2024-03-062023/24:JuU30 · p.1JuUJustice
Proposal for a regulation on strengthened police cooperation regarding migrant smuggling and strengthening Europol's support for preventing and combating such criminal activity
Subsidiarity review of the EU proposal on stronger police cooperation against migrant smuggling
What's at stake: The review determines whether Sweden signals that policing against smuggling networks should in some respects be steered nationally rather than from EU level. That affects how quickly cross-border crime can be fought, and how much operational power shifts from national police forces to the EU's police agency.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The question is whether the Riksdag should object to parts of the European Commission's proposal on stronger police cooperation against migrant smuggling, above all the expanded operational powers for Europol, or whether the proposal should instead be supported in full as a way to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking more effectively.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee welcomes the thrust of the proposal and agrees that migrant smuggling and human trafficking are cross-border matters requiring action at EU level that individual member states cannot resolve on their own. At the same time it finds that parts of the proposal conflict with the principle of subsidiarity and that the Commission's own assessment is deficient. This concerns in particular the expansion of Europol's operational powers: a mandate for Europol's executive director to propose setting up an operational task force, the deployment of staff, and a reserve pool of member-state experts. The committee therefore considers that the Riksdag should send a reasoned opinion to the EU institutions.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 1 (C)
The dissenter (C) wants to strengthen police cooperation at EU level through Europol in order to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling more effectively.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: Riksdagen beslutar att lämna ett motiverat yttrande till Europaparlamentets, rådets och kommissionens ordförande med den lydelse som anges….
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 1 by C.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The decision would have gone the other way
Explicit commitments that contradicted the vote: KDKristdemokraterna, LLiberalerna, MModeraterna, SSocialdemokraterna, SDSverigedemokraterna
Ja 280–19Nej 37–262
Counterfactual: the parties above are moved to the position their own documents explicitly point at, carrying their whole contingent present. Every other party keeps its real figures, including dissenters and absentees.
How the AI parties would have voted
For each party: what its own plan – election manifesto and party programme – argues for in this case, next to how the party actually voted. The AI can only answer Yes or No; a party can also abstain.
| AI | Vote | Confidence | Evidence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V | Yes | Yes 20/0/0/4 | match | confidence: medium | explicit |
| S | No | Yes 93/0/0/13 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: high | explicit |
| MP | Yes | Yes 15/0/0/3 | match | confidence: low | derived |
| C | No | No 0/19/0/5 | match | confidence: high | explicit |
| L | No | Yes 13/0/0/3 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: high | explicit |
| KD | No | Yes 16/0/0/3 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: medium | explicit |
| M | No | Yes 60/0/0/8 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: medium | explicit |
| SD | No | Yes 61/0/0/11 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: medium | explicit |
Committee proposal
The Riksdag decides to submit a reasoned opinion to the presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission with the wording specified in Annex 2.
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen beslutar att lämna ett motiverat yttrande till Europaparlamentets, rådets och kommissionens ordförande med den lydelse som anges i bilaga 2.
Riksdag decision: The European Commission has proposed a new regulation on strengthening police cooperation to prevent, detect and investigate migrant smuggling and human trafficking and on strengthening Europol's support for preventing and combating such crimes and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/794. The Riksdag has assessed the proposal based on the so-called subsidiarity principle. The principle means that the EU may only act if the objectives of a planned action cannot be achieved by the Member States or if the objectives can be better achieved by taking action at the EU level. The principle protects the Member States' right to make their own decisions at the national level. The Riksdag takes a positive view of the proposal's approach and believes there is a great need for regulation at the EU level to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking more effectively than today. However, the Committee considers that the European Commission's proposal is too far-reaching in certain respects and therefore violates the subsidiarity principle. This applies to certain parts of the proposals on expanding Europol's operational powers and the proposal that requires Member States to establish specialized units within their national law enforcement authorities. Against this background, the Riksdag decided to submit its views in a so-called reasoned opinion to the presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission.
