1 / 17

Multilevel Governance – History or Future ? The Swedish Way!

Multilevel Governance – History or Future ? The Swedish Way!. 10 March 2011 Carola Gunnarsson First vice president of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions . Sweden – a country full of contrasts.

elijah
Download Presentation

Multilevel Governance – History or Future ? The Swedish Way!

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. MultilevelGovernance– History or Future? The Swedish Way! 10 March 2011 Carola Gunnarsson First vice president of the Swedish Association ofLocalAuthorities and Regions

  2. Sweden – a country full of contrasts

  3. Sweden is a unitarystatewith a historyof strong localgoverment The local and regional authorities; • 20% of the GDP in Sweden • 70% of the public consumption • 25% of all employees

  4. Sweden is a unitarystatewith a historyof strong localgoverment The local and regional authorities; • have the right tolevytaxes • taxes and feesaccount for 80% of the municipal revenues • the state grants account for 20%, the biggest part is not earmarked

  5. Sweden is a unitarystatewith a historyof strong localgoverment Localself-government has the content, scope and freedomof action which is necessarytosecure and develop a wellfunctioninglocalsociety

  6. Historicalperspective • Alliances between the king and the peasants in the 16th century in order to limit the powerof the church and the nobility • 1862 the first municipal statueswereadopted • A dramaticdevelopmentwhen the municipalitiesacquired new responsibilities • Between 1952 and 1974; from 2 500 municipalitiesto less than 300 • From municipalitieswithfewemployees and a lotoflaymento a period ofprofessionalization and a lotofemployees

  7. The levels of democracy

  8. LocalGovernmentAct (1992) Municipalitiesareresponsible for mattersrelatingto the inhabitantsof the municipality and theirimmediateenvironment. The main task of the countycouncils and regions is the provision ofhealthcare.

  9. Responsibilities of the municipalities • Child care • Primary, secondary and adult education • Social services: Social assistance, care of the disabled, elderly care • Spatial planning and construction • Environment (water, waste management, sewage) • Culture • Emergency and rescue services • Energy • Housing

  10. Responsibilities of the county councils and regions • Healthcare • Public transport/infrastructure • Regional development

  11. Responsibilities of the national level • Foreign policy • Police • Higher education • Research • Labour market • Social insurance schemes

  12. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) • SALAR represents Sweden’s 290 municipalities and 20 county councils/regions

  13. Mission SALAR is an employer’s and lobby organisation for municipalities and countycouncils/regions. We look after the interests of ourmembers and offer them support and services. Weraiseissues, actdecisively and enlighten public opinion. Our mission is to provide municipalities and countycouncils with betterconditions for local and regional self-government. Our vision is to develop the welfare system and its services. It’sa matter of democracy.

  14. The political organisation of the Association after the 2007 Congress Swedish Association of LocalAuthorities and Regions Congress BoardExecutiveComittee Delegations • Delegation for Negotiations • Delegation on Healthcare Permanent Committees •Committee on Democracy • International Committee • Committee on Culture and Leisure • Committee on Primary Healthcare and Elderly Care • Committee on Planning and Community Development • Committee on Social Policy • Committee on Growth and Regional Development • Committee on Education • Committee on eHealth Temporary Programme Committees • Committee on Freedom of choice • Committee on Welfare funding

  15. An independent organisation • All 290 municipalities and 16 countycouncils and 4 regions are members • 100 % financed by members – no state subsidies • Completeindependence from central government

  16. Autonomybecomes real when…. • the municipalitieshavelegitimacy • the municipalitieshavepower and energy • the municipalitieshavefreedomof action

  17. Thank You for Your attention! Carola Gunnarsson carola.gunnarsson@sala.se

More Related