COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review Country Report - SWEDEN Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better results
Date: 2017-02-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU initiative, Sweden, application of EU law, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control measures

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.2.2017  SWD(2017) 56 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review  Country Report - SWEDEN   Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better results   {COM(2017) 63 final} {SWD(2017) 33 - 55 final} {SWD(2017) 57 - 60 final}  
 
 
Sweden  2 

This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European 
Commission. Any comments are welcome to the following e-mail address: ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu  

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). 

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©European Union, 2017 

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Sweden  3 

Table of Content 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 4 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ............................................................................................................................... 5 

1. 

TURNING  THE  EU  INTO  A  CIRCULAR,  RESOURCE-EFFICIENT,  GREEN  AND  COMPETITIVE  LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY ............................................................................................................................... 5 

Developing a circular economy and improving resource efficiency ..................................................... 5 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 9 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL ..................................................... 11 

Nature and Biodiversity ....................................................................................................................... 11 
Estimating natural capital ................................................................................................................... 13 
Green Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................... 13 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 13 
Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 14 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE .......................................................................... 16 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 16 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 16 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 17 
Enhancing the sustainability of cities .................................................................................................. 19 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 20 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ..................................................................... 21 

4.  MARKET BASED INSTRUMENTS AND INVESTMENT ............................................................................ 21 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 21 
Green Public Procurement .................................................................................................................. 22 
Investments: the contribution of EU funds ......................................................................................... 22 

5. 

EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND KNOWLEDGE ...................................................................................... 24 

Effective governance within central, regional and local government ................................................. 24 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 25 
Public participation and access to justice ........................................................................................... 26 
Access to information, knowledge and evidence ................................................................................ 27 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
 
 
 
Executive summary 

Sweden  4 

About the Environmental Implementation Review 

launched 

reports  describing 

the 
the  Commission 
In  May  2016, 
Environmental  Implementation  Review  (EIR),  a  two-year 
cycle  of  analysis,  dialogue  and  collaboration  to  improve 
the  implementation  of  existing  EU  environmental  policy 
and  legislation1.  As  a  first  step,  the  Commission  drafted 
28 
the  main  challenges  and 
opportunities on environmental implementation for each 
Member  State.  These  reports  are  meant  to  stimulate  a 
positive debate both on shared environmental challenges 
for  the  EU,  as  well  as  on  the  most  effective  ways  to 
address the key implementation gaps. The reports rely on 
the detailed sectoral implementation reports collected or 
issued  by  the  Commission  under  specific  environmental 
legislation  as  well  as  the  2015  State  of  the  Environment 
Report  and  other  reports  by  the  European  Environment 
Agency.  These  reports  will  not  replace  the  specific 
instruments  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  EU  legal 
obligations.  

The  reports  will  broadly  follow  the  outline  of  the  7th 
Environmental Action Programme2 and refer to the 2030 
related 
for  Sustainable  development  and 
Agenda 
Sustainable Development  Goals  (SDGs)3  to  the  extent  to 
which  they  reflect  the  existing  obligations  and  policy 
objectives of EU environmental law4.  

The  main  challenges  have  been  selected  by  taking  into 
account factors such as the importance or the gravity of 
the  environmental  implementation  issue  in  the  light  of 
the  impact  on  the  quality  of  life  of  the  citizens,  the 
distance to target, and financial implications. 

The  reports  accompany  the  Communication  "The  EU 
Environmental  Implementation  Review  2016:  Common 
challenges  and  how  to  combine  efforts  to  deliver  better 
results", which identifies challenges that are common to 
several Member States, provides preliminary conclusions 
on  possible  root  causes  of  implementation  gaps  and 
proposes  joint  actions  to  deliver  better  results.  It  also 
groups in its Annex the actions proposed in each country 
report to improve implementation at national level. 

General profile 

Sweden  is  a  country  with  long  coastlines,  thousands  of 
lakes,  freshwater  streams,  mountains  and  deep  forests. 
Sweden  is  an  export-oriented  mixed  economy.  Timber, 

1 Communication "Delivering the benefits of EU environmental policies 

through a regular Environmental Implementation Review" 
(COM/2016/ 316 final). 

2 Decision No. 1386/2013/EU of 20 November 2013 on a General Union 
Environmental Action Programme to 2020 "Living well, within the 
limits of our planet". 

3 United Nations, 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals  
4 This EIR report does not cover climate change, chemicals and energy. 

hydropower and iron ore constitute the natural resource 
base of its economy, therefore sustainable management 
and  use  of  these  resources  is  crucial  for  sustainable 
development of Swedish economy. Certain aspects of the 
environmental  status  of  seas,  lakes,  watercourses  and 
ground  waters,  and  of  several  terrestrial  ecosystems, 
remain  problematic,  not  least  as  regards  eutrophication 
and biodiversity. 

Main Challenges 

three  main 

to 
The 
implementation  of  EU  environmental  policy  and  law  in 
Sweden are: 

challenges  with 

regard 

 

 

in  particular 
Improving  the  status  of  habitats, 
grassland,  for  which  all  types  are  in  unfavourable 
conservation status. 
Improving the quality of the monitoring programme 
of SE marine waters. 

  Reducing emissions of air pollutants. 

Main Opportunities 

Sweden  could  perform  better  on  topics  where  there  is 
already a good knowledge base and good practices. This 
applies in particular to: 

  Reducing  pressures  from  agriculture  and  natural 
systems  modification,  which  would  help  move 
towards favourable status of birds and habitats. 

Points of Excellence 

leader  on  environmental 
Where  Sweden 
implementation,  innovative  approaches  could  be  shared 
more widely with other countries. Good examples are: 

is  a 

 

the 

2015 

established 

  The  very  good  performance  of  Sweden  on  waste 
recycling; Sweden has reached the EU 2020 recycling 
rate target of 50% in 2014 (49.9%), being well ahead 
of the EU average (43%). 
In 
an 
government 
Environmental  Objectives  Council  to  strengthen  the 
implementation  of  environmental  policies.  The 
Council  is  a  platform  for  Heads  of  agencies  that  are 
strategically  important  for  achieving  environmental 
objectives. 
In  2014  the  government  adopted  a  strategy  for 
biodiversity  and  ecosystem  services5.  The  strategy 
has  significance  not  only  for  many  of  its  own 
objectives and its  generational goal  but  also  for  the 
international  Aichi  targets  adopted  under  the 
Convention  on  Biological  Diversity,  as  well  as  the 
objectives of the EU's biodiversity strategy. 

 

5 http://www.government.se/articles/2015/08/swedish-strategy-for-

biodiversity-and-ecosystem-services/  

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
Part I: Thematic Areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 
competitive low-carbon economy

Sweden  5 

Developing  a  circular  economy  and  improving 
resource efficiency 

The 2015 Circular Economy Package emphasizes the need 
to  move  towards  a  lifecycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
with a cascading use of resources and residual waste that 
is  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by  the 
development  of,  and  access  to,  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

SDG  8  invites  countries  to  promote  sustained,  inclusive 
and  sustainable  economic  growth,  full  and  productive 
employment  and  decent  work  for  all.  SDG  9  highlights 
infrastructure,  promote 
the  need  to  build  resilient 
inclusive  and  sustainable  industrialization  and  foster 
innovation.  SDG 12  encourages countries  to  achieve  the 
sustainable  management  and  efficient  use  of  natural 
resources by 2030. 

Measures towards a circular economy 

Transforming our economies from linear to circular offers 
an  opportunity  to  reinvent  them  and  make  them  more 
sustainable  and  competitive.  This  will 
stimulate 
investments and bring both short and long-term benefits 
for the economy, environment and citizens alike6.   

