Background & Purpose
The EU has a rule called the subsidiarity principle, which says that laws should be decided as close to the citizens as possible. This is tool used to prevent the EU from making laws that could be better handled by each individual country.
Proposals & Debate
The report discusses how the Swedish Parliament reviewed 45 EU proposals in 2024. While most were fine, the Swedish Parliament sent six 'reasoned opinions' (formal objections) to the EU Commission, arguing that those specific proposals overstepped the EU's boundaries.
The Decision
The Swedish Parliament continues to actually use its democratic tool to check the EU, remaining the most active national parliament in the EU in terms of number of objections sent.
Does this affect you?
- Swedish citizens: Their laws are being monitored to ensure that decisions are not taken further away from them than necessary.
- EU institutions: They receive formal objections from Sweden when the EU's power is overreaching.
In Practice
- The Swedish Parliament reviews every single draft law proposal coming from the EU.
- If the Swedish Parliament believes a law is not needed at the EU level, they send a formal objection called a 'reasoned opinion'.
- The Swedish Parliament has reviewed 1,350 proposals since 2009 and objected to about 8% of them.
- The Swedish Parliament argues that the EU Commission should not automatically decide what the EU is allowed to do.