Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

POLITICS

These are the next steps for Sweden’s future migration laws

A Swedish parliament committee set up to work out a new migration policy for Sweden will not put forward an overall proposal for a new law, after negotiations between the parties broke down. So what happens next?

Published: 7 July 2020 17:26 CEST
Updated: 10 July 2020 09:37 CEST
These are the next steps for Sweden's future migration laws
Sweden's current temporary migration law is set to run out next year. Photo: Marcus Ericsson/TT

All Sweden's major parties have agreed that migration law needs an overhaul, and last year a Migration Committee, with representatives from all eight parliamentary parties, was set up to explore exactly how this should be done. But talks broke down this week – just weeks before a proposal was set to be presented.

Instead of a comprehensive proposal for an overall new migration policy, the committee will now instead put forward separate proposals for new laws in the area of migration, wherever there is a parliamentary majority.

The proposals may include temporary residence permits, protection on humanitarian grounds, rules for bringing a partner to Sweden and requirements around income levels and household size – important legislation that will affect people who want or need to move to Sweden, as well as many current residents.

Gathering enough votes may take different forms depending on the exact proposal. The Social Democrats and Green Party, as well as the Centre Party, Liberals and Left Party for example support a new rule for protection on humanitarian grounds in principle, but the conservative Moderates do not.

But temporary residence permits for asylum seekers (rather than permanent) are backed by among others the Social Democrats and the Moderates.

Because the ruling Social Democrats and opposition party the Moderates – the two biggest parties in parliament – failed to agree on a comprehensive plan, it means several of the latter's individual proposals will not be put forward by the committee (the Moderates would in theory still be able to put them to parliament on their own).

Some of the proposals that will not be included therefore include a 'volume target' (a proposed cap on the number of asylum seekers who can enter Sweden each year), a qualification process for certain welfare benefits, and new measures to make people who have received a deportation notice leave the country.

What's going to happen next?

The Migration Committee is set to decide on its final report by July 23rd, and present it to the government by August 15th. The next likely step is that the government sends the proposals out for a consultation round, after which it may decide to put them to parliament for a vote. Only after that would there be a law change.

The idea is that the proposals put forward by the committee should in theory have as much support in parliament as possible, but tough negotiations are still expected before the government takes the proposals to parliament for a final vote. The Social Democrat-Green coalition would first have to agree on the details, but the minority government would also have to secure enough support for a majority vote in parliament.

The current temporary law, which was introduced back in 2016 after Sweden received record numbers of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers during the crisis of the autumn before, is set to run out next summer. The goal is to replace it with a permanent policy – which may look similar or different – before it expires.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

CLIMATE

FACT CHECK: Has the EU really banned Swedes from lighting bonfires?

Claims that a new EU law had outlawed lighting fires in private gardens have hit the headlines recently, with outraged Swedes accusing Brussels of banning Sweden's traditional spring fires. But how true are they?

Published: 19 April 2024 10:39 CEST
FACT CHECK: Has the EU really banned Swedes from lighting bonfires?

What’s happened?

On April 6th, TV4 Nyheter published a story claiming that burning twigs and leaves in private gardens has been illegal since the beginning of the year, due to new EU rules.

“A common habit for gardeners during their spring cleaning is now banned. An EU law which came into force at the beginning of the year demands that all food and garden waste are sorted separately,” the article states, quoting Milla Sundström, an administrator from the waste and chemicals unit of the Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) as saying this “indirectly” bans spring fires.

Sundström added that the ban is enforced by local councils, so rules may differ.

Wait… why is it so important for Swedes to burn twigs in their gardens?

It’s a common way of getting rid of the leaves and branches that have accumulated over the last year, with the ashes often used as fertiliser in the garden. It’s usually only allowed for a couple of weeks a year in spring and again in the autumn, and during Valborg at the end of April, when it’s traditional to light a spring bonfire.

Quite a lot of people in Sweden live in pretty remote areas, so it’s much easier for them to get rid of bulky garden waste by burning it rather than having to drive it off to the nearest recycling centre.

So has burning garden waste been banned by the EU?

Technically, no.

The EU law says that member states should “encourage the recycling, including composting and digestion, of bio-waste”, as well as encourage home composting and promoting the use of materials produced by bio-waste, but it doesn’t say anything about banning fires.

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Center Party MEP Emma Wiesner wrote on X, before blaming the government for interpreting the law incorrectly.

“Banning tidying up in your own garden has clearly NOT been the EU’s intention. The inability of the government and authorities to implement the simplest of directives is embarrassing and adds to the contempt for politicians,” she added.

So who has banned fires on private property?

In a regulation from December 22nd, 2022 signed by Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, the government writes that exemptions “from the prohibition on the incineration of separately collected waste” may be granted in the case of public events. 

This refers to a separate law governing waste, which states that “waste that has been collected separately to be prepared for reuse or recycling should not be incinerated”.

This regulation came into effect on January 1st, 2024.

Wait… what does that even mean?

Admittedly, the regulation isn’t particularly clear. Having said that, the new rules on bonfires appear to stem from Naturvårdsverket interpreting this regulation as an outright ban.

“The new regulations mean that garden waste must be composted on-site, left at a recycling centre, or collected by the council,” it writes in a post on its website dated April 11th. “In practice, this means that it is no longer permitted to burn branches, leaves and other garden waste”.

Naturvårdsverket claims that this is “part of the introduction of the EU’s waste directive, which means that bio-waste should primarily be recycled”.

It does, however, add that local councils are able to grant exceptions, “for example if it’s a long way to the closest recycling centre”.

So whose fault is it?

Energy and business minister Ebba Busch, who is head of the climate and business ministry, seemed to indicate in a post on X that the confusion was due to the badly-worded rules introduced by the government at the beginning of the year, which were designed to coincide with the EU’s waste directive.

“I want to be clear and say that the government has not introduced a new ban against burning garden waste,” she wrote, alongside a picture of her standing in front of a fire in her own garden.

“There are new rules, but not any huge changes compared to how it’s worked in the past. We can see that these can be interpreted in different ways. For that reason, the rules will be clarified,” she added.

Can I burn twigs in my garden then?

Maybe.

Despite politicians sharing posts telling you to “Keep calm and keep lighting fires,” you should check with your municipality before you do so.

Some, like Halmstad, have interpreted the new regulations as meaning that you can still light a fire in your own garden, while others require you to apply for an exemption (which usually includes paying a fee), whether you’re applying for a May bonfire or just want to burn some leaves in your own garden.

Others, like Värmdö municipality, allow you to burn things like twigs and small branches in your garden, while stating that grass and leaves should be composted.

SHOW COMMENTS