As  shown  in  Figure  1,  Sweden  has  a  level  of  resource 
productivity7 (how efficiently the economy uses material 
resources  to  produce  wealth)  that  is  below  the  EU 
average, with 1.74 EUR/kg (EU average is 2.0 EUR/kg) in 
20158. This is largely due to the structure of the Swedish 
economy and its large primary sector. More significant is 
that  Sweden's  resource  productivity  has  decreased 
modestly since 2010. 

of 

policy 

environment 

The  context  for  the  policies  relating  to  eco-innovation 
and circular economy is the generational goal adopted by 
is  the  overarching 
the  Swedish  Parliament,  which 
objective 
guides 
environmental  action  at  every  level  of  society,  from  the 
national  level  up  to  engagement  at  the  EU  and  global 
levels.  The  goal  is  to  pass  on  to  the  next  generation  a 
society in which the major environmental problems have 
increasing  environmental  and 
been  solved,  without 
health problems beyond Sweden’s borders. To attain the 
generational  goal,  national  Environmental  Quality 

and 

6 European Commission, 2015. Proposed Circular Economy Package 
7 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 

product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 

8 Eurostat, Resource productivity, accessed October 2016 

Objectives  (EQOs)  have  been  formulated  for  16  areas 
(Ministry  of  Environment).  The  objectives  are  related  to 
climate, air quality, acidification, forest, wetlands, oceans 
lakes,  mountains,  urban  environment, 
and  coasts, 
agriculture, 
ozone, 
toxic 
groundwater and biodiversity. 
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2003-159 

substances, 

radiation, 

The  National  Environmental  Technology  Strategy,  in  use 
between  2011  and  2014,  has  been  evaluated  by  the 
agency  Growth  Analysis.  The  evaluation  concludes  that 
the  majority  of  the  measures  in  the  strategy  can  be 
considered  to  contribute,  to  some  extent,  to  achieving 
the strategy goals, because these measures reached the 
target group identified by the government. 

The  government  established  a  new  agency  for  public 
procurement in September 2015. This agency is assigned 
to give support through consultation, practical tools and 
methods  within  the  area  of  public  procurement  in 
general.  The  objective  of  the  agency  is  to  develop  the 
idea  of  a  good  public  deal  with  a  focus  on  sustainable, 
innovative  and  efficient  procurement.  The  agency  puts 
extra emphasis on environmentally friendly procurement 
as  an  instrument  to  achieve  the  policy  objectives  in  the 
environmental  area.  This  is  considered  to  contribute  to 
sustainability  in  the  wider  sense,  including  social  and 
economic dimensions10. 

A  study  from  2014  by  the  Swedish  Agency  for  Growth 
Policy Analysis benchmarked the manufacturing sector of 
Sweden  with  other  countries.  The  highest  performing 
sectors  in  terms  of  the  green  innovation  index  and 
comparative  advantage  are  motor  vehicles,  special-
purpose  machinery  and  furniture  with  26%,  5%  and  2% 

9 Eurostat, Resource productivity, accessed October 2016 
10 The National Agency for Public Procurement, 2016. 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
                                                            
Sweden  6 

shares  of  green  inventions,  respectively,  far  above  the 
world  average  in  these  sectors.  These  sectors  also 
perform  well  in  comparative  advantage  terms.  They  are 
clear  strengths  in  green  competitiveness  terms  and  are 
well positioned to prosper in the future green economy.  

The  non-metallic  mineral  products  sector  also  has 
remarkable  performance  in  terms  of  green  innovation 
activity,  but  does  not  currently  enjoy  a  comparative 
advantage.  This  sector  presents  a  clear  opportunity  to 
maintain and expand market share in the future through 
greening.  Parts  and  accessories  for  motor  vehicles  and 
structural  metal  products,  tanks,  reservoirs  and  steam 
generators,  are  lagging  behind  competitor  countries. 
However, they have high green patenting activity overall 
(7%  and  8%  green  patents,  respectively),  which  means 
they are probably not at risk.  

Several sectors that fall into the ‘threats’ quadrant in the 
analysis  are:  telecommunication,  paper  and  paper 
products,  general-purpose  machinery,  and  other 
chemical products.  

The  Swedish  eco-tech  industry  has  developed  a  strong 
position 
in  waste  management  and  processing 
technologies, including reuse and recycling, waste water 
purification, biogas and other renewable energy sources, 
indoor  air  quality  (energy-saving  ventilation  and  air 
filtration),  heating  and  cooling  technologies  (district 
heating/cooling  and  heat  pumps),  power  transmission 
and the automation of technical systems in buildings. 

Start-ups are also important in an innovative society and 
the types of SMEs emerging can be an indicator of trends 
as  they  often  depend  in  finance  from  organisations  or 
people  who  are  interested  in  investing  in  a  particular 
business sector. 

Being  among  the  best  achieving  actors 
in  Europe 
regarding  the  environment,  Sweden  has  many  good 
practices  to  share  in  a  number  of  different  sectors  such 
as  textiles  and  construction.  SE  is  eager  to  exploit  the 
new concepts of a sharing economy, industrial symbiosis, 
collaborative consumption, etc.  

SMEs and resource efficiency 

In 2010, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had 
already recovered from the crisis lows of 2009. In 2008-
2014,  their  value  added  increased  by  22%.  Recovery  in 
employment was not as strong, though SME employment 
was still 5% higher than in 2008. 

Sweden's  small  business  administration  (SBA)  profile 
stands  well  above  the  EU  average  in  most  areas.  Better 
focused  public  support  strategies  to  encourage  SMEs  to 
invest in resource-efficient measures and the production 
of  green  products  will  improve  Swedish  SMEs’  ability  to 
face environmental challenges. 

In  the  Flash  426  Eurobarometer  "SMEs,  resource 

efficiency  and  green  markets"11,  it is  shown  that  56%  of 
Sweden's  SMEs  have  invested    up  to  5%  of  their  annual 
turnover 
in  their  resource  efficiency  actions  (EU28 
average  50%),  38%  of  them  are  currently  offering  green 
products  and  services  (EU28  average  26%),  67%  took 
measures  to  save  energy  (EU28  average  59%),  68%  to 
minimise waste (EU28 average 60%), 43% to save water 
(EU28  average  44%),  and  65%  to  save  materials  (EU28 
average 54%). From a circular economy perspective, 60% 
took  measures  to  recycle  by  reusing  material  or  waste 
within  the company (EU28 average  40%),  32% to  design 
products  that  are  easier  to  maintain,  repair  or  reuse 
(EU28 average 22%) and 40% were able to sell their scrap 
material to another company (EU28 average 25%).   

According to the Flash 426 Eurobarometer, the resource 
efficiency  actions  undertaken  allowed  the  reduction  of 
production  costs  in  a  35%  of  the  Sweden'  SMEs  (EU28 
average 45%). 

The  number  of  SMEs  in  the  Swedish  ‘non-financial 
business  economy’  is  average  for  Europe.  They  account 
for 5% of value added and 66% of employment. 

The Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource efficiency 
and  green  markets"  shows  that  39%  of  the  SMEs  in  the 
Sweden have one or more full time employee working in 
a  green  job  at  least  some  of  the  time  (EU28  average 
35%).  Sweden  has  an  average  number  of  2.0  full  time 
green employees per SME (EU28 average 1.7%)12.  

