Commercial services

The election manifesto explicitly states that grocery stores need to exist in more small communities and that rural areas must not be drained of resources. Measures that make it easier to establish new grocery stores, including limiting anti-competitive agreements, directly respond to that commitment. The plan is also explicitly critical of markets characterized by poor contract terms and wants to reduce the distance to services in rural areas.

• grocery stores in more communitiesdecisive»Äldreomsorg, förskola, skola och matbutik behöver finnas på fler mindre orter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Elderly care, preschool, school and grocery store need to exist in more small communities.”
• thriving rural areas»Oavsett var i landet vi bor så har vi ett gemensamt intresse av att landsbygden inte utarmas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Regardless of where in the country we live, we have a shared interest in rural areas not being drained.”
• accessible services in rural areas»städerna och närmare till välfärd och service på landsbygden.« (party programme ↗)“cities and closer to welfare and services in rural areas.”
• against anti-competitive terms»övervinster eller dåliga avtalsvillkor kan gemensamt ägda företag« (party programme ↗)“excess profits or poor contract terms can jointly owned companies”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan establishes that the entire country shall be able to live and develop, that the state shall be present throughout the country and that effective competition legislation shall counteract monopolies and concentration. Limiting anti-competitive agreements and facilitating the establishment of grocery stores in rural areas is in line with both these commitments. Commercial services in rural areas are not explicitly addressed, so support is derived.

• counteract monopoliesdecisive»konkurrenslagstiftning ska motverka monopol och koncentration.« (party programme ↗)“competition legislation shall counteract monopolies and concentration.”
• the entire country shall live»Alla har ett gemensamt intresse av att hela landet kan leva och utvecklas.« (party programme ↗)“Everyone has a common interest in the entire country being able to live and develop.”
• service throughout the country»Staten ska finnas närvarande i hela landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The state shall be present throughout the country.”
• the market's concentration drift»Dess inneboende drift till koncentration och monopol« (party programme ↗)“Its inherent drive toward concentration and monopoly”

The plan states that monopoly and cartel formation should be countered to create functioning markets and highlights good local services as a prerequisite for a living countryside where tens of thousands of small businesses operate. Limiting anti-competitive agreements, reviewing planning and building legislation and directing regional funds towards services in the countryside aligns with these commitments.

• counter monopolies and cartelsdecisive»Monopol- och kartellbildningar ska motverkas« (party programme ↗)“Monopoly and cartel formation should be countered”
• local services in the countryside»God närservice, informationsteknik,« (party programme ↗)“Good local services, information technology,”
• small business in the countryside»Det finns tiotusentals blomstrande småföretag runt« (party programme ↗)“There are tens of thousands of thriving small businesses around”

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 election manifesto identifies precisely that distances to commercial services are increasing in parts of the country and promises to clean up rules and bureaucracy that hamper rural areas. The plan also wants to dampen prices through freer markets and better competition, and the party programme makes competition an important driver. Restricting competition-restricting agreements, reviewing planning and building legislation and directing regional resources towards services in rural areas follows from this.

• clean up regulatory red tape in rural areasdecisive»Dyra, krångliga och innovationshämmande regelverk ligger som en våt filt över delar av landsbygden. Vi ska rensa upp bland överflödiga regler och byråkrati.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Expensive, complicated and innovation-hampering regulations lie like a wet blanket over parts of rural Sweden. We must clean up unnecessary rules and bureaucracy.”
• commercial services in rural areas»I delar av landet minskar befolkningen och avstånden till offentlig och kommersiell service ökar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In parts of the country, the population is declining and distances to public and commercial services are increasing.”
• freer markets and competition»Genom att skapa friare marknader och förbättra konkurrensen kan vi dämpa priserna ytterligare.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“By creating freer markets and improving competition, we can dampen prices further.”
• competition as driver»Konkurrens är en viktig drivkraft för utvecklingen av marknadsekonomin.« (party programme ↗)“Competition is an important driver for the development of market economy.”

