997, two new regions – Skåne and Västra Götaland – came into existence through the merging of a number of counties;[3] the change came with additional regional development responsibilities (for instance, in the area of infrastructural projects, regional business projects etc.) for the two regions. As of January 2019, all counties have been formally transformed into regions, including the municipality of the island of Gotland.

There are twentyone regional authorities, so called regioner, which formally act as the regions' authorities (previously landsting[4]) and there are 290 municipalities (kommuner). The island of Gotland is a municipality which also carries out the responsibilities of a county council. The regions represents both a level of self-government and of de-concentrated State authority. Counties and municipalities do not hold legislative powers; nonetheless, they do have executive powers in taxation and administration at their respective levels.[5] [6]

The principle of local self-government is enshrined in the Constitution.[7] The members of the two levels of self-government are elected in local elections every fourth year on the same date as national elections. Regions and municipalities are responsible for regional/local matters of public interest, and there is no hierarchy between the two levels of self‑government,[8] just different areas of responsibilities.

Beside the Constitution, the so called Grundlag, the 1991 Local Government Act[9] defines the counties' (now regions) and municipalities' competences.

The LRAs' right to levy taxes is enshrined in the Constitution (Chapter 2 Section 5 of the Local Government Act, referring to Chapter 14 section 4 instrument of Government). Sub‑national governments' revenues are derived from taxation (own-source), grants, and other sources (mainly fees for the provision of services). Sub-national expenditure represented around 24% of the GDP in 2017[4] . These data demonstrate a significant level of decentralisation. Shared taxation exists only between Regions, Counties and Municipalities, not with the State. The Municipalities' revenue in 2017 was composed in 66.1% of autonomous taxation, 21.3% of grants and 12.6%. The local authorities are also important employers, which employ the majority of the roughly 1.5 million people working in the public sector in Sweden.

Central level

• The central government enjoys exclusive powers in matters related to national sovereignty, including justice, foreign affairs, finance, and national defence; and the Parliament holds exclusive legislative powers.

Regional level

The Regions have competence in the fields of:

• Public health, including healthcare and medical services;
• Cultural institutions;
• Public transport; and
• Responsibility for growth and development.

Local level

Municipalities hold mandatory administrative powers in the fields of:

• Transport, including local roads and public transport;
• Social welfare;
• Education;
• Planning and building issues;
• Emergency and rescue services;
• Health protection;
• Environment, including environmental protection, refuse and waste management, water and sewage;
• Housing

Responsibilities on a voluntary basis are:

• Leisure activities and culture, except libraries;
• Energy;
• Industrial and commercial services.
• Employment
• Tourism

[1] Government portal, Home/How Sweden is governed/Swedish legislation/Swedish statutes in translation/The Constitution

[2] A collective work of Dexia Crédit Local Research Department, Sub-national governments in the European Union – Organisation, responsibilities and finance, Dexia Ed., La Défense, 2008, p. 610.

[3] Lag (1996:1414) om försöksverksamhet med ändrad regional ansvarsfördelning [Act (1996:1414) on test Regions with different regional responsibilities].

[4] Landsting becomes regioner, Kommunallagen (2017:725), vallagen (2005:837), m.fl. lagar och förordningar SFS:2019:835, 2019:923, entered into force 1 January 2020

[5] Ministry of Finance, 2007, Final Report on Regional Proposals

[6] Regional Divisions – Three New Counties, Ministry of Finance, http://www.regeringen.se/rattsdokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/2016/06/sou-201648/

[7] Government portal, Home/How Sweden is governed/Swedish legislation/Swedish statutes in translation/The Constitution, Articles 1 and 7.

[8] A collective work of Dexia Crédit Local Research Department, Sub-national governments in the European Union – Organisation, responsibilities and finance, Dexia Ed., La Défense, 2008, p. 609.

[9] Kommunallag (2017:725) [Local Government Act]. Entered into force 1 January 2018, Amended through SFS 2019:835. [Local Government Act]. Entered into force 1 January 2018.