Eco-innovation 

With  an  overall  score  of  124.5,  Sweden  is  fifth  in  the 
ranking  on  the  Eco-Innovation  Scoreboard.  This  is  lower 
than  the  results  of  2013,  when  Sweden  held  first  place 
with  138.3  points.  The  Nordic  countries  have  been 
successful in eco-innovation throughout 2010-2015. They 
have  held  rankings  within  the  top  five,  and  Sweden  has 
been in the top three during 2011-2013, peaking in 2013 
at first place. But the scores from 2015 are pointing at a 
trend where Sweden is losing at least some of its leading 
edge.  In  2015,  Denmark,  Finland,  Ireland  and  Germany 
have all overtaken Sweden.  

This  seems  to  be  a  result  of  a  decline  of  Sweden’s  eco-
innovation  performance,  combined  with  an  increase  in 
absolute scores. In first place is Denmark, with a score of 
166.5  (compared  to  Sweden’s  leading  score  of  138.3  in 
2013).  Runner-up  is  Finland  with  a  score  of  140.2,  with 
Ireland in the third place and Germany in the fourth. 

11 European Commission, 2015. Flash 426 Eurobarometer 
12 The Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource efficiency and green 

markets" defines "green job" as a job that directly deals with 
information, technologies, or materials that preserves or restores 
environmental quality. This requires specialised skills, knowledge, 
training, or experience (e.g. verifying compliance with environmental 
legislation, monitoring resource efficiency within the company, 
promoting and selling green products and services). 

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
Figure 2: Eco-Innovation Index 2015 (EU=100)13 

The  most  important  driver  is  the  overarching  political 
ambition in Sweden to create green structural change by 
focusing on sustainable growth and eco-innovation. This 
is  clearly  manifested  in  the  ‘generational  goal’  –  the 
overall  goal  of  Swedish  environmental  policy  –  which 
defines the direction of the changes in society that need 
to  occur  within  one  generation 
if  the  country’s 
environmental  quality  objectives  are  to  be  achieved. 
With  that  as  a  starting  point,  the  generational  goal  is 
intended to guide environmental action at every level in 
society. A number of important points have been added 
to it. One is that efforts to solve Sweden’s environmental 
problems  must  not  come  at  the  price  of  environmental 
and health problems being exported to other countries.  

An All Party Committee on Environmental Objectives has 
been  set  up  to  secure  broad  political  consensus  on 
environmental issues. Its role is to advise the government 
on  how  the  generational  goal  and  the  environmental 
quality  objectives  can  be  achieved  in  a  way  that  is  cost-
effective  in  economic  terms.  The  committee  is  made  up 
of  Members  of  Parliament,  together  with  advisers  and 
from  non-governmental  organisations  and 
experts 
government  ministries.  Its  overall  remit  runs  to  the  end 
of 202014. 

Sweden  7 

reducing 

the  environmental  burden 

There is an explicit political ambition that by focusing on 
sustainable growth and eco-innovation at home Sweden 
will be able to contribute both to creating new jobs and 
to 
in  other 
countries15.  The  great  challenge  to  implement  a  green 
structural  change  is  not  limited  to  the  environmental 
technology  sector,  but  affects  all  industry  sectors  and 
thereby the whole economy. Even companies that deliver 
solutions  in  completely  different  areas  of  society  will 
need to be environmentally sustainable. This is expressed 
in a recent report from EPA, which is already being used 
as a basis for new policy initiatives. This indicates that all 
industries  and  sectors  will  need  to  shift  to  a  more 
environmentally driven business model.  

Swedish  companies  have  historically  been  able  to 
respond  and  adapt  quickly  to  new  international  market 
and economic circumstances – green structural change is 
actually nothing new but rather a desired continuation of 
the  continuous 
the  economy. 
transformation  of 
Potentially,  this  is  a  great  long-term  driver  for  eco-
innovation in Sweden. 

There  are  some  30  national  public  stakeholders  with 
connections  to  the  environmental  technology  field.  This 
constitutes  a  challenge  to  companies  to  find  the  right 
one(s),  and  also  involves  a  risk  of  unnecessary  work 
duplication and suboptimal use of public funds. The idea 
to  involve  all  governmental  stakeholders  is  to  create  as 
many  channels  as  possible  into  the  system  of  green 
structural  change.  The  website  Swedishcleantech.se  is 
the  official  business-to-business  (B2B)  platform  for 
Swedish companies, with the purpose of contributing to 
the  development,  commercialisation  and  export  of 
Swedish  environmental  technology.  It  also  aims  to  lead 
the company to the appropriate public actor. The website 
is  operated  and  developed  by  the  Swedish  Agency  for 
Economic  and  Regional  Growth 
in 
industry  and 
cooperation  with 
stakeholder 
regional 
as 
environmental  technology  actors.  The  Association  of 
Swedish  Environmental  Technology  Industries  (ASSET)  is 
the  umbrella  organisation  for  the  regional  actors  in  the 
sector16.  The 
Swedish  environmental 
organisation´s  aim  is  to  strengthen  Swedish  cleantech 
companies through business driven collaboration.  

the  authorities, 
as  well 

(Tillväxtverket) 

associations, 

technology 

Studies  show  that  Swedish  companies  have  previously 
responded  to  regulatory  drivers  of  eco-innovation.  One 
study  on  eco-innovative  measures 
large  Swedish 
companies  found  that  –  in  addition  to  regulations  – 
consumer  demands  and  business  opportunities  (via  cost 
reductions,  for  example)  are  presently  considered  as 
drivers . 

in 

According  to  a  survey  published  by  the  European 

13 Eco-innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2015 
14 Swedish Environmental Protection Agency,  2016. All Party 

Committee on Environmental Objectives  

15 Growth Analysis, Growth Facts, 2013 
16 http://asset.nu/en/ 

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
 
                                                            
                                                            
Commission, companies stated that the biggest obstacles 
to  more  investment  in  eco-innovation  were  uncertain 
market demand and uncertain return on investment, and 
almost the same number stated that obstacles connected 
with funding (such as access to own funding, insufficient 
availability  of  subsidies  or  tax  relief)  were  serious 
obstacles  .  Swedish  companies  in  the  survey  generally 
made  the  same  assessment  of  the  obstacles  as  other 
European companies. The most important driving forces 
for more investment in eco-innovation for both Swedish 
and  European  companies  were  expected  and  current 
energy prices and material prices. Furthermore, Swedish 
companies  thought  greater  demand  for  green  products, 
good business partners, and the availability of technology 
and 
for 
leadership  were 
investment in eco-innovation. 

important  driving 

forces 

in  all,  this 

The  main  challenge  identified  is  that  there  is  no  money 
for  the  early  stages  of  business  development  and  for 
companies  that  want  to  grow.  The  biggest  obstacles  to 
more venture capital investment in the cleantech sector 
are stated to be that measures are too capital-intensive, 
long-term  and  difficult  to  scale  up,  and  that  the  risks 
related  to  both  technology  and  policy  are  considered  to 
be  higher.  All 
leads  to  environmental 
technology,  and  first  and  foremost  the  energy  sector, 
becoming less attractive to private venture capital, which 
then  tends  to  prefer  small  capital-intensive  investments 
with lower risk and faster return on investment. Venture 
in 
capital 
recent  years,  from  close  to  0.07%  of  GDP  in  2007  to 
about  0.025%  in  2014.  The  shortcomings  in  the  state's 
venture capital activities consist in them not being active 
enough, being governed by sectoral and regional lock-ins, 
and  being  inefficient  (Ministry  of  Industry,  Employment 
and Communications, 2016). 

investments  have  decreased  continuously 

To tackle this, Sweden has included the establishment of 
a  green  investment  fund  in  the  programmes  for  the 
Swedish  use  of  EU  regional  funds  2014–2020,  with  the 
purpose  of  strengthening  the  supply  of  venture  capital 
early  stage  funding  to  businesses  in  the  climate  and 
energy  technologies  and  service  sectors.  The  managing 
authority, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional 
Growth, is in the process of starting up this green fund.  

