The Government's legislative proposal

The plan wants greater societal oversight of companies to combat fraud and sees arms production as an area where decisions must be made with a holistic perspective and strong public influence. The objection to excluding sub-contractors from permit requirements with administrative burden as justification bears weight, particularly in a growing market with unscrupulous actors. The committee's reasons about an adapted regulatory framework with enhanced penalties and new permit requirements are therefore met by the plan's requirements for control over weapons manufacturing.

• oversight to combat frauddecisive»Vi vill gå mot en större samhällelig insyn« (party programme ↗)“We want to move toward greater societal oversight”
• public control over weapons production»statligt ägande i vapenproduktionen« (party programme ↗)“public ownership in weapons production”
• against unscrupulous actors»Ekonomisk brottslighet i företag leder till allvarliga konsekvenser,« (party programme ↗)“Economic crime in companies leads to serious consequences,”
• strict control of war material»förbjuda vapenexport till diktaturer, stater som för angreppskrig och« (party programme ↗)“ban weapons exports to dictatorships, states waging war of aggression and”

The plan drives non-proliferation and wants to intensify work against arms trafficking, which presupposes control also over those who manufacture parts for war material. It also wants to combat disreputable and criminal actors in business. Exempting sub-suppliers from licensing requirements thus sits less well with the plan than the counter-proposal's objection, despite the plan's support for a strong defense industry.

• non-proliferationdecisive»Pådrivande arbete för avspänning, icke-spridning och en ömsesidig internationell« (party programme ↗)“Driving work for disarmament, non-proliferation and a mutual international”
• control over weapons flows»Vi vill se fler och intensifierande internationella samarbeten mot smuggling av bland annat vapen och narkotika.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to see more and intensifying international cooperation against smuggling of arms and narcotics among other things.”
• against disreputable actors»Bekämpande av bedrägerier och all annan ekonomisk brottslighet.« (party programme ↗)“Fighting fraud and all other economic crime.”
• strong defense industry»En stark inhemsk försvarsindustri ökar Sveriges« (party programme ↗)“A strong domestic defense industry increases Sweden's”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan states that Swedish weapons industry, import and export of weapons must never undermine work for peace, democratisation and human rights. Exempting subcontractors of military material parts from licensing requirements loosens precisely that control, and the counter-proposal's objection is therefore in line with the plan. The plan also emphasises that oversight is needed so unscrupulous actors do not gain competitive advantages.

• weapons trade must not undermine peace workdecisive»Den svenska vapenindustrin, importen och exporten av vapen, får aldrig urholka arbetet för fred, demokratisering och mänskliga rättigheter.« (party programme ↗)“The Swedish weapons industry, import and export of weapons, must never undermine work for peace, democratisation and human rights.”
• no export to dictatorships»Sverige ska inte exportera vapen till diktaturer eller länder där allvarliga kränkningar av mänskliga rättigheter förekommer.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should not export weapons to dictatorships or countries where serious human rights violations occur.”
• oversight creates fair competition»Tillsynen är också viktig för att skapa rättvisa mellan olika företag – ingen ska få ett övertag i konkurrensen genom att bryta mot miljöregler.« (party programme ↗)“Oversight is also important to create fairness between different companies – nobody should gain a competitive advantage by breaking environmental rules.”
• the state regulates markets»Staten ska säkerställa att det finns regelverk och institutioner som ser till att marknader kan fungera väl.« (party programme ↗)“The state should ensure that there is a regulatory framework and institutions that ensure markets can function well.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan does not address licensing requirements for subcontractors of war materiel. The closest commitment is the election manifesto's demand to clear up the regulatory thicket for entrepreneurs, large and small, and the party programme's that the state should avoid over-regulation. Retaining licensing requirements solely to avoid administrative relief therefore lies further from the plan, even though the conclusion is weakly supported.

• regulatory simplification for businessdecisive»Rensa upp i regelträsket för entreprenörer, stora som små.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Clear up the regulatory thicket for entrepreneurs, large and small.”
• easier for smaller businesses»Vi vill införa en ny och förenklad företagsform för mikroföretag, så att fler ska våga testa att driva företag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to introduce a new and simplified business form for microenterprises, so that more people dare to try running a business.”
• the state should not over-regulate»Centerpartiets uppgift är att se till att staten gör det den är till för, så effektivt och rättssäkert som möjligt, och« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party's task is to ensure that the state does what it is meant to do, as efficiently and with due process as possible, and”

The plan wants regulatory burden for businesses to decrease and license handling to be simplified as long as legal certainty is maintained, which speaks for subcontractors being able to be exempted with the main contractor as responsible. The plan's strict requirements on export control concern who the material can be sold to, not license requirements at every stage of manufacturing. The counter-proposal's demand for maintained license requirement therefore does not receive support, but the basis is weak.