Counter-proposals
- The counter-proposal wants to strengthen police cooperation at the EU level through Europol to more effectively combat human trafficking and smuggling. (C) — Reservation 1
Plan vs actual vote
Every party, in chamber order: what its own plan pointed to, how it voted, and the reasoning behind both. Highlighted rows are where the two differ — but a vote that follows the plan is a result too, so the reasoning is there for every party.
The plan asserts that the party in its daily work generally opposes proposals that increase EU power and instead wants to restore power to the member states, and that supranational bodies that violate the sovereignty of elected parliaments are not a sustainable solution.
Plan documents: party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The plan asserts that the party in its daily work generally opposes proposals that increase EU power and instead wants to restore power to the member states, and that supranational bodies that violate the sovereignty of elected parliaments are not a sustainable solution. Expanding Europol's operational powers is precisely such a power shift. The plan simultaneously recognizes that human trafficking requires cooperation, but in interstate form.
Original (Swedish)
Planen slår fast att partiet i det dagliga arbetet generellt motsätter sig förslag som ökar EU:s makt och i stället vill föra tillbaka makt till medlemsländerna, och att överstatliga organ som kränker de folkvalda parlamentens suveränitet inte är någon hållbar lösning. Att utvidga Europols operativa befogenheter är just en sådan maktförskjutning. Planen erkänner samtidigt att människosmuggling kräver samarbete, men i mellanstatlig form.
- against increased EU powerdecisive»I det dagliga arbetet motsätter sig Vänsterpartiet generellt förslag som ökar EU:s makt och försöker istället föra tillbaka makt till medlemsländerna.« (party programme ↗)“In its daily work, the Left Party generally opposes proposals that increase EU power and instead seeks to restore power to the member states.”
- national parliament's sovereignty»Överstatliga organ som kränker de nationella folkvalda parlamentens suveränitet är ingen hållbar lösning.« (party programme ↗)“Supranational bodies that violate the sovereignty of national elected parliaments are not a sustainable solution.”
- interstate cooperation»De kan inte lösas utan internationellt samarbete och överenskommelser mellan stater.« (party programme ↗)“They cannot be solved without international cooperation and agreements between states.”
- criticism of the EU's border policy»EU bygger murar mot resten av världen.« (party programme ↗)“The EU is building walls against the rest of the world.”
The plan establishes that transnational crime is a common EU problem that requires expanded cooperation, and the election manifesto wants to see more and intensified international cooperation against smuggling.
Plan documents: party programme · 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan establishes that transnational crime is a common EU problem that requires expanded cooperation, and the election manifesto wants to see more and intensified international cooperation against smuggling. The counter-proposal's demands for strengthened police cooperation through Europol against human smuggling are therefore directly in line with the plan. That the party programme at the same time stands guard over the subsidiarity principle dampens but does not eliminate this commitment.
Original (Swedish)
Planen slår fast att gränsöverskridande brottslighet är ett gemensamt EU-problem som kräver utbyggt samarbete, och valmanifestet vill se fler och intensifierade internationella samarbeten mot smuggling. Motförslagets krav på stärkt polissamarbete via Europol mot människosmuggling ligger därför direkt i linje med planen. Att partiprogrammet samtidigt slår vakt om subsidiaritetsprincipen dämpar men upphäver inte detta åtagande.
- expanded EU cooperation against crimedecisive»Den gränsöverskridande brottsligheten är ett gemensamt problem inom EU, och kräver ett utbyggt samarbete.« (party programme ↗)“Transnational crime is a common problem within the EU, and requires expanded cooperation.”
- international cooperation against smuggling»Vi vill se fler och intensifierande internationella samarbeten mot smuggling av bland annat vapen och narkotika.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to see more and intensified international cooperation against smuggling of among other things weapons and narcotics.”