The government also presented a bill in March 2016 with 
a proposal on a new structure to finance innovation and 
sustainable  growth.  This  new  structure  was  decided  by 
the  parliament 
is  now  partly 
in  June  2016  and 
established17.   

The  Swedish  Environmental  Technology  Strategy  and 
Growth Analysis evaluation 

From  2011  to  2014,  the  Government  of  Sweden 
implemented an Environmental Technology Strategy with 

Sweden  8 

from 

increased  exports 

increased  commercialisation  of 
the  following  goals: 
innovative environmental technology, higher firm growth 
and 
the  environmental 
technology sector. SEK 400 million (about EUR 43 million) 
were  allocated  to  the  strategy.  The  Environmental 
Technology Strategy included 26 different measures that 
were  carried  out  by  10  publicly  funded  agencies.  Firms, 
and  in  some  cases  research  institutes,  have  directly 
received  28%  of  the  resources  allocated.  The  remaining 
resources  reached  companies  indirectly  through  the 
activities  carried  out  by  the  authorities,  such  as 
cooperation  projects,  information,  education,  support  in 
international  cooperation,  etc.  The 
connection  with 
strategy  was  very  broad,  and  did  not  focus  on  any  one 
specific area. The actual support that firms have received 
has  also  been  small  in  relation  to  the  factors  that  are 
known to affect environmental technology firms’ growth 
potential.  

its 

The  Swedish  Agency  for  Growth  Policy  Analysis  (Growth 
Analysis)  conducted  a  comprehensive  evaluation  of  this 
implementation.  The  report  was 
strategy  and 
published  in  March  2015,  in  which  Growth  Analysis 
concluded  that  it  is  unlikely  that  these  goals  will  be 
achieved.  For  future  initiatives  to  lead  to  a  high  level  of 
growth  in  the  environmental  technology  sector,  Growth 
Analysis  recommended  that  they  include:  (1)  a  clear 
focus  on  a  limited  area,  (2)  a  greater  reliance  on 
evidence-based  measures,  and,  (3)  a  balance  between 
supply-side focused and demand-side focused measures. 
Additionally,  further  efforts  need  to  be  undertaken  to 
identify and evaluate the types of activities that many of 
the  measures  in  the  strategy  include,  such  as  export 
promotion activities, in order to gather evidence on what 
effects they have on firms.  

After  the  completion  of  the  Environmental  Technology 
Strategy,  other  measures  have  been  integrated  into 
other  policy  areas,  for  example  in  export  policy  and 
innovation  policy.  The  Swedish  government  has  decided 
on an export strategy in which environmental technology 
is  an  important  component.  The  Government  has  also 
appointed  a  National  Innovation  Council  which  focuses 
on environmental and climate technology as one of three 
priorities. As an extension of the Innovation Council, five 
innovation  partnership  programmes18  have  started,  for 
example  one  on  smart  cities  and  one  on  circular  bio-
based economy. 

Sweden has 18 EMAS registered organisation, which is a 
quite low with respect to the total of 4034 organisations 
that  hold  a  registration.  Sweden  has  not  seen  any 
changes  in  the  number  of  registered  organisation  since 
October 2015.  

17 www.saminvest.se 

18 http://www.government.se/articles/2016/07/innovation-

partnership-programmes--mobilising-new-ways-to-meet-societal-
challenges/ 

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
Concerning  the  EU  Ecolabel,  Sweden  has  24  licenses, 
which  is  quite  a  low  number  with  respect  to  the  1875 
total number of licenses. 

Figure 3: Municipal waste by treatment in Sweden 2007-
1422 

Sweden  9 

Suggested action 

  Strengthen  the  existing  circular  economy  policy 

actions. 

  Further facilitate green investments. 

Waste management  

Turning waste into a resource requires: 
 

implementation  of  Union  waste 

legislation, 
Full 
which  includes  the  waste  hierarchy;  the  need  to 
ensure  separate  collection  of  waste;  the  landfill 
diversion targets etc. 

  Reducing  per  capita  waste  generation  and  waste 

 

generation in absolute terms. 
Limiting energy recovery to non-recyclable materials 
and  phasing  out 
recyclable  or 
recoverable waste. 

landfilling  of 

SDG  12  invites  countries  to  substantially  reduce  waste 
generation  through  prevention,  reduction,  recycling  and 
reuse, by 2030. 
The EU's approach to waste management is based on the 
"waste  hierarchy"  which  sets  out  an  order  of  priority 
when  shaping  waste  policy  and  managing  waste  at  the 
operational 
level:  prevention,  (preparing  for)  reuse, 
recycling,  recovery  and,  as  the  least  preferred  option, 
disposal  (which 
incineration 
without energy recovery). The progress towards reaching 
recycling 
the  adoption  of  adequate 
WMP/WPP19  should  be  the  key  items  to  measure  the 
performance  of  Member  States.  This  section  focuses  on 
management  of  municipal  waste  for  which  EU  law  sets 
mandatory recycling targets. 
Municipal waste20 generation has decreased in Sweden in 
2014 (438  kg/y/inhabitant)  and  it remains below  the  EU 
average (475 kg/y/inhabitant)21. 

landfilling  and 

targets  and 

includes 

Figure  4  shows  that  Sweden  has  reached  the  EU  2020 
recycling  rate  target  of  50%  in  2014  (49.9%),  being  well 
ahead of the EU average (43%)23. 
Figure 4: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2007-1424 

Figure  3  depicts  the  municipal  waste  by  treatment  in 
Sweden  in  terms  of  kg  per  capita.  Incineration  accounts 
for  50%  and  landfilling  only  1%.  Sweden  has  taken 
appropriate  steps  to  implement  and  to  perform  even 
better than the current European minimum targets. 

19 Waste Management Plans/Waste Prevention Programmes 
20 Municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of 

municipal authorities, or directly by the private sector (business or 
private non-profit institutions) not on behalf of municipalities. 
21 Eurostat, Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment 

method, accessed October 2016 

The Swedish waste management plan for the years 2012-
2017  includes  measures  to  promote  material  recycling 
and  additional  steps  may  be  needed  to  meet  future  EU 
recycling targets. 

Moving towards the targets of the Roadmap on Resource 
Efficiency, which outlines how we can transform Europe's 
economy  into  a  sustainable  one  by  2050,  could  create 

22 Eurostat, Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment 

method, accessed October 2016 

23 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50% recycling of 
municipal waste. 

24 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste, accessed October 2016 

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
over  2,300  additional  jobs  and  increase  the  annual 
turnover of the waste sector by over EUR 240 million25. 

Sweden  10 

Sweden  has  two  official  investigations  working  in  the 
waste  area:  one  on  economic 
instruments  and 
incineration  and  one  on  promoting  reuse  in  order  to 
prevent waste.  

The  Swedish  EPA  has  different  missions  on  waste,  on 
better  collection  and  treatment  of  waste  textiles,  on 
waste  statistics  and  traceability,  and  on  updating  and 
revision  of  the  waste  management  plan  and  the 
prevention  programme.  The  Swedish  government  has 
decided to use economic instruments through taxation to 
stimulate repair and reuse. 