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 conditions for business are to be strengthened throughout the country, where the most important thing is general measures for business climate, infrastructure and functioning services, and that regulatory burden for small businesses shall decrease at both municipal and state level. The counter-proposal's demands to limit competition-restricting agreements and review planning and building legislation to ease new grocery stores answer this and the plan's demand for strong competition law. Directing EU regional funds towards services and competition lies close to the plan's line that regional support shall be concentrated on competitiveness.

• business climate throughout the countrydecisive»att förbättra företagsklimatet och infrastrukturen, samt en fungerande offentlig service.« (party programme ↗)“to improve the business climate and infrastructure, and a functioning public service.”
• reduced regulatory burden»Regelbördan för små företag ska minska« (party programme ↗)“Regulatory burden for small businesses shall decrease”
• strong competition law»Därför behövs en stark konkurrenslagstiftning och konsumentlagar som ger rätt till korrekt« (party programme ↗)“Therefore strong competition law and consumer protection laws are needed that give the right to correct”
• targeted regional support»minska och koncentreras till satsningar som stärker konkurrenskraften och förmågan att hantera« (party programme ↗)“reduce and concentrate on investments that strengthen competitiveness and the ability to manage”

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 election manifesto explicitly promises to save local shops and that all of Sweden must function with service even outside the major cities. The party programme also requires effective competition policy that prevents restrictions on competition and that all of Sweden must thrive. The counter-proposal's requirement to restrict anti-competitive agreements, review planning and building legislation and direct EU funds to rural services thus align with the plan.

• save local shopsdecisive»Rädda lanthandeln genom att bredda driftstödet till dagligvarubutiker.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Save local shops by expanding operational support for grocery stores.”
• effective competition policy»effektiv konkurrenspolitik motverkar oligopol, monopol och illojal konkurrens.« (party programme ↗)“effective competition policy prevents oligopoly, monopoly and unfair competition.”
• service throughout the country»Hela Sverige ska fungera och det ska gå att bo och verka även utanför de stora städerna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All of Sweden must function and it must be possible to live and work even outside the major cities.”
• all of Sweden must thrive»Målet är att hela Sverige ska leva och att varje kommun och region ska vara ett fungerande samhälle« (party programme ↗)“The goal is that all of Sweden must thrive and that every municipality and region must be a functioning society”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan wants to make use of all of Sweden's possibilities, replace advanced detailed plans with simpler building plans and remove a third of regulatory red tape, and the party programme makes it the state's task to promote competition. Facilitating the establishment of grocery stores in rural areas by limiting competition-restricting agreements and reviewing planning and building legislation follows from that line.

• simpler building rulesdecisive»Ersätta avancerade detaljplaner med enklare byggplaner« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Replace advanced detailed plans with simpler building plans”
• all of Sweden shall function»Moderaterna vill ta vara på hela Sveriges möjligheter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Moderate Party wants to make use of all of Sweden's possibilities.”
• reduced regulatory red tape»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove a third of companies' administrative costs and a third of regulatory red tape”
• the state's task to promote competition»främja konkurrensen« (party programme ↗)“promote competition”

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 establishes that the primary tool for growth and jobs in rural areas is simpler rules and opportunities to grow, and that authorities must not put spokes in the wheel for businesses. It wants to facilitate business throughout the country and simplify planning and building processes. The counter-proposal's requirement for simpler establishment of food stores in rural areas is thus in line with the plan, while targeted EU funds are further from it.

• simpler rules in rural areasdecisive»Sverigedemokraterna ser potential för att utlokalisera fler myndighetsjobb till mindre orter men det främsta verktyget för tillväxt och jobb på landsbygd är enklare regler och möjligheter för landsbygden att växa.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats see potential for relocating more government jobs to smaller towns but the primary tool for growth and jobs in rural areas is simpler rules and opportunities for rural areas to grow.”
• supporting authorities»Myndigheterna får inte bli företagens fiender som sätter käppar i hjulen utan måste få en mer stödjande funktion.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Authorities must not become businesses' enemies that put spokes in the wheel but must get a more supporting function.”
• business throughout the country»Underlätta för industri och näringsliv i hela landet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Facilitate industry and business throughout the country”
• simplified planning process»Anpassa och förenkla regler och processer för planering och byggnation« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Adapt and simplify rules and processes for planning and construction”

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.