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POLITICS

Welcome to Sweden’s power players week

You're going to hear the word Almedalen a lot this week. Whether you love or loathe politics, this is annual gathering of Sweden's power players on the island of Gotland is an event you need to know about.

Published: 27 June 2015 06:16 CEST
Updated: 29 June 2015 07:12 CEST
Welcome to Sweden's power players week
Centre Party leader Annie Lööf, speaking on Sunday. Photo: TT
Let's start with the name. What exactly does Almedalen even mean?
 
Almedalen translates as 'elm valley' in English. It is the name of the park in Visby on the island of Gotland, where Sweden's party leaders hold their most important speeches of the year during Almedalen Week.
 
Okay, so what is Almedalen Week then?
 
Almedalen Week (usually shortened to just Almedalen) crams Sweden's political conference season into just eight days.
 
It's been going for more than 40 years and started after former Swedish Social Democrat Prime Minister Olof Palme spoke from the back of a lorry in Visby back in 1968. Since then it has mushroomed in size with more than 20,000 people attending each summer, from politicians to lobbyists, journalists and campaigners.
 
Why should I care if I'm not Swedish?
 
Almedalen is one of the biggest political gatherings on the planet that most people outside of Sweden have never heard of. But the debates this week will dig into Swedish themes and topics that are already of global interest, from paternity leave to free schools, laws that make buying sex illegal to the nation's defence strategy in the face of rising Russian aggression.
 
How do I get an invite then?
 
You don't need one. Most events are free and the idea is that anyone who wants to discuss a current social issue should be able to participate. In practice, good luck getting to Gotland. Hotels, apartments and even camp sites usually get booked up months in advance, while ferries and flights to the island quickly sell out.
 
So if I'm going to be following Almedalen from my sofa, how do I know when interesting stuff is happening?
 
That's where The Local comes in. We're relocating our office from Stockholm to Visby for the first time and we'll be reporting on the hottest events and speeches throughout the week. Since most – but not all – speeches and events will be held in Swedish, we'll be the only news site offering live coverage in English, focussing on the most innovative proposals and political ideas to emerge from the gathering.
 
You'll find information on our home page, in our special Almedalen 2015 section and by following our updates on Twitter.
 
Each parliamentary party gets one day at their disposal, following a rotating pattern designed to make sure that smaller groups aren't confined to the fringes of the festival. Most parties start their days taking part in early morning radio and television interviews before holding events and seminars, with leaders holding key speeches at 7pm.
 
 

All of Sweden's major political leaders will be present at Almedalen. Photo: TT
 
Here's the timetable for 2015
 
Sunday June 28th – Centerpartiet (Centre Party)
 
Monday June 29th – Socialdemokraterna (Social Democrats)
 
Tuesday June 30th – Kristdemokraterna (Christian Democrats)
 
Wednesday July 1st – Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats)
 
Thursday July 2nd – Miljöpartiet (Green Party)
 
Friday July 3rd – Moderaterna (Moderate Party)
 
Saturday July 4th – Vänsterpartiet (Left Party)
 
Sunday July 5th – Folkpartiet (Liberal Party)
 
What else is going on this year?
 
There are around 3000 events on the official programme this year, from speeches by global international guests including writer Naomi Klein, to Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis (who's currently playing a major role in Greece crisis talks) and leading business figures such as Tina Fordham, Chief Global Political Analyst at Citibank. Elsewhere you can party with feminist campaign groups, mingle with Swedish start-ups or even let your hair down at lunchtime disco sessions designed to encourage visitors to take a break and mingle.
 
We can't wait.
 
For members

WORK PERMITS

Business leaders: Work permit threshold ‘has no place in Swedish labour model’

Sweden's main business group has attacked a proposal to exempt some jobs from a new minimum salary for work permits, saying it is "unacceptable" political interference in the labour model and risks seriously affecting national competitiveness.

Published: 25 April 2024 17:37 CEST
Updated: 26 April 2024 06:11 CEST
Business leaders: Work permit threshold 'has no place in Swedish labour model'

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise said in its response to the government’s consultation, submitted on Thursday afternoon, that it not only opposed the proposal to raise the minimum salary for a work permit to Sweden’s median salary (currently 34,200 kronor a month), but also opposed plans to exempt some professions from the higher threshold. 

“To place barriers in the way of talent recruitment by bringing in a highly political salary threshold in combination with labour market testing is going to worsen the conditions for Swedish enterprise in both the short and the long term, and risks leading to increased fraud and abuse,” the employer’s group said.   

The group, which represents businesses across most of Sweden’s industries, has been critical of the plans to further raise the salary threshold for work permits from the start, with the organisation’s deputy director general, Karin Johansson, telling The Local this week that more than half of those affected by the higher threshold would be skilled graduate recruits Swedish businesses sorely need.   

But the fact that it has not only rejected the higher salary threshold, but also the proposed system of exemptions, will nonetheless come as a blow to Sweden’s government, and particular the Moderate Party led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, which has long claimed to be the party of business. 

The confederation complained that the model proposed in the conclusions of the government inquiry published in February would give the government and political parties a powerful new role in setting salary conditions, undermining the country’s treasured system of collective bargaining. 

The proposal for the higher salary threshold, was, the confederation argued, “wrong in principle” and did “not belong in the Swedish labour market”. 

“That the state should decide on the minimum salary for certain foreign employees is an unacceptable interference in the Swedish collective bargaining model, where the parties [unions and employers] weigh up various needs and interested in negotiations,” it wrote. 

In addition, the confederation argued that the proposed system where the Sweden Public Employment Service and the Migration Agency draw up a list of exempted jobs, which would then be vetted by the government, signified the return of the old system of labour market testing which was abolished in 2008.

“The government agency-based labour market testing was scrapped because of it ineffectiveness, and because it was unreasonable that government agencies were given influence over company recruitment,” the confederation wrote. 

“The system meant long handling times, arbitrariness, uncertainty for employers and employees, as well as an indirect union veto,” it added. “Nothing suggests it will work better this time.” 

For a start, it said, the Public Employment Service’s list of professions was inexact and outdated, with only 179 professions listed, compared to 430 monitored by Statistics Sweden. This was particularly the case for new skilled roles within industries like battery manufacturing. 

“New professions or smaller professions are not caught up by the classification system, which among other things is going to make it harder to recruit in sectors which are important for the green industrial transition,” the confederation warned. 

Rather than implement the proposals outlined in the inquiry’s conclusions, it concluded, the government should instead begin work on a new national strategy for international recruitment. 

“Sweden instead needs a national strategy aimed at creating better conditions for Swedish businesses to be able to attract, recruit and retain international competence.”

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