- EU cooperation as the foundation»Vi är övertygade om att EU-samarbetet är grunden för att lösa många av vår tids svåraste problem.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We are convinced that EU cooperation is the foundation for solving many of the most difficult problems of our time.”
- the subsidiarity principle shall be followed»Den så kallade subsidiaritetsprincipen ska följas.« (party programme ↗)“The so-called subsidiarity principle shall be followed.”
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 is decentralist and expresses fundamental scepticism toward decisions that move power further from people; it embraces intergovernmental cooperation where countries participate voluntarily, not expanded operational powers for EU bodies.
Plan documents: party programme · 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan is decentralist and expresses fundamental scepticism toward decisions that move power further from people; it embraces intergovernmental cooperation where countries participate voluntarily, not expanded operational powers for EU bodies. The plan's response to human smuggling is moreover more legal routes into the union rather than strengthened police supranationalism. The material is general and the assessment therefore uncertain.
Original (Swedish)
Planen är decentralistisk och uttrycker en grundläggande skepsis mot beslut som flyttar makt längre från människor; den bejakar mellanstatliga samarbeten där länder deltar frivilligt, inte utökade operativa befogenheter för EU-organ. Planens svar på människosmuggling är dessutom fler lagliga vägar in i unionen snarare än förstärkt polisiär överstatlighet. Underlaget är allmänt och bedömningen därför osäker.
- scepticism toward central controldecisive»Denna övertygelse har gett oss en grundläggande skepsis mot centralstyrning och beslut som flyttar makt längre ifrån människor.« (party programme ↗)“This conviction has given us fundamental scepticism toward central control and decisions that move power further from people.”
- intergovernmental before supranational»Vi är positiva till mellanstatliga samarbeten där länder deltar frivilligt i besluten.« (party programme ↗)“We are positive to intergovernmental cooperation where countries participate voluntarily in decisions.”
- more legal routes»Det måste skapas fler lagliga vägar för människor att invandra till unionen.« (party programme ↗)“More legal routes must be created for people to immigrate to the union.”
- legal routes against smuggling»Den som flyr ska ha fler lagliga vägar för att ta sig till säkerhet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Those who flee shall have more legal routes to get to safety.”
The policy platform explicitly states that joint policy should become more forceful precisely in the area of cross-border crime, while the EU should become narrower but more forceful.
Plan documents: party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The policy platform explicitly states that joint policy should become more forceful precisely in the area of cross-border crime, while the EU should become narrower but more forceful. The party also wants to see a society free from human trafficking. The counter-proposal's demand for strengthened police cooperation at EU level through Europol thus aligns with the plan, even though the plan simultaneously insists that decisions be made as close to the citizen as possible.
Original (Swedish)
Idéprogrammet slår uttryckligen fast att den gemensamma politiken bör bli kraftfullare just på området gränsöverskridande brottslighet, samtidigt som EU ska bli smalare men vassare. Partiet vill också se ett samhälle fritt från människohandel. Motförslagets krav på stärkt polissamarbete på EU-nivå genom Europol ligger därmed i linje med planen, även om planen samtidigt håller fast vid att beslut ska fattas så nära medborgaren som möjligt.
- stronger EU against cross-border crimedecisive»På områden som klimatomställningen, frihandeln och den gränsöverskridande brottsligheten bör den gemensamma politiken bli kraftfullare« (party programme ↗)“In areas such as climate transition, free trade and cross-border crime, common policy should become more forceful”
- narrower but more forceful EU»EU måste bli smalare, men vassare, göra färre saker men göra dem bättre.« (party programme ↗)“The EU must become narrower but more forceful, do fewer things but do them better.”
- combat human trafficking»vill se ett samhälle fritt från våld i hemmet, människohandel och prostitution.« (party programme ↗)“wants to see a society free from domestic violence, human trafficking and prostitution.”