Suggested action 

  Introduce 

new 

economic 
instruments,  to  further  reduce  waste  generation,  and 
promote prevention, reuse and recycling.  

including 

policies, 

  Shift  reusable  and  recyclable  waste  away 

from 
incineration  e.g.  by  gradually  phasing  out  subsidies  to 
incineration / introducing incineration taxes. 

25 Bio Intelligence service, 2011. Implementing EU Waste legislation for 
Green Growth, study for European Commission. The breakdown per 
country on job creation was made by the consultant on Commission 
demand but was not included in the published document.   

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Sweden  11 

Nature and Biodiversity  

The  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
biodiversity  in  the  EU  by  2020,  restore  ecosystems  and 
their services in so far as feasible, and step up efforts to 
avert  global  biodiversity  loss.  The  EU  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives  aim  at  achieving  favourable  conservation 
status of protected species and habitats.  

SDG  14  requires  countries  to  conserve  and  sustainably 
use the oceans, seas and marine resources, while SDG 15 
requires  countries  to  protect,  restore  and  promote  the 
sustainable  use  of  terrestrial  ecosystems,  sustainably 
manage  forests,  combat  desertification,  and  halt  and 
reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. 

The  1992  EU  Habitats  Directive  and  the  1979  Birds 
Directive are the cornerstone of the European legislation 
aimed  at  the  conservation  of  the  EU's  wildlife.  Natura 
2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas 
in  the  world,  is  the  key  instrument  to  achieve  and 
implement the Directives' objectives to ensure the  long-
term  protection,  conservation  and  survival  of  Europe's 
most  valuable  and  threatened  species  and  habitats  and 
the ecosystems they underpin. 

The  adequate  designation  of  protected  sites  as  Special 
Ares  of  Conservation  (SAC)  under  the  Habitats  Directive 
and  as  Special  Protection  Areas  (SPA)  under  the  Birds 
Directive 
is  a  key  milestone  towards  meeting  the 
objectives  of  the  Directives.  The  results  of  Habitats 
Directive Article 17 and Birds Directive Article 12 reports 
and  the  progress  towards  adequate  Sites  of  Community 
Importance (SCI)-SPA and SAC designation26 both in land 
and  at  sea,  should  be  the  key  items  to  measure  the 
performance of Member States. 

inadequate  and  many 

The area covered by old forest and of protected forest is 
increasing. The conservation status of many forest types 
is  still 
forest  species  are 
threatened.   
The  latest  Red  List27  of  Sweden  (2015)  shows  that  the 
rate  of  biodiversity 
increased  nor 
decreased over the past 15 years. Logging in old-growth 
forests  and  overgrowth  of  habitats  including  meadows, 
pastures  forests  and  wetlands  pose  a  threat  to  majority 
of the species. However, positive trends can be seen e.g. 
with large carnivores. 

loss  has  neither 

26 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) are designated pursuant to the 
Habitats Directive whereas Special Areas of Protection (SPAs) are 
designated pursuant to the Birds Directive; figures of coverage do 
not add up due to the fact that some SCIs and SPAs overlap. Special 
Areas of Conservation (SACs) means a SCI designated by the Member 
States. 

27 SLU,  Red List. 

By  early  2016,  13.3%  of  the  Swedish  national  territory 
was  covered  by  Natura  2000  (EU  average  18.1%),  with 
Birds  Directive  SPAs  covering  6.1%  (EU  average  12.3%) 
and  Habitats  Directive  SCIs  covering  13.2%  (EU  average 
13.8%).  There  are  altogether  4,082  Natura  2000  sites  in 
Sweden. 

Assessment  of  the  SCI  part  of  the  Natura  2000  network 
shows  that  there  are 
in  designation, 
especially  for  the  marine  components  of  the  network28 
(see Figure 529). 

insufficiencies 

Figure  5:  Sufficiency  assessment  of  SCI  networks  in 
Sweden  based  on  the  situation  until  December  2013 
(%)30  

The  process  for  the  designation  of  the  sites  as  special 
areas of conservation (SAC) is complete and all sites have 
a management plan. 

Organisation  of  the  Natura  2000  network  in  Sweden  is 
good  and  their  funding  is  not  currently  a  critical  issue. 

28 For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the 
species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats 
Directive, are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to 
date. This is expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for 
which further areas need to be designated in order to complete the 
network in that country. A scientific reserve is given when further 
research is needed to identify the most appropriate sites to be added 
for a species or habitat. The current data, which were assessed in 
2014-2015, reflect the situation up until December 2013. 

29 The percentages in Figure 5 refer to percentages of the total number 
of assessments (one assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a 
given biographical region with the Member State); if a habitat type or 
a species occurs in more than 1 Biogeographic region within a given 
Member State, there will be as many individual assessments as there 
are Biogeographic regions with an occurrence of that species or 
habitat in this Member State. 

30 European Commission, internal assessment. 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
                                                            
Sweden  12 

Sweden  has  good  expertise  on  restoration  of  habitats 
and  various  restoration  activities  show  good  results  e.g. 
on grasslands, bogs and sand dunes. 

The level of nature-related complaints and infringements 
in Sweden is not very high. Main topics are about hunting 
of  wolves  (use  of  derogations),  wind  farms  and  other 
land use activities e.g. quarries and access to justice.  
According  to  the  Swedish  report31  under  Article  17 
Habitats Directive, based on expert assessment,  26% of 
habitat  assessments  show  favourable  status  (16%  at 
EU27-level)32.  Furthermore,  25%  are  considered  to  be 
unfavourable–inadequate33  (EU27:  47%)  and  48%  are 
unfavourable  –  bad  (EU27  is  30%).  Alarming  is  that  70-
80% of forest, grassland and dune habitats' assessments 
are Unfavourable-Bad.  

Figure 6: Conservation status of habitats and species in 
Sweden in 2007/2013 (%)34 

unfavourable-bad status (EU27: 18%). This is depicted in 
Figure 635. 

In  addition,  considerable  part  of  the  unfavourable 
assessments  for  species  and  habitats  are  reported  to 
have further declining trend. Agriculture, natural systems 
modification,  forestry  (birds)  and  natural  biotic/abiotic 
processes  are  the  most  frequently  reported  pressure 
categories  of  high  importance.  The  same  main  pressure 
categories apply also for birds. However, animal farming 
is  a  necessary  main  factor  when  protecting  grasslands 
and birds nesting in well grazed wetlands. 
The  results  from  the  Article  12  report36  under  Birds 
Directive  show  that  short-term  trends  of  breeding  birds 
are improving for 22% of the species and stable for 26%, 
however decreasing  even  for  48% of  the  species. This  is 
depicted  in  Figure  7.  The  same  categories  for  long-term 
trends are 33%, 28% and 38%. 

Figure  7:  Short-term  population  trend  of  breeding  and 
wintering bird species in Sweden in 2012 (%)37 

Concerning  species  assessments  (other  than  birds)  45% 
(EU27:  23%),  14%  at 
are  at 
41% 
unfavourable-inadequate 

favourable  status 

(EU27: 

42%) 

and 

31 The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is assessment of conservation 

status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive. 

32 Article 17 of the Habitats Directive reporting - national summary of 

Sweden 

33 Conservation status is assessed using a standard methodology as 

being either ‘favourable’, ‘unfavourable-inadequate’ and 
‘unfavourable-bad’, based on four parameters as defined in Article 1 
of the Habitats Directive. 

