IV. PARLIAMENTARY SCRUTINY OF THE
SWEDISH GOVERNMENTS' EUROPEAN POLICY: THE ROLE OF THE EU COMMITTEE IN THE
SWEDISH PARLIAMENT
Ms Johanna Möllerberg Nordfors, head of the
secretariat of the European Union Committee of the Swedish Parliament
After giving a short background of the Riksdag's work on EU matters the tasks and role of the Committee on EU Affairs will be elaborated below.
1. Background- different roles
The Riksdag's work on EU matters is based on extensive contacts with the Government in order to monitor and influence the positions Sweden takes in its EU cooperation. The Government represents Sweden in EU-matters and formulates the Swedish EU policies. The Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, monitors EU issues and submits its view on EU matters to the Government.
The Riksdag committees have an independent responsibility to follow EU work and to take a position on the need to request deliberations with the Government. At the same time, the Government has a considerable obligation to provide the Riksdag and its various bodies with information. It is crucial that the Government fulfils this obligation to enable the committees and the Committee on EU Affairs to perform their duties. EU-matters are dealt with in the 15 different Parliamentary Committees in the Riksdag. The different Parliamentary Committees carry out subsidiarity checks on important proposals and the Committees can also demand deliberations and information from the Government on EU-matters.
The committees also consider strategic EU documents. The examination procedure is helpful when it comes to putting forward important points of view to enable a particular issue to be further dealt with, which in turn boosts the Riksdag's readiness to deal with clear-cut proposals later, and it also helps make differences of opinion between parties in the Riksdag more visible, which can serve as guidance for the Government and other interested parties.
The way procedures are applied enables broad support for EU issues to be obtained since both the committees and the Committee on EU Affairs are able to follow and influence EU issues over time and in a way that facilitates the taking of well-informed positions in different phases of the consideration of an EU matter. In addition to the Government's continuous supply of information to the Riksdag, the Riksdag committees have an unlimited opportunity to request information and comments from the Government on the work of the EU. Each committee is thus able to express special needs as regards information for its work.
Questions of public insight and participation in connection with Sweden's work on EU matters are of vital importance. The contact the political parties and the members have with their voters is of central importance in this regard, and it is important that all Riksdag members are involved in dealing with EU issues. The Riksdag as an institution creates scope for openness, primarily through debates and decisions in the Chamber. The Prime Minister presents information to the Chamber after meetings of the European Council. In addition to this the Chamber holds EU debates as well as a strategic EU policy debate with the Government based on the Governments EU priorities for the following year.
2. The Committee on EU Affairs
The duties and powers of the Committee on EU Affairs are stated in general terms in the Riksdag Act (the Riksdag Act, Chapter 7, article 14).
The Government shall inform the Committee on EU Affairs of matters which are to be decided by the Council of the European Union. The Government shall also consult the Committee regarding the conduct of negotiations in the Council prior to decisions in the Council.
Here it is made clear that the Government is obliged to inform the Committee on the issues that are to be decided in the Council of Ministers and to consult the Committee on how negotiations are to be pursued prior to decisions in the Council.
The Prime Minister shall also consult the Committee prior to meetings and decisions in the European Council.
In other words, a minister shall always consult the Committee before he or she participates in a Council meeting. The Committee deals with all areas of EU cooperation. At one and the same meeting of the Committee on EU Affairs, for example, foreign policy, agricultural policy, police cooperation and educational issues may be considered.
Because of its primary task of being a consultation body for the Government, the Committee on EU Affairs differs from the regular Riksdag committees which have the task of preparing matters that are to be decided in the Chamber of the Riksdag. However, from the outside the Committee resembles a regular Riksdag committee in that it has the same number of members and the same party-political composition. The Committee has 17 ordinary members and around 90 deputy members who are elected for an entire four-year electoral period.
