Greater transparency in political processes: lobbying, party financing and organisations' contributions
What's at stake: The rules affect how much the public gets to know about the money and the lobbying behind political decisions, and they concern lobbyists, parties and candidates as well as trade unions, employers' organisations and their members. Requiring transparency and voluntariness when labour-market organisations give contributions for party-political purposes is a novelty in principle in Swedish law, and during preparation it has been questioned both whether the rules really serve their purposes and whether they are proportionate.
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 adopt the entire package of new transparency rules for political processes - an act on transparency in communication aimed at influencing political decisions, tighter rules on transparency in the financing of parties and candidates including a ban on anonymous and foreign donations, and an act on labour-market organisations' contributions for party-political purposes - or whether the requirement of individual members' consent for organisations' political contributions should be rejected.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee shares the government's assessment that legislative changes are needed to better serve the public interest in transparency in political processes. The public has a legitimate interest in knowing which financial interests are linked to parties and candidates, the ban on anonymous donations should be designed so that it cannot be circumvented, and a ban on foreign donations is important as a matter of principle. The committee also backs the new act on transparency in lobbyists' contacts with political decision-makers, and the rules on transparency and voluntariness for individual members when labour-market organisations give contributions for party-political purposes, having regard to the individual's right to political self-determination and to the fact that Swedish law today gives members no legally effective way of determining what their membership fee may be used for.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 1 (S, V, C, MP)
The reservation (S, V, C, MP) wants the Riksdag to reject the proposal that individual members' consent be required for labour-market organisations to give contributions for party-political purposes, but does not raise the same objection to the other parts of the transparency reform.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
V–
S–
MP–
C–
L–
KD–
M–
SD–
YesNoAbstainAbsent
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: adopting the government's legislative proposal and rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 1 by S, V, C, MP.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The plan's stance / Actual vote
AI
Vote
Confidence
Evidence
Vown reservation
–
No 0/21/0/0
Sown reservation
–
No 0/105/0/1
MPown reservation
–
No 0/18/0/0
Cown reservation
–
No 0/24/0/0
L
–
Yes 16/0/0/0
KD
–
Yes 18/0/0/1
M
–
Yes 66/0/0/0
SD
–
Yes 70/0/0/0
Committee proposal
The Riksdag adopts the Government's proposal for
1. law on transparency in communication intended to influence political decisions,
2. law with provisions on labor market organizations' contributions for partisan political purposes,
3. law amending the Law (2018:90) on transparency in party financing, with the amendment that section 32 shall consist of a single paragraph.
Thereby, the Riksdag grants proposition 2025/26:258 points 1-3 and rejects the motions
2025/26:4151 by Jennie Nilsson et al. (S) and
2025/26:4184 by Malin Björk et al. (C).
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen antar regeringens förslag till
1. lag om insyn i kommunikation med syfte att påverka politiska beslut,
2. lag med bestämmelser om arbetsmarknadsorganisationers bidrag för partipolitiska ändamål,
3. lag om ändring i lagen (2018:90) om insyn i finansiering av partier, med den ändringen att 32 § ska bestå av ett enda stycke.
Därmed bifaller riksdagen proposition 2025/26:258 punkterna 1-3 och avslår motionerna
2025/26:4151 av Jennie Nilsson m.fl. (S) och
2025/26:4184 av Malin Björk m.fl. (C).
Riksdag decision: Public transparency in political processes is to increase. The Riksdag approved the Government's proposal for new legislation aimed at this. The decision encompasses two new laws as well as amendments to an existing law.
In the law on transparency in party financing, among other things, a prohibition against receiving anonymous and foreign contributions is introduced, regardless of amount. The parties' duty to disclose information shall also be expanded and the oversight of compliance with the rules shall be tightened.
A new law shall regulate the influence of decision-makers, among other things through advocacy actors (lobbyists) registering with Kammarkollegiet (the Government Offices), as well as disclosing information about their communication with political decision-makers.
The decision also includes a new law regulating partisan political contributions from labor market organizations, such as trade unions and employer organizations. The law includes among other things that a member of a labor market organization shall be able to submit a statement that his or her membership fee shall not be used as a contribution for partisan political purposes.
The new legislation enters into force on 1 July 2027.
Counter-proposals
The counter-proposal wants Parliament to reject the proposal for member consent requirements on organizational political donations. (S, V, C, MP) — Reservation 1