• reduced regulatory burdendecisive»Regelbördan för små företag ska minska, genom ansträngningar på både kommunal, statlig och europeisk nivå, och offentliga beslut analyseras ur småföretagarperspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“Regulatory burden for small businesses shall decrease, through efforts at municipal, state and European level, and public decisions are analyzed from a small business perspective.”
• simplified license handling»Automatiserad handläggning av olika slags tillstånd skulle förenkla för företagare och bör användas under förutsättning att rättssäkerheten alltid upprätthålls.« (party programme ↗)“Automated handling of various types of licenses would simplify things for entrepreneurs and should be used provided that legal certainty is always maintained.”
• strict export controls»Sverige ska inte exportera vapen till diktaturer.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall not export weapons to dictatorships.”
• strengthened defense capacity»Sveriges nationella försvarsförmåga måste öka.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden's national defense capacity must increase.”

The plan requires that weapons handling be surrounded by careful control and gives the state the task of supervising that legislation and good ethics are maintained on the market. Exempting sub-suppliers from licensing requirements loosens that control on a growing market. The plan's requirement that new rules be tested from a small business perspective qualifies but weighs lighter in precisely weapons manufacturing.

• careful weapons controldecisive»Vapenexporten ska begränsas till demokratiska stater och omgärdas av noggrann kontroll.« (party programme ↗)“Weapons exports shall be limited to democratic states and surrounded by careful control.”
• state supervision»Statens roll i näringspolitiken är att övervaka att lagstiftningen och en god etik upprätthålls på marknaden.« (party programme ↗)“The state's role in business policy is to supervise that legislation and good ethics are maintained on the market.”
• ethical conduct on the market»En väl fungerande marknadsekonomi förutsätter en effektiv konkurrens, stabila institutioner och etiskt handlande.« (party programme ↗)“A well functioning market economy requires effective competition, stable institutions and ethical conduct.”
• small business perspective»Tillkommande lagar bör prövas ur ett småföretagarperspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“Incoming laws should be tested from a small business perspective.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's decisive commitment in the area is to significantly reduce businesses' administrative costs and regulatory complexity and to shorten government agencies' processing times. The counter-proposal instead wants subcontractors to be covered by permitting requirements and dismisses administrative burden as a reason. The plan wants to strengthen Swedish defence industry and give companies state support rather than more permitting requirements.

• reduced administrative burdendecisive»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove a third of businesses' administrative costs and a third of regulatory complexity”
• strengthened defence industry»Verka för att Sveriges teknologiska kunnande och kompetenta försvarsindustri kommer hela Nato till del« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for Swedish technological expertise and competent defence industry to be available to all NATO”
• faster permitting processes»Korta myndigheternas handläggningstider genom en bortre tidsgräns« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Shorten government agencies' processing times through a final time limit”
• state support, not more requirements»Ge företag som är engagerade i säkerhetskänslig verksamhet bättre stöd från staten att kunna möta cyberattacker, spionage och stöldförsök från främmande makt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give companies engaged in security-sensitive activities better support from the state to be able to meet cyberattacks, espionage and theft attempts from foreign powers”

The plan requires regulatory simplification and reducing small businesses' administrative burden, and establishes that unnecessary rules where the cost to businesses does not match social benefit should be removed. The counter-proposal wants to maintain the licensing requirement also for subcontractors and dismisses administrative burden as grounds for exemptions. The plan's requirement for a strengthened Swedish defence industry points in the same direction as the exemption.

• regulatory simplification for small businessdecisive»Verka för regelförenkling och avlasta småföretagens administrativa börda« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for regulatory simplification and reduce small businesses' administrative burden”
• unnecessary rules removed»För att få fler och växande företag är det viktigt att ta bort onödiga regler där kostnaderna för företagen inte motsvarar nyttan för samhället.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“To get more and growing companies it is important to remove unnecessary rules where the costs to businesses do not match the benefit to society.”
• regulatory burden costs»Byråkrati, regelbörda, skatter och administrativa kostnader riskerar att ta fokus från kärnverksamheten och ta udden av en entreprenörs drivkraft.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Bureaucracy, regulatory burden, taxes and administrative costs risk taking focus away from core business and dampening an entrepreneur's drive.”
• strengthened defence industry»Svensk försvarsindustri ska också stärkas genom att fortsatt satsa på inhemsk försvarsteknologi och att tydligare värdera det strategiska intresset av svenska leverantörer vid inköp av försvarsmateriel.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish defence industry should also be strengthened by continuing to invest in domestic defence technology and by more clearly valuing the strategic interest of Swedish suppliers in defence equipment procurement.”