34 These figures show the percentage of biogeographical assessments in 
each category of conservation status for habitats and species (one 
assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a given biographical 
region with the Member State), respectively. The information is 
based on Article 17 of the Habitats Directive reporting - national 
summary of Sweden - expert-based assessment. 

All  grassland  habitats  and  many  of  their  associated 
species  suffer  from  an  unfavourable  conservation  status 
which  indicates  a  substantial need  for  management  and 
restoration of those habitats as well as a need to enlarge 
nationally protected areas.  

Although  Sweden  has  substantially  invested  in  land 
purchase and compensation payments over the years to 
protect its forests (including use of LIFE funding), mainly 
in  high  latitude  and  high-altitude  areas  in  Sweden,  the 

35 Please note that a direct comparison between 2007 and 2013 data is 
complicated by the fact that Bulgaria and Romania were not covered 
by the 2007 reporting cycle, that the ‘unknown’ assessments have 
strongly diminished particularly for species, and that some reported 
changes are not genuine as they result from improved data / 
monitoring methods. 

36 Article 12 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to report 
about the progress made with the implementation of the Birds 
Directive. 

37 Article 12 of the Birds Directive reporting - national summary of 

Sweden 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
 
 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
expert  based  assessment  of  the  Article  17  reporting 
clearly recognises further need to increase protection of 
the various forest habitats, if to achieve targets related to 
a favourable conservation status.  

Suggested action 

Sweden  13 

objectives 

  Complete  the  SAC  designation  process  especially  the 
marine  component  and  put  in  place  clearly  defined 
necessary 
conservation 
conservation  measures  for  the  sites  and  provide 
adequate  resources  for  their  implementation  in  order 
to maintain/restore species and habitats of community 
interest  to  a  favourable  conservation  status  across 
their natural range. 

and 

the 

  Improve  the  conservation  status  of  forest,  grassland 

Green Infrastructure  

and dune habitats.  

Estimating natural capital 

The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls on the Member 
States  to  map  and  asses  the  state  of  ecosystems  and 
their  services  in  their  national  territory  by  2014,  assess 
the  economic  value  of  such  services,  and  promote  the 
integration of these values into accounting and reporting 
systems at EU and national level by 2020. 

Sweden  has  produced  a  preliminary  report  on  its  most 
important  ecosystem  services38.  The 
inventory  also 
considered  pressures  and  driving  forces  that  have  an 
the  ecosystem  services.  Sweden  will 
impact  on 
incorporate  the  ecosystem  services  assessments  within 
the regional action plans for Green Infrastructure. There 
are ongoing projects on capacity building and awareness 
raising  about  the  value  of  ecosystem  services,  and  a 
research programme “The value of ecosystems and their 
services”. Statistics Sweden has been assigned to develop 
methods for including the value of ecosystem services in 
to 
environmental  accounting.  These  projects  aim 
contribute  to  one  of  the  milestone  targets  of  Sweden’s 
system  of  environmental  objectives:  "by  2018,  the 
importance  of  biodiversity  and  the  value  of  ecosystem 
services  are  to  be  generally  known  and  integrated  into 
economic  positions,  political  considerations  and  other 
decisions in society where it is relevant and reasonable to 
do so". 

Suggested action 

Continue  support  to  the  mapping  and  assessment  of 
ecosystems 
and 
valuation 
development of natural capital accounting systems. 

services, 

their 

and 

The  EU  strategy  on  green  infrastructure39  promotes  the 
incorporation  of  green  infrastructure  into  related  plans 
and  programmes  to  help  overcome  fragmentation  of 
habitats  and  preserve  or  restore  ecological  connectivity, 
enhance  ecosystem  resilience  and  thereby  ensure  the 
continued provision of ecosystem services. 

Green  Infrastructure  provides  ecological,  economic  and 
social  benefits  through  natural  solutions.  It  helps  to 
understand the value of the benefits that nature provides 
to human society and to mobilise investments to sustain 
and enhance them. 

A  planned  national  strategy  for  the  building  of  a  green 
infrastructure  will  constitute  a  tool  for  a  more  detailed 
identification  of  ecosystem  services40,  and  for  the 
management  of  landscape  structure  and  function  that 
will  promote  the  continued  delivery  of  ecosystem 
services.  The  proposed  strategy  includes  a  landscape 
analysis  of  the  spatial  distribution  and  connectivity  of 
important habitats, with the aim to maintain and restore 
sufficient  natural  habitats  for  the  conservation  of 
biodiversity and ecosystem services. 

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (together 
with other government agencies) performed a review of 
policy  instruments  in  the  context  of  the  preparation  of 
the  national  strategy  for  the  building  of  a  green 
infrastructure.  The  report  reviewed  about  a  hundred 
different  relevant  existing  policy  instruments.  There  is  a 
need  to  revise  some  instruments,  as  well  as  to  create 
new  instruments.  Policy  instruments  that  regulate  the 
current  use  of  land  and  water  bodies  need  to  be 
strengthened  to  achieve  sustainable  use  in  a  landscape 
perspective. 

Soil protection  

38 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 

39 European Union, Green Infrastructure — Enhancing Europe’s Natural 

Capital, COM/2013/0249 

40 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
Figure 8: Land Cover types in Sweden in 201244 

Sweden  14 

further  soil  degradation  and 

The  EU  Soil  Thematic  Strategy  highlights  the  need  to 
ensure  a  sustainable  use  of  soils.  This  requires  the 
prevention  of 
the 
preservation of its functions, as well as the restoration of 
degraded  soils.  The  2011  Road  Map  for  Resource-
Efficient  Europe,  part  of  Europe  2020  Strategy  provides 
that  by  2020,  EU  policies  take  into  account  their  direct 
and  indirect  impact  on  land  use  in  the  EU  and  globally, 
and  the  rate  of  land  take  is  on  track  with  an  aim  to 
achieve no net land take by 2050. 

SDG  15  requires  countries  to  combat  desertification, 
restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by 
desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve 
a land-degradation-neutral world by 2030. 

Soil is an important resource for life and the economy. It 
provides  key  ecosystem  services  including  the  provision 
of food, fibre and biomass for renewable energy, carbon 
sequestration,  water  purification  and  flood  regulation, 
the provision of raw and building material. Soil is a finite 
and  extremely 
increasingly 
degrading  in  the  EU.  Land  taken  by  urban  development 
and infrastructure is highly unlikely to be reverted to its 
natural  state;  it  consumes  mostly  agricultural  land  and 
increases  fragmentation  of  habitats.  Soil  protection  is 
indirectly  addressed  in  existing EU policies  in  areas  such 
as  agriculture,  water,  waste,  chemicals,  and  prevention 
of industrial pollution. 

resource  and 

fragile 

The  annual  land  take  rate  (growth  of  artificial  areas)  as 
provided  by  CORINE  Land  Cover  was  0.36%  in  Sweden 
over  the  period  2006-12,  well  below  the  EU  average 
(0.41%).  It  represented  2328  hectares  per  year  mainly 
driven  by  housing,  services  and  recreation  as  well  as 
transport and infrastructures41. 

Artificial  land  cover  is  used  for  settlements,  production 
systems and infrastructure. It may itself be split between 
built-up areas (buildings) and non-built-up areas (such as 
linear  transport  networks  and  associated  areas).  The 
percentage  of  built  up  land  in  2009  was  0.48%,  well 
below the EU average (3.23%)42. 

The soil water erosion rate in 2010 was  0.41 tonnes per 
ha per year, well below EU28 average (2.46 tonnes) 43. 

Figure 8 shows the different land cover types in Sweden 
in 2012. 

