Regulation of lobbyists

The party programme makes the principle of public access and the right to scrutinize those in power into cornerstones of democracy, and warns that decision-makers adapt themselves to powerful economic interests beyond public control. The election manifesto requires that the role of politics is re-established and that accountability is demanded from those who decide. A mandatory and public lobby register is precisely such a transparency instrument and is therefore supported by the plan's principles.

• public access as foundation of democracydecisive»föreningsfriheten, yttrande- och tryckfriheten, offentlighetsprincipen« (party programme ↗)“freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and the principle of public access”
• right to scrutinize those in power»delta i offentlig debatt, granska makthavarna« (party programme ↗)“participate in public debate, scrutinize those in power”
• economic interests control politics»beslutsfattare anpassar sig till mäktiga ekonomiska intressen bortom« (party programme ↗)“decision-makers adapt themselves to powerful economic interests beyond”
• demand accountability from those in power»Att återupprätta politikens roll, och utkräva ansvar från de som bestämmer, är något som du är med och gör.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Re-establishing the role of politics, and demanding accountability from those who decide, is something you are part of doing.”

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 builds the entire democratic process and public administration on openness and transparency, and enjoins parties and public bodies to with all force prevent any form of improper influence. A mandatory and public lobbying register gives citizens precisely that insight into which interests influence decisions. The plan already requires open disclosure of contributions from outside interests.

• openness and transparencydecisive»Den demokratiska processen och samhällsförvaltningen måste bygga på offentlighet« (party programme ↗)“The democratic process and public administration must build on openness”
• prevent improper influence»ett gemensamt ansvar att med all kraft förhindra all form av otillbörlig påverkan« (party programme ↗)“a shared responsibility to with all force prevent all forms of improper influence”
• open disclosure of contributions»Partierna ska vara skyldiga att öppet redovisa de bidrag de erhåller« (party programme ↗)“Parties shall be obligated to openly disclose the contributions they receive”

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 party programme states that influence shall not be determined by economic resources and that lobbying shall therefore be regulated, and that citizens shall always be able to scrutinize power. A mandatory and public lobbying register that covers parliament, government and agencies is the concrete form for that transparency. The public access principle shall also be protected and strengthened.

• regulated lobbyingdecisive»Inflytande ska inte avgöras av vilka ekonomiska resurser man har, och därför ska lobbyismen regleras« (party programme ↗)“Influence shall not be determined by what economic resources one has, and therefore lobbying shall be regulated”
• citizen scrutiny of power»Medborgarna ska alltid kunna granska makten.« (party programme ↗)“Citizens shall always be able to scrutinize power.”
• public access principle protected»Offentlighetsprincipen och meddelarfriheten måste värnas och stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The public access principle and freedom of expression must be protected and strengthened.”
• easily accessible information»En deltagande demokrati kräver lättillgänglig information« (party programme ↗)“Participatory democracy requires easily accessible information”

The election manifesto explicitly promises to introduce a lobby register as part of work for a more transparent Sweden. The counter-proposal's demand for a mandatory and public register covering parliament, government and agencies is exactly this commitment. The party programme sees openness and transparency as fundamental preconditions to prevent corruption.

• introduce a lobby registerdecisive»Vi vill inrätta en antikorruptionsmyndighet, skärpa regler mot korruption och införa ett lobbyregister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We wish to establish an anti-corruption agency, tighten rules against corruption and introduce a lobby register.”
• increased transparency»Sverige ska bli ännu mer transparent.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall become even more transparent.”
• openness against corruption»Öppenhet och transparens är grundförutsättningar för frihet, demokrati och för att förhindra korruption och övergrepp.« (party programme ↗)“Openness and transparency are fundamental preconditions for freedom, democracy and to prevent corruption and abuse.”

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 principle of public access has fundamental importance for democracy and that documents shall be made more accessible to facilitate transparency. The same transparency idea carries the requirements for law-regulated disclosure of parties' financing and cooling-off rules for government ministers. A mandatory and public lobby register is an application of precisely this line.

• transparency and oversightdecisive»Offentlighetsprincipen har en grundläggande betydelse« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access has fundamental importance”
• accessible documents»Diarier och allmänna handlingar bör i större« (party programme ↗)“Diaries and official documents should to a greater”
• law-regulated party financing»källorna för sin finansiering ska vara reglerad i lag.« (party programme ↗)“sources of its financing shall be regulated in law.”
• scrutiny as democracy's lifeblood»Demokratins livsluft är att fler granskar, diskuterar och pekar ut samhällets brister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Democracy's lifeblood is that more scrutinise, discuss and point out society's shortcomings.”

