Government agencies in Sweden

Kingdom of Sweden
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The government agencies in Sweden are state-controlled organizations who act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Sweden. The ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to monitor the agencies and preparing decision and policy papers for the government as a collective body to decide upon.

A Cabinet Minister is explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. The cardinal rule is that Ministers are not allowed to issue orders to agencies in their portfolio personally (with only a few exceptions) as the government agencies are subject to decisions made by the government, although the government cannot even directly overrule an agency in the handling of an individual case.

Other than the executive branch, the Riksdag also has a number of independent agencies.

All government offices of Sweden can be found at www.government.se

The Riksdag

Ministry of Justice

  • Chancellor of Justice, or Justitiekanslern (JK). Field of operations: Supervises those who are involved with public operations, it is responsible to the Government for protecting the rights of the State and it provides the Government with advice and surveys in legal matters.
  • Swedish Commission on Security and Integrity Protection, or Säkerhets- och integritetsskyddsnämnden. and Integrity Protection (Swedish: Säkerhets- och integritetsskyddsnämnden) Responsible for supervising law enforcement agencies' use of secret surveillance techniques, assumed identities and other associated activities.
  • Swedish Consumer Agency, or Konsumentverket. Field of operations: works with consumer issues in such fields as advertising, contract terms, consumer information, household finances and the safety, quality and environmental impact of goods.
  • Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, or Brottsoffermyndigheten (BrOM). Located in Umeå. Field of operations: examines crime victim compensation issues and allocates funds from the Fund for Victims of Crime.
  • Swedish Data Protection Authority, or Datainspektionen (DI). Field of operations: supervises the protection of individual privacy.
  • Swedish Economic Crime Authority, or Ekobrottsmyndigheten.
  • Swedish Election Authority, or Valmyndigheten. Located in Solna.
  • Swedish Migration Agency, or Migrationsverket. Located in Norrköping.
  • Swedish National Board for Consumer Complaints, or Allmänna reklamationsnämnden. Field of operations: acts as a court, the primary task of which is the impartial examination of disuptes between consumers and companies.
  • Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine, or Rättsmedicinalverket (RMV). Field of operations: the central administrative agency for forensic mental care, forensic chemistry, forensic medicine and forensic gene-related operations.
  • Swedish Board of Supervision of Estate Agents, or Fastighetsmäklarnämnden. Field of operations: registration and supervision of estate agents.
  • Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, or Brottsförebyggande rådet (BRÅ) Field of operations: promotes crime prevention, it is responsible for providing the official statistics for the judicial authorities.
  • Swedish National Courts Administration, or Domstolsverket (DV). Located in Jönköping. Field of operations: The National Courts Administration is the central administrative agency for the public courts, the legal courts, the regional tenancy tribunals, the regional rent tribunals and the National Legal Aid Authority.
  • Swedish Police Authority, or Polismyndigheten. Field of operations: The Swedish Police Authority is the central administrative agency for the police, it is also the principal agency for the National Forensics Centre
  • Swedish Security Service, or Säkerhetspolisen. Responsible for counter-espionage, counter-terrorism and counter-subversion.
  • Swedish Prison and Probation Service, or Kriminalvården. Located in Norrköping.
  • Prosecutor-General of Sweden, or Riksåklagaren (RÅ). Field of operations: The office of Prosecutor-General is the public prosecutor in the Supreme Court, it represents the highest-ranking prosecutor and it is the central administrative agency for the prosecution authorities.
  • Swedish Market Court, or Marknadsdomstolen. Field of operations: special court, whose responsibilities include processing of cases and other legal issues under the Marketing Practices Act and the Competition Act.
  • Swedish Coast Guard, or Kustbevakningen (KBV). Located in Karlskrona. The Swedish Coast Guard performs surveillance and other monitoring and control operations, as well as environmental emergency services at sea. Its tasks are wide-ranging. They include several policy areas for which different authorities are responsible.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

The Legations and Embassies in foreign countries, are under the direct authority and control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ministry of Defence

  • Swedish Armed Forces, or Försvarsmakten (FM). The fundamental task of the Swedish Armed Forces is to prepare in peacetime to defend the country in war against armed attack that threatens its liberty and independence. It must be possible to counter attack from any quarter and to defend the whole country.
  • Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, or Försvarets materielverk (FMV).
  • Swedish National Service Administration, or Pliktverket. Located in Karlstad. The National Service Administration is responsible for enrolment, enlisting and administering those eligible for national service as conscripts and supporting training organizers during national service. Each year this involves enrolment of around 50,000 young men and testing a smaller number of women for enlistment.
  • Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment, or Försvarets radioanstalt (FRA). Located in Bromma.
  • Swedish Defence Research Agency, or Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut (FOI). The core activities of the Swedish Defence Research Agency are research, method and technology development and studies on behalf of the National Total Defence.
  • Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, or Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB) The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency was established on 1 January 2009, with the purpose of unifying, coordinating, and supportive tasks prior to, during and after emergencies.
  • Swedish Accident Investigation Board, or Statens haverikommission (SHK).

Until 2007 the Swedish National Defence College, or Försvarshögskolan (FHS). was also under the command of the Swedish Ministry of Defence. On 1 January 2008 it became a national university college, which implies that it can now offer civilian university study programmes to a greater extent than before.

