Procurement, unscrupulous actors and national security

The plan requires that public procurement is used strategically to guarantee and strengthen labor rights and working conditions and that collective agreement requirements are set. Making it easier to exclude unserious bidders and strengthening control against exploitation of foreign workers is the same commitment in practice. Wage dumping and economic crime are identified as central threats, and it is companies that are responsible for economic crimes.

• strategic procurement for labor rightsdecisive»Den offentliga upphandlingen omfattar mycket stora ekonomiska värden. Den måste användas strategiskt av upphandlare på olika nivåer för att garantera och stärka arbetsrätt och arbetsvillkor.« (party programme ↗)“Public procurement comprises very large economic values. It must be used strategically by procurement officers at different levels to guarantee and strengthen labor rights and working conditions.”
• collective agreement requirement in procurement»Vänsterpartiet ställer krav på kollektivavtal vid offentliga upphandlingar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party demands collective agreements in public procurement.”
• against wage dumping and economic crime»Lönedumpning, ekonomisk brottslighet och utnyttjande är centrala hot idag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Wage dumping, economic crime and exploitation are central threats today.”
• control directed at companies»Det är företagen som överlägset står för de flesta ekobrotten, inte enskilda som fuskar med våra trygghetssystem.« (party programme ↗)“It is companies that overwhelmingly are responsible for most economic crimes, not individuals who cheat our social security systems.”

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 requires that public procurement bodies shall be models in promoting fair competition and that welfare crime and tax evasion are stopped. It also wants to tear down secrecy barriers between authorities so they can do their job, which is precisely the counter-proposal's information portal for data sharing. Being able more easily to exclude unserious bidders follows directly from these commitments.

• procurement bodies as modelsdecisive»Krafttag mot arbetslivskriminaliteten. Arbetslivs kriminalitet ska inte finnas på svensk arbetsmarknad och offentliga arbetsgivare och upphandlare ska vara föredömen i att verka för en sund konkurrens.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Decisive action against workplace crime. Workplace crime shall not exist on the Swedish labour market and public employers and procurement bodies shall be models in promoting fair competition.”
• tear down secrecy barriers between authorities»Sekretesshinder mellan myndigheter ska rivas så att polisen och andra yrkesgrupper kan göra sitt jobb.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Secrecy barriers between authorities shall be torn down so that the police and other professions can do their job.”
• stop welfare crime»Skattefusk, välfärdsbrottslighet och penningtvätt ska stoppas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Tax evasion, welfare crime and money laundering shall be stopped.”
• no competition through exploitation»Det ska aldrig löna sig att begå brott eller skaffa sig konkurrensfördelar genom att försumma de anställdas rätt till en trygg arbetsmiljö.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It shall never pay to commit crime or gain competitive advantage by neglecting employees' right to a safe working environment.”

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The plan demands that social conditions and working environment are set as requirements in procurements and that all forms of corruption are combated. The counter-proposal's demands to more easily exclude unreliable bidders, strengthen control against exploitation of foreign workers and share information between authorities serve these commitments. The plan also wants to strengthen inter-agency cooperation to strike at criminal activity in corporate form.

• social requirements in procurementdecisive»I upphandlingar ska krav ställas vad gäller miljö, sociala villkor samt arbetsmiljö.« (party programme ↗)“In procurements requirements shall be set regarding environment, social conditions and working environment.”
• combat corruption»Alla former av korruption måste motarbetas.« (party programme ↗)“All forms of corruption must be combated.”
• strengthened inter-agency cooperation»stoppa finansieringen av de kriminella gängen genom att stärka myndighetssamverkan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“stop the financing of criminal gangs by strengthening inter-agency cooperation”
• quality before lowest price»Vid offentliga upphandlingar ska miljö- och kvalitetsaspekterna viktas betydligt tyngre än i dag.« (party programme ↗)“In public procurements environmental and quality aspects shall be weighted significantly more than today.”

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 wants to tighten rules against corruption, establish an anti-corruption agency and make Sweden more transparent, and it demands vigorous action against crimes that harm businesses. The party programme demands fair and predictable rules of the game and competition-neutral regulations. Making it easier to exclude unreliable bidders, strengthening control against exploitation of foreign labor and sharing information between authorities serves precisely these commitments.

