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Swedish government announces next steps in overhaul of migration law

Sweden's government on Wednesday announced that the two coalition partners have agreed on what the next steps for a new Swedish migration policy will look like.

Published: 7 October 2020 17:15 CEST
Swedish government announces next steps in overhaul of migration law
Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson. Photo: Amir Nabizadeh/TT

“The government's standing point is that people who move to Sweden and have the right to stay here should get all the help they need to become part of society, but that those who do not have the right to stay should return,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Green Party leader Isabella Lövin, who held a joint press conference with Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson.

The two explained that they had agreed to present a bill based on 26 proposals for a new Swedish migration policy – the first step to replacing the temporary laws introduced in 2016 in the wake of a mass influx of refugees.

The proposals were outlined in September by Sweden's Migration Committee, which included representatives from each parliamentary party as well as independent experts. But the parties could not reach an agreement, so the final report was made up of 26 proposals rather than a comprehensive policy, each one supported by several parties. 

The Social Democrats supported all 26 of the proposals, but their junior coalition partner the Green Party agreed with only three, leaving the future of the policy uncertain.

For the proposals to become law, the Social Democrat-Green government would need to put together a bill, send it out for consultation, and it would then need to pass a parliamentary vote.

Now the governing parties have agreed to prepare a bill based on the 26 proposals, but along with some additional suggestions supported by the Green Party. But the final proposals could still change slightly before they are put to parliament, depending on the feedback from expert authorities during the consultation round.

One such addition is a proposed change to the so-called 'high school law' (gymnasielagen) which currently means that asylum seekers whose claims are unsuccessful may remain in Sweden to complete upper secondary school, but must leave the country if they do not find a job within six months of graduation. The proposed change would increase this time limit to a year.

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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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