- subsidiarity as limit»Principen måste vara att beslut fattas så nära medborgaren« (party programme ↗)“The principle must be that decisions are made as close to the citizen as possible”
The election manifesto requires a European FBI where Sweden participates fully in the EU's crime-fighting and Europol is given a clearer operational mandate, and the party programme wants to develop Europol into a European police force with investigative authority.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto · party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The election manifesto requires a European FBI where Sweden participates fully in the EU's crime-fighting and Europol is given a clearer operational mandate, and the party programme wants to develop Europol into a European police force with investigative authority. The counter-proposal's demands for strengthened police cooperation via Europol against human smuggling and human trafficking is exactly this. The plan also wants to see joint police and response forces, which goes further than what the counter-proposal asks for.
Original (Swedish)
Valmanifestet kräver ett europeiskt FBI där Sverige deltar fullt ut i EU:s brottsbekämpning och Europol ges ett tydligare operativt mandat, och partiprogrammet vill utveckla Europol till en europeisk polismyndighet med utredningsbefogenhet. Motförslagets krav på stärkt polissamarbete via Europol mot människosmuggling och människohandel är just detta. Planen vill dessutom se gemensamma polis- och insatsstyrkor, vilket går längre än vad motförslaget begär.
- operational mandate for Europoldecisive»Sverige ska delta fullt ut i EU:s brottsbekämpning och den europeiska polismyndigheten Europol ska ges ett tydligare operativt mandat att bekämpa internationell brottslighet och terrorism.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall participate fully in the EU's crime-fighting and the European police agency Europol shall be given a clearer operational mandate to combat international crime and terrorism.”
- Europol as police force»Europol ska utvecklas till en europeisk polismyndighet med befogenhet« (party programme ↗)“Europol shall be developed into a European police force with authority”
- joint response forces»gemensamma polis- och insatsstyrkor bör upprättas.« (party programme ↗)“joint police and response forces should be established.”
- cross-border crime-fighting»Gränsöverskridande brottslighet måste mötas med en gränsöverskridande polis.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Cross-border crime must be met with cross-border policing.”
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 requires close cooperation at EU level against serious cross-border crime and smuggling, with drugs and human trafficking as priority areas, and wants European police cooperation to be well-developed.
Plan documents: party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The plan requires close cooperation at EU level against serious cross-border crime and smuggling, with drugs and human trafficking as priority areas, and wants European police cooperation to be well-developed. The counter-proposal's demand for strengthened Europol cooperation is thus in line with the plan. The plan simultaneously requires clearly defined authority and a functioning subsidiarity review, which is the committee's objection.
Original (Swedish)
Planen kräver nära samarbete på EU-nivå mot allvarlig gränsöverskridande brottslighet och smuggling, med droger och människohandel som prioriterade områden, och vill att det europeiska polissamarbetet är väl utvecklat. Motförslagets krav på stärkt Europolsamarbete är därmed planenligt. Planen kräver samtidigt tydligt avgränsade befogenheter och en fungerande subsidiaritetsprövning, vilket är utskottets invändning.
- developed EU police cooperationdecisive»Det europeiska polissamarbetet ska vara väl utvecklat samtidigt som dess befogenheter ska vara tydligt avgränsade« (party programme ↗)“European police cooperation shall be well-developed while its authority shall be clearly defined”
- cooperation against cross-border crime»Det krävs ett nära samarbete på EU-nivå för att« (party programme ↗)“It requires close cooperation at EU level for”
- combat human trafficking»EU ska nyttjas för att med kraft motarbeta den sexualiserade slavhandeln med kvinnor och barn.« (party programme ↗)“The EU shall be used to forcefully combat sexual trafficking of women and children.”
- subsidiarity review in the EU»för tillämpning av subsidiaritetsprincipen i beslutsprocessen måste finnas.« (party programme ↗)“for application of the subsidiarity principle in the decision process must be.”
