Sweden

General information about the policy process
When an EU directive is decided, the responsible ministry within the Swedish government has the task of finding out how it will be implemented. Usually, Sweden has the provisions to meet the directive and needs only to report it to the European Commission. However, sometimes it occurs that certain older laws in Sweden must be changed or new ones created.

Usually the government opens an investigation on which legislative changes need to be done and whether new ones need to be created. When the investigators have done their review, the results are presented in the form of a so called State public reports ("Statens offentliga utredningar", SOU ) or Ministry reports ("Departementsserien"). Within these writings the investigators are describing how the directive will be implemented in the Swedish legislation. After that, the inquiry's results are then sent out for consultation, for example to authorities and organizations concerned by the proposal.

The next step is that the government will present a proposal on a new or amended legislation. The proposal is presented in a bill sent to parliament. The treatment then appear as of any bill whatsoever. Only when the parliament voted for legislative changes can take effect.

Sometimes the government can itself implement the EU directive by issuing a regulation or by giving a mandate to an agency to issue new regulations. On labor law the government often leaves the changes to the partners in the labor market. They ensure that the rules of the Directive is implemented through collective agreements.

When the adaptation of the Swedish legislation is finished the government sends it to the EU Commission.

If Sweden has not implemented a directive in time or in the right way, the Commission may refer Sweden to the European Court of Justice.

Main national actors
Regeringen (The Government of Sweden)

http://www.government.se/sweden-in-the-eu/

Riksdag (National legislature and the supreme decision-making body)

http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/

There are also regional and local levels that work with the implementation and monitoring of the Swedish legislation.

Relationship between actors
See the policy process regarding the EU directives.