41 European Environment Agency Draft results of CORINE Land Cover 

(CLC) inventory 2012; mean annual land take 2006-12 as a % of 2006 
artificial land. 

42 European Environment Agency, 2016. Imperviousness and 

imperviousness change 

There  are  still  not  EU-wide  datasets  enabling  the 
provision of benchmark indicators for soil organic matter 
decline, contaminated sites, pressures on soil biology and 
diffuse  pollution.  An  updated  inventory  and  assessment 
of soil protection policy instruments in Sweden and other 
EU  Member States is  being  performed  by  the  EU Expert 
Group on Soil Protection. 

Marine protection 

The EU Coastal and Marine Policy and legislation require 
that by 2020 the impact of pressures on marine waters is 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status and coastal zones are managed sustainably. 

SDG  14  requires  countries  to  conserve  and  sustainably 
for 
the  oceans,  seas  and  marine  resources 
use 
sustainable development. 
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)45 aims 
to  achieve  Good  Environmental  Status  (GES)  of  the  EU's 
marine  waters  by  2020  by  providing  an  ecosystem 
approach  to  the  management  of  human  activities  with 
impact  on  the  marine  environment.  The  Directive 
requires  Member  States  to  develop  and  implement  a 
marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and  cooperate 
with  Member  States  sharing  the  same  marine  region  or 
subregion. 

44 European Environment Agency. Land cover 2012 and changes country 

analysis [publication forthcoming] 

43 Eurostat, Soil water erosion rate, Figure 2, accessed November 2016 

45 European Union, Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
                                                            
Sweden  15 

working  both  at  a  national  and  at  a  regional  level  to 
develop the GES. For example, the GES is currently being 
reviewed  by  the  Swedish  Agency  for  Marine  and  Water 
Management  and  Sweden  participates 
in  regional 
cooperation under both HELCOM and OSPAR with a view 
to improve the GES definition.  

Sweden  established  a  monitoring  programme  of  its 
marine  waters  in  2014,  however  it  seems  that  its 
monitoring programme needs further refinement except 
for 
to 
constitute an appropriate framework to monitor progress 
towards GES and targets49. 

fisheries  and  eutrophication, 

commercial 

In  its  reports  on  the  implementation  of  the  MSFD,  the 
Commission  provided  guidance  to  assist  Sweden  in  its 
implementation  of  the  Marine  Strategy  Framework 
Directive. 

In  2012,  Swedish  marine  protected  areas  covered 
12,710.4  square  kilometers  of  its  marine  waters,  with 
9,644.6  square  kilometers  in  the  Baltic  Sea  and  3,065.8 
square kilometers in the North Sea50. 

Suggested action 

  Continue  work  to  improve  the  definitions  of  GES  in 
including 
for  biodiversity  descriptors, 
particular 
through regional cooperation by using the work of the 
relevant Regional Sea Conventions. 
(and 
approaches 
quantifying) impacts from the main pressures in order 
to  lead  to  improved  and  more  conclusive  assessment 
results for 2018 reporting. 

  Further 

assessing 

develop 

  Continue  to 

integrate  already  existing  monitoring 
programmes  under  EU  legislation  and  continue  to 
implement,  where  they  exist,  coordinated  and  joint 
monitoring  programmes  developed  at  subregional 
level, for instance by OSPAR and HELCOM. 

  Continue to enhance comparability and consistency of 
monitoring  methods  within  the  country's  marine 
regions. 

  Ensure  that  all  of 

is 
implemented  without  delay,  and  is  appropriate  to 
monitor progress towards its GES. 

its  monitoring  programme 

As part of their marine strategies, Member States had to 
make  an  initial  assessment  of  their  marine  waters, 
determine  GES46  and  establish  environmental  targets  by 
July  2012.  They  also  had  to  establish  monitoring 
programmes for the on-going assessment of their marine 
waters  by  July  2014.  The  next  element  of  their  marine 
strategy is to establish a Programme of Measures (2016). 
The  Commission  assesses  whether  these  elements 
constitute  an  appropriate  framework  to  meet  the 
requirements of the MSFD. 

The  Swedish  marine  waters  are  part  of  two  marine 
regions, the North-East Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. 
Sweden is therefore party to both the Convention for the 
protection of the marine environment of the North-East 
Atlantic  (OSPAR  Convention)  and  the  Convention  on  the 
Protection  of  the  Marine  Environment  of  the  Baltic  Sea 
(HELCOM). The North Sea is one of the busiest maritime 
areas,  also  subject  to  eutrophication,  and  the  coastal 
zone is used intensively for recreation. In addition, there 
is  extensive  fishing  by  bottom  trawling  which  causes 
damage to the sea-floor and is a threat to its biodiversity, 
particularly in open sea areas. In the Baltic Sea, the main 
risks  for  biodiversity  relate  to  eutrophication,  fishing 
pressure,  pollution  by  contaminants  and  oil,  and 
introduction of non-indigenous species47.  

With regard to the implementation of the MSFD, Sweden 
has  given  a  robust  legal  status  to  its  GES  definition  by 
incorporating  it  in  legislation,  which  is  a  good  practice. 
Sweden’s GES are set in comprehensive manner, covering 
all  descriptors,  and  taking  into  account  existing  EU  law 
and  other  standards  from  the  relevant  Regional  Sea 
ambitious 
Conventions. 
determination  of  the  GES,  all  too  often,  the  GES  set 
remain  difficult  to  measure48.  Sweden 
is  currently 

However, 

despite 

an 

46 The MSFD defines Good Environmental Status (GES) in Article 3 as: 
“The environmental status of marine waters where these provide 
ecologically diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, 
healthy and productive”. 
47EEA, 2016, The Baltic Sea. 
48 Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Commission 
Report on "The first phase of implementation of the Marine Strategy 
Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Commission 
Report assessing Member States' monitoring programmes under the 
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (COM(2017)3 and SWD(2017)1 

final)Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) - The European 
Commission's assessment and guidance" (SWD(21014) 049 final and 
COM(2014)097 final) 

49  
50 2012 Data provided by the European Environmental Agency– Not 

published 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
 
                                                                                                 
3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life 

Air quality  

ceilings53. 

Sweden  16 

The  EU  Clean  Air  Policy  and  legislation  require  that  air 
quality  in  the  Union  is  significantly  improved,  moving 
closer  to  the  WHO  recommended  levels.  Air  pollution 
and its impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity should be 
further reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding 
critical  loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening 
efforts  to  reach  full  compliance  with  Union  air  quality 
legislation  and  defining  strategic  targets  and  actions 
beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  suite  of  air 
legislation51,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 

At the same time, air quality in Sweden continues to give 
cause  for  concern.  For  the  year  2013,  the  European 
Environment  Agency  estimated  that  about  3  020 
premature  deaths  were  attributable  to  fine  particulate 
matter54  concentrations,  160  to  ozone55  concentration 
and less than five to nitrogen dioxide56 concentrations57. 
This is due also to exceedances above the EU air quality 
standards such as shown in Figure 958.   

For 2014, exceedances above the EU air quality standards 
have  been 
to  annual  mean 
concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in two air quality 

registered 

related 

Figure 9: Attainment situation for PM10, NO2 and O3 in 2014 in Sweden 

that  up-to-date 

standards  and  objectives  for  a  number  of  air  pollutants. 
As  part  of  this,  Member  States  are  also  required  to 
information  on  ambient 
ensure 
concentrations  of  different  air  pollutants  is  routinely 
made  available  to  the  public.  In  addition,  the  National 
Emission  Ceilings  Directive  provides 
for  emission 
reductions  at  national  level  that  should  be  achieved  for 
main pollutants. 

The  emission  of  several  air  pollutants  has  decreased 
significantly  in  Sweden52.  Reductions  between  1990  and 
2014  for  sulphur  oxides  (-77%),  nitrogen  oxides  (-51%), 
ammonia  (-5%)  as  well  as  volatile  organic  compounds 
(-50%)  ensure  air  emissions  for  these  pollutants  are 
the  currently  applicable  national  emission 
within 

51 European Commission, 2016. Air Quality Standards 
52 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 

viewer (NEC Directive) 

zones  (Gothenburg,  and  Stockholm)  and  related  to  daily 

53 The current national emission ceilings apply since 2010 (Directive 
2001/81/EC); revised ceilings for 2020 and 2030 have been set by 
Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of 
certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and 
repealing Directive 2001/81/EC. 

54 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. 
PM10 (PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5) 
micrometres or less. PM is emitted from many anthropogenic 
sources, including combustion. 

55 Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution 

and it is also a greenhouse gas. 

56 NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities 
and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising 
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 

57 European Environment Agency, 2016. Air Quality in Europe – 2016 
Report. (Table 10.2, please see details in this report as regards the 
underpinning methodology) 

58 Based on European Environment Agency, 2016. Air Quality in Europe 

– 2016 Report. (Figures 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1) 

 Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
 
zones 

concentration  of  particulate  matter  (PM10)  in  two  air 
quality 
(Stockholm,  and  Middle  Sweden). 
Furthermore,  for  several  air  quality  zones  the  long-term 
objectives  regarding  ozone  concentration  are  not  being 
met59. 

The  persistent  breaches  of  air  quality  requirements  (for 
PM10  and  NO2),  which  have  severe  negative  effects  on 
health  and  environment,  are  being  followed  up  by  the 
European  Commission  through  infringement  procedures 
covering  all  the  Member  States  concerned,  including 
Sweden.  The  aim  is  that  adequate  measures  are  put  in 
place to bring all zones into compliance. 

It is estimated that the health-related external costs from 
air  pollution  in  Sweden  are  above  EUR  3  billion/year 
(income  adjusted,  2010),  which  include  not  only  the 
intrinsic  value  of  living  a  full  health  life  but  also  direct 
costs to the economy. These direct economic costs relate 
to 803 thousand workdays lost each year due to sickness 
related  to  air  pollution,  with  associated  costs  for 
employers  of  EUR  111  million/year  (income  adjusted, 
2010),  for  healthcare  of  above  EUR  11  million/year 
(income adjusted, 2010), and for agriculture (crop losses) 
of EUR 48 million/year (2010)60. 

Suggested action 

  Maintain  downward  emissions  trends  of  air  pollutants 
in order to achieve full compliance with air quality limit 
values  -  and  reduce  adverse  air  pollution  impacts  on 
health, environment and economy. 

  Reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to comply with 
currently applicable national emission ceilings61 and/or 
to 
(and  ozone 
(NO2) 
inter  alia,  by  reducing  transport 
concentrations), 
related emissions - in particular in urban areas. 

reduce  nitrogen  dioxide 

  Reduce PM10 emission and concentration, inter alia, by 
reducing  emissions  related  to  energy  and  heat 
generation  using  solid  fuels,  to  transport  and  to 
agriculture. 

Noise 

The  Environmental  Noise  Directive  provides  for  a 
common  approach  for  the  avoidance,  prevention  and 
reduction  of  harmful  effects  due  to  exposure  to 
environmental noise. 

Excessive  noise  is  one  of  the  main  causes  of  health 

59 See The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal and the related Central Data 

Repository 

60 These figures are based on the Impact Assessment for the European 

Commission Integrated Clean Air Package (2013) 

61 Under the provisions of the revised National Emission Ceilings 

Directive Member States now may apply for emission inventory 
adjustments. Pending evaluation of any adjustment application, 
Member States should keep emissions under close control with a 
view to further reductions. 

Sweden  17 

issues62.  To alleviate  this,  the  EU  acquis  sets  out  several 
requirements, 
including  assessing  the  exposure  to 
environmental  noise  through  noise  mapping,  ensuring 
that information on environmental noise and its effects is 
made  available  to  the  public,  and  adopting  action  plans 
with  a  view  to  preventing  and  reducing  environmental 
noise  where  necessary  and  to  preserving  the  acoustic 
environment quality where it is good. 

Swedish  authorities  have  fulfilled  all  their  obligations 
with  regards  to  noise  mapping  for  the  most  recent 
reporting  round,  for  the  reference  year  2011  in  the 
Environmental  Noise  Directive63.  Action  plans  for  noise 
management  in  the  current  period  have  been  adopted 
for  all  major  roads,  major  railways  and  major  airports. 
For 
for  one 
agglomeration is still outstanding. 

agglomerations, 

action  plan 

the 

Suggested action 

  Complete  action  plan  for  noise  management  for  the 

last outstanding agglomeration. 

Water quality and management 

(including  surface  and  ground  waters) 

The  EU  water  policy  and  legislation  require  that  the 
impact  of  pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh 
waters 
is 
significantly  reduced  to  achieve,  maintain  or  enhance 
good  status  of  water  bodies,  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive; that citizens throughout the Union 
benefit from high standards for safe drinking and bathing 
water;  and  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

SDG  6  encourages  countries  to  ensure  availability  and 
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. 

The  main  overall  objective  of  EU  water  policy  and 
legislation  is  to  ensure  access  to  good  quality  water  in 
sufficient  quantity  for  all  Europeans.  The  EU  water 
acquis64  seeks  to  ensure  good  status  of  all  water  bodies 
across Europe by addressing pollution sources (from e.g. 
agriculture, urban areas and industrial activities), physical 

62 Burden of disease from environmental noise; WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden 
of disease from environmental noise, Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., 
Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), World Health Organization, 
Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark 

63 The Noise Directive requires Member States to prepare and publish, 
every 5 years, noise maps and noise management action plans for 
agglomerations with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and for major 
roads, railways and airports.  

64 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC); the Urban 

Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) concerning 
discharges of municipal and some industrial waste waters; the 
Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) concerning potable water 
quality; the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) concerning 
water resources management; the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) 
and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
and  hydrological modifications  to  water  bodies)  and  the 
management of risks of flooding.  

is one of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, which is 
heavily affected by nutrients pollution.  

Sweden  18 

River  Basin  Management  Plans 
(RBMPs)  are  a 
requirement  of  the  Water  Framework  Directive  and  a 
means  of  achieving  the  protection,  improvement  and 
sustainable use of the water environment across Europe. 
This includes surface freshwaters such as lakes and rivers, 
groundwater,  estuaries  and  coastal  waters  up  to  one 
nautical mile. 

In  its  first  generation  of  RBMPs  Sweden  reported  the 
status  of  15,563  rivers,  7,232  lakes,  21  transitional,  602 
coastal  and  3,021  groundwater  bodies.  58%  of  natural 
surface  water  bodies  achieve  a  good  or  high  ecological 
status65  and  only  2%  of  heavily  modified  or  artificial 
water bodies achieve a good or high ecological potential 
(while  the  status  of  20%  is  unknown).  None  of  surface 
water  bodies,  none  of  heavily  modified  and  artificial 
water  bodies66  and  98%  of  groundwater  bodies  achieve 
good  chemical  status67.  87%  of  groundwater  bodies  are 
in good quantitative status. 

The  main  pressure  on  Swedish  surface  waters  is  diffuse 