• tightened rules against corruptiondecisive»Sverige ska bli ännu mer transparent. Vi vill inrätta en antikorruptionsmyndighet, skärpa regler mot korruption och införa ett lobbyregister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall become even more transparent. We want to establish an anti-corruption agency, tighten rules against corruption and introduce a lobbying register.”
• vigorous action against crimes against businesses»krafttag mot brott emot företag« (2022 manifesto ↗)“vigorous action against crimes against businesses”
• predictable rules of the game»Ekonomin ska ha givna och förutsägbara spelregler« (party programme ↗)“The economy shall have fair and predictable rules of the game”
• competition neutrality»näringslivet får konkurrensneutrala regelverk« (party programme ↗)“business receives competition-neutral regulations”

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 requires that laws and regulations protect fair competition and legal security, and that authorities can effectively share information with each other. More easily being able to exclude disreputable bidders, strengthening control against exploitation of foreign workers and establishing an information portal follow from these commitments. The plan also sees access to strategic assets by undemocratic states as a security question, which supports weighing national security interests in procurement.

• fair competitiondecisive»slå vakt om äganderätt, konkurrens på lika villkor, rättssäkerhet« (party programme ↗)“protect property rights, fair competition, legal security”
• information sharing between authorities»myndigheter effektivt kan dela information med varandra.« (party programme ↗)“authorities can effectively share information with each other.”
• national security interests»odemokratiska eller rentav totalitära stater förvärvar strategiska tillgångar« (party programme ↗)“undemocratic or even totalitarian states acquire strategic assets”
• counter exploitation of workers»systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring inte ska missbrukas för till exempel svartjobb« (party programme ↗)“the system for labour immigration should not be abused for example for undeclared work”

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 requires a comprehensive review of secrecy rules so that authorities can share information with each other, which is precisely what the information portal aims to do. The plan furthermore gives the state the role of overseeing that legislation and good ethics are upheld in the market and that disloyal competition is countered. That it be easier to exclude unreliable bidders follows from this.

• authorities shall share informationdecisive»Total översyn av sekretessreglerna, så att myndigheter kan dela uppgifter mellan sig för att förebygga och klara upp brott.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Comprehensive review of secrecy rules, so that authorities can share information between themselves to prevent and solve crimes.”
• good ethics in the market»lagstiftningen och en god etik upprätthålls på marknaden.« (party programme ↗)“legislation and good ethics are upheld in the market.”
• counter disloyal competition»effektiv konkurrenspolitik motverkar oligopol, monopol och illojal konkurrens.« (party programme ↗)“effective competition policy counters oligopoly, monopoly and disloyal competition.”
• stable institutions»effektiv konkurrens, stabila institutioner och etiskt handlande.« (party programme ↗)“effective competition, stable institutions and ethical conduct.”

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 line is that tax funds shall not end up with unreliable recipients and that secrecy barriers between authorities shall be removed when they stand in the way of control, while public waste shall be combated. To more easily be able to exclude unreliable bidders and allow authorities to share information in an information portal is in line with this. The plan also promises government support to protect security-sensitive activities against foreign power.

• no tax funds to unreliabledecisive»Stoppa utbetalningar av skattemedel till extremister« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop disbursement of tax funds to extremists”
• information sharing between authorities»Undanröja alla sekretesshinder mellan socialtjänst och polis« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove all secrecy barriers between social services and police”
• respect for tax funds»Offentligt slöseri i alla former ska bekämpas.« (party programme ↗)“Public waste in all forms shall be combated.”
• protection of security-sensitive activities»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 cyber attacks, espionage and theft attempts from foreign power”

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 points out shortcomings in public procurement and requires that fraud and systems that encourage fraud and corruption be counteracted, and that the cooperation of authorities and tools to detect criminals be improved. It also describes trading in residence permits and exploitation of foreign labour as a real problem. The counter-proposal's requirements for easier exclusion of unserious bidders, strengthened control and an information portal follow from these commitments.

• counteract fraud and corruptiondecisive»Både fusk och sådana system som tenderar att locka till fusk och korruption ska motverkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Both fraud and such systems that tend to encourage fraud and corruption shall be counteracted.”
• authority cooperation against crime»Rättsväsendets samverkan mellan myndigheter och verktyg för att upptäcka och lagföra kriminella ska förbättras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The judicial system's cooperation between authorities and tools to detect and prosecute criminals shall be improved.”
• shortcomings in procurement»Den offentliga sektorn har dels problem med upphandlingar, ekonomistyrning och uppföljning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The public sector has partly problems with procurement, financial management and follow-up.”
• stop exploitation of labour»Korruption, fusk och handel med både uppehållstillstånd och människor är vanligt förekommande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Corruption, fraud and trading in both residence permits and people are common.”

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.