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 election manifesto establishes that the EU's focus should be on problems Sweden cannot handle alone, explicitly migration and security, and promises to strengthen Frontex and increase deportations through EU-wide agreements.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The election manifesto establishes that the EU's focus should be on problems Sweden cannot handle alone, explicitly migration and security, and promises to strengthen Frontex and increase deportations through EU-wide agreements. Enhanced police cooperation via Europol against human smuggling thus aligns with the plan. That the plan at the same time maintains that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level makes the support less unambiguous.
Original (Swedish)
Valmanifestet slår fast att EU:s fokus ska ligga på problem som Sverige inte kan hantera ensamt, uttryckligen migration och säkerhet, och lovar att stärka Frontex och öka utvisningarna genom EU-gemensamma avtal. Ett stärkt polissamarbete via Europol mot människosmuggling ligger därmed i linje med planen. Att planen samtidigt håller fast vid att beslut ska fattas på lägsta möjliga nivå gör stödet mindre entydigt.
- the EU solves cross-border problemsdecisive»EU:s fokus ska ligga på att lösa problem som Sverige inte kan hantera ensamt, till exempel handel, klimat, migration och säkerhet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The EU's focus should be on solving problems that Sweden cannot handle alone, for example trade, climate, migration and security.”
- stronger external border control»Stärka EU:s gräns- och kustbevakning, Frontex, för att förbättra kontrollen över EU:s yttre gräns« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen the EU's border and coast guard, Frontex, to improve control of the EU's external border”
- EU-wide tools»Kraftigt öka antalet utvisningar genom fler EU-gemensamma återtagandeavtal« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Greatly increase the number of deportations through more EU-wide return agreements”
- decisions at the lowest possible level»Beslut ska fattas på lägsta möjliga nivå, så nära medborgarna som möjligt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Decisions should be made at the lowest possible level, as close to citizens as possible.”
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 explicitly states that EU cooperation in the short term shall be focused on strengthened border protection and work against cross-border crime, and wants to strengthen European cooperation against hybrid threats and terrorism.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan explicitly states that EU cooperation in the short term shall be focused on strengthened border protection and work against cross-border crime, and wants to strengthen European cooperation against hybrid threats and terrorism. Stopping human trafficking and migration movements to Europe is a central goal in the plan. The plan's resistance to power transfers pulls in the opposite direction, but substantively the plan supports more effective police cooperation against smuggling.
Original (Swedish)
Planen anger uttryckligen att EU-samarbetet i närtid ska fokuseras på stärkt gränsskydd och arbete mot gränsöverskridande brottslighet, och vill förstärka det europeiska samarbetet mot hybridhot och terrorism. Att stoppa människosmuggling och migrationsrörelser till Europa är ett centralt mål i planen. Planens motstånd mot maktöverföringar drar i motsatt riktning, men i sak stöder planen ett effektivare polissamarbete mot smuggling.
- EU against cross-border crimedecisive»Samarbetet i EU behöver i närtid fokuseras på att stärka gränsskyddet och arbetet mot gränsöverskridande brottslighet och islamism samt för mer effektivt återvändande av människor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“EU cooperation needs in the short term to be focused on strengthening border protection and work against cross-border crime and Islamism and for more effective returns of people.”
- strengthened European cooperation»Förstärka det europeiska samarbetet mot islamistiska organisationer, hybridhot och terrorism« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen European cooperation against Islamist organizations, hybrid threats and terrorism”
- stop migration movements»Stoppa migrationsrörelser till Europa och Sverige« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop migration movements to Europe and Sweden”
- intergovernmentalism before supranationality»Återupprätta mellanstatligheten och stärka väljarnas påverkansmöjligheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Restore intergovernmentalism and strengthen voters' possibilities of influence”
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.
Share and embed
Sources and documents
- The committee report on riksdagen.se (2023/24:JuU30)
- Committee report full text (HB01JuU30)
- Per-MP voting data (API)
- Case status (API)
Source: The Swedish Parliament