    Ministry of Employment

    • The Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen)
    • The Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket, AV)
    • Swedish Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen)
    • Swedish Unemployment Insurance Board (Inspektionen för arbetslöshetsförsäkringen, IAF)
    • Council for Employee Representation on Boards of Directors (Nämnden för styrelserepresentationsfrågor)
    • Council for the European Social Fund in Sweden (Swedish ESF Council)
    • Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (Institutet för arbetsmarknads- och utbildningspolitisk utvärdering, IFAU)
    • National Advisory Board on Patent Rights and Compensation Settlements for Inventions at Work (Statens nämnd för arbetstagares uppfinningar)
    • National Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet)
    • Swedish ILO Committee (Svenska ILO-kommittén)


    Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications

    Enterprises

    Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

    National monopolies

      Ministry of Finance

      Economic Affairs Department

      Budget Department

      Fiscal Affairs Department

      Financial Institutions and Markets Department

      County Administrative Division

      Commercially-operated Government Owned Companies

      Others

        Ministry of Education and Research

        Schools, children and youth

        • Swedish National Agency for Education, or Skolverket. Field of operation: work actively to ensure that national objectives for childcare and the school system are achieved. In order to gain insight into the various activities and to contribute to development, the National Agency for Education carries out follow-ups, evaluation, development, research and supervisory work.
        • The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, or Myndigheten för ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor. Works to ensure that young people have access to influence and welfare, and support the government in issues relating to civil society policy.

        Adult education

        • Swedish National Agency for Education, or Skolverket. Field of operation: Work actively to ensure that national objectives for adult education are achieved. In order to gain insight into the various activities and to contribute to development, the National Agency for Education carries out follow-ups, evaluation, development, research and supervisory work.

        Higher education

        • The Universities in Sweden. Field of operation: main duty is to organise higher education based on a scientific or artistic orientation and on proven experience and research, artistic and other development work.
        • Swedish Net University Agency, or Myndigheten för Sveriges Nätuniversitet. Field of operation: The Swedish Net University Agency is responsible for the Swedish Net University, a coordination project involving IT supported higher education distance learning courses and programmes given by universities and university colleges in Sweden.
        • Swedish Council for Higher Education, or Universitets- och högskolerådet (UHR)Primarily assigned to manage admissions to Swedish universities and university colleges, applications and development of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test.

        Financial study support

        Research

        • Swedish Institute of Computer Science, or SICS. Field of operation: to contribute to the competitive strength of industry by conducting advanced research in strategic areas of computer science, and to actively promote the use of new research ideas and results in industry and in society at large.
        • Swedish Institute of Space Physics, or Institutet för rymdfysik. Field of operation: a governmental research institute. The primary task is to carry out basic research, education, and associated observatory activities in space physics.
        • The Royal Library, or Kungliga biblioteket (KB). Field of operation: As the National Library, the Royal Library collects, describes, preserves and makes available all Swedish printed materials, and publications with Swedish associations published in other countries. The Royal Library is a central library authority with responsibility for coordinating Sweden's research libraries and for the Library Information System, LIBRIS.
        • Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, or Polarforskningssekretariatet. Field of operation: to promote and co-ordinate Swedish Polar research. Follow and plan research and development and to organise and lead expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
        • Swedish National Archive of Recorded Sound and Moving Images, or Statens ljud- och bildarkiv (SLAB). Field of operation: Archive of recorded sound and moving images.
        • Swedish National Space Agency, or Rymdstyrelsen. Field of operation: National and international activities relating to space and remote sensing, primarily research and development.
        • Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, or Stiftelsen Strategisk Forskning. Field of operation: promotes a broad use of IT in society, and supports research at Sweden's university colleges and new universities.
        • Swedish Research Council, or Vetenskapsrådsrådet. Field of operation: support basic, top-quality research, to ensure that Sweden is a leading research nation.

        Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

          Ministry of Culture

          General cultural activities

          Language, literature, libraries and archives

          Visual arts, design and applied arts

          Film, artists and heritage

          Media

          Museums and exhibitions

          Theatre, dance och music

            Defunct agencies

            Some historic government agencies have been merged with other agencies or simply closed down.

            • Aliens Appeals Board of Sweden, or Utlänningsnämnden, UN. Discontinued and replaced by Migration Courts on 31 March 2006, when the new Aliens Act entered into force.
            • Swedish National Board of Education, or Skolöverstyrelsen, governed primary and secondary schools. Was replaced by the Swedish National Agency for Education in 1991 when the responsibility for schools was transferred from the state to the municipalities.
            • Swedish National Board of Universities and Colleges, or Universitets- och högskoleämbetet, was responsible for higher education until 1992 when the central agency was abolished. It was replaced with an agency with a considerably more limited field of operations, the Office of the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities, or Kanslersämbetet. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education was set up on 1 July 1995, incorporating the Office of the Chancellor, the Council for the Renewal of Undergraduate Education (Grundutbildningsrådet) and parts of the Swedish National Agency for Services to Universities.
            • Swedish National Integration Board, or Integrationsverket. Located in Norrköping. Field of operations: The Swedish Integration Board to ensure that the visions and goals of Sweden’s integration policies have an impact in the various areas of society. Closed down on 1 July 2007.
            • Swedish National Plant Variety Board, or Statens växtsortnämnd. Field of operations: issues relating to plant breeding and the admission of plants into the different classification lists. Made a part of the Swedish National Board of Agriculture on 1 January 2006.
            • Swedish National Public Transport Agency, or Rikstrafiken on 1 April 2010.
            • Swedish Seed Testing and Certification Institute, or Statens utsädeskontroll. Field of operations: seed testing. Made a part of the Swedish National Board of Agriculture on 1 January 2006.
            • The State Institute for Racial Biology or Statens institut för rasbiologi. Field of operations: studying eugenics and human genetics. Established in 1922 and changed to State Institute for Human Genetics in 1958 and merged into Uppsala University.

            See also

            References

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