Most of the members and deputy members of the Committee on EU Affairs are also members of one of the regular Riksdag committees, which also promotes the exchange of information between the regular committees and the Committee on EU Affairs. Parties without committee representation in the Committee on EU Affairs for a particular issue also have the right to replace a member of the Committee on EU Affairs with a member from the particular committee dealing with the issue in question when the Government consults the Committee on EU Affairs on this particular issue. This rule has been established in order to give parties with few seats the opportunity to participate in the Committee with a member who is well acquainted with the relevant issues from his or her regular committee work. One difference between the Committee on EU Affairs and the regular committees is that a stenographic record is always made during the Government's consultations with the Committee. This record shows which line the Government is to pursue and how the Government's negotiating mandate should thus be interpreted.
Prior to meetings, the members of the Committee are given annotated agendas for the various meetings of the Council of Ministers from the relevant ministry. They include information as to what the Council is expected to do and a proposed Swedish position. This documentation is supplemented with documents from the Council and the Commission.
3. Meetings with the Committee on EU Affairs
The consultation is introduced with the minister responsible reporting from his or her latest meeting in the Council and the members are given the opportunity to ask questions. The members have had the opportunity to study the report prior to the consultation. Reporting back in this way has two functions. In the case of complicated or controversial matters that are discussed at more than one meeting with the Council, it enables the members to keep themselves informed on which problems have been solved and which problems are to be discussed further. Reporting back also forms the basis for the Riksdag's assessment of whether the Government has followed the mandate that has been established by the Committee on EU Affairs and how the Government has managed its task of representing Sweden in the Council of Ministers or the European Council.
The minister responsible then goes through the agenda for the coming Council meeting and presents the Government's preliminary positions on the various issues. After each item on the agenda has been presented by the minister, the members of the Committee can ask questions and discuss the Government's preliminary standpoint. During the consultation, the minister may adjust the position in accordance with the points of view of the members. The discussion of each issue on the agenda is concluded with a summary by the Chair of the view of the Committee - as to whether the majority is in favour of or against the Government's proposed position or whether they wish the proposal to be amended in some way. Members or parties who do not share the position of the majority have to clarify this by registering a dissenting opinion. The Committee's position and possible dissenting opinions are included in the record that is drawn up after each meeting and which is published on the Riks dag website where there is also a stenographic record of the consultations with the Committee on EU Affairs. The record is approved approx. 14 days after the Committee meeting is held. The result of the consultation is a negotiating mandate that the Government has a responsibility to follow.
The Government may, provided there is a change in circumstances, have to depart from the mandate, but in this case there must be very good reasons. Afterwards, the Riksdag may examine how the Government has acted in the Council of Ministers. A departure from the set mandate can lead to a report to and subsequent scrutiny by the Riksdag Committee on the Constitution, criticism and ultimately to a declaration of no confidence against the Government.
The Committee on EU Affairs and the regular Riksdag committees normally meet behind closed doors. The reason for this is that the Government needs to be able to report sensitive information to the Committee on EU Affairs, for example how far they can consider going in a particular negotiation and the positions of other countries on certain issues. It must be possible to submit information of this kind in confidence. The Committee on EU Affairs and the regular Riksdag committees may decide that a meeting should be open to the public.
The Prime Minister's consultations with the Committee prior to meetings of the European Council are open to the public and are normally broadcast via the Riksdag webcast service on the Riksdag website. The documents the Government supplies to the Committee on EU Affairs are official documents, which is also the case for the minutes and stenographic record of the meetings of the Committee as soon as they have been adopted. Documents that come in to or are drawn up by the Committee are entered into the Riksdag register and anybody who wishes to study them may do so upon request. Certain documents can contain information that is classified. These are released, but with this information removed. With regard to the interests of secrecy, there may be sections in the stenographic record that cannot be published, at least not until a current negotiation has been completed. However, the vast majority of what is contained in the record is made available to the general public. Documentation sent to the Committee on EU Affairs prior to meetings, records of decisions and stenographic records are published continuously on the Riksdag website.
4. Written consultations
Prior to written decisions in the Council or adoption of A-items the Government needs to consult the EU-Committee in writing. So, the Committee receives a list of preliminary A-items for written consultation. Also in this process the members of the Committee can present dissenting opinions.