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 party programme makes the public access principle central to an open democracy and wants secrecy to be used restrictively. It also requires that the decision-making process is surveyable for citizens so that responsibility can be demanded, which is precisely the oversight need the counter-proposal points to. An obligatory and public lobby register follows from these openness commitments.

• openness and restrictive secrecydecisive»Offentlighetsprincipen, det vill säga tillgången till allmänna handlingar, är central för en öppen och vital demokrati. Sekretessmöjligheten ska nyttjas restriktivt.« (party programme ↗)“The public access principle, that is access to public records, is central to an open and vital democracy. The secrecy option shall be used restrictively.”
• surveyable decision-making process»Beslutsprocessen måste vara överblickbar för medborgarna och därmed ge möjlighet att utkräva ansvar.« (party programme ↗)“The decision-making process must be surveyable for citizens and thereby provide the opportunity to demand responsibility.”
• continuous citizen participation»Det ideal som kristdemokraterna framhäver är en demokrati där varje medborgare ges möjligheter till deltagande, inflytande och delaktighet, inte bara vid valtillfället utan kontinuerligt.« (party programme ↗)“The ideal that the Christian Democrats emphasize is a democracy where every citizen is given opportunities for participation, influence and involvement, not only at election times but continuously.”
• avoid unnecessary bureaucracy»Byråkrati och krångliga regler ska motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“Bureaucracy and complicated rules shall be counteracted.”

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 contains no commitment to a lobby register, and its consistent line is to reduce red tape and bureaucracy rather than add new mandatory registration requirements for the Riksdag, government, authorities and municipalities. Accountability in the plan happens instead through tightened civil service responsibility. A mandatory and comprehensive lobby register therefore goes beyond what the plan calls for.

• reduced red tapedecisive»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove one third of companies' administrative costs and one third of red tape”
• regulation at minimum level»Minska regelkrånglet och onödig byråkrati, bland annat genom att motverka överimplementering i Sverige av EU-beslut – som huvudregel ska EU-direktiv genomföras på miniminivå« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce red tape and unnecessary bureaucracy, including by counteracting over-implementation in Sweden of EU decisions - as a main principle EU directives should be implemented at minimum level”
• tightened civil service responsibility»Skärpa tjänstemannaansvaret så att du som skattebetalare vet att med all offentlig maktutövning följer ett ansvar för de beslut som fattas« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Tighten civil service responsibility so that you as a taxpayer know that with all public exercise of power comes responsibility for the decisions made”
• vibrant political life»Sverige ska ha ett levande politiskt liv« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should have a vibrant political life”

flags: citat_migrerat

The plan wants to implement measures that increase transparency and the opportunity for political accountability, and criticises an informal agency governance model that complicates precisely this. The counter-proposal's requirement for a mandatory and public lobby register that covers the Riksdag, government and agencies is such a transparency measure. The plan also points out that organised interests are politically affiliated in a way that distorts democratic conditions.

• increased transparencydecisive»Tjänstemannaansvar ska införas och åtgärder ska genomföras för att öka transparensen och möjligheten att utkräva politiskt ansvarsutkrävande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Civil service responsibility should be implemented and measures should be undertaken to increase transparency and the opportunity to hold politicians accountable.”
• against informal power exercise»En politiserad utnämningsmakt tillsammans med en i hög grad informell myndighetsstyrningsmodell försvårar demokratiskt ansvarsutkrävande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A politicised appointment power combined with a highly informal agency governance model complicates democratic accountability.”
• insight into interest influence»Inom civilsamhället är både fackförbund och andra organisationer med viktiga samhällsuppdrag i hög grad partipolitiskt knutna på ett sätt som riskerar att snedvrida de demokratiska förutsättningarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Within civil society, both trade unions and other organisations with important societal assignments are highly politically affiliated in a way that risks distorting democratic conditions.”
• strengthened accountability»Sverigedemokraterna vill stärka möjligheter för ansvarsutkrävande när hanteringen av de offentliga resurserna brister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want to strengthen opportunities for accountability when the management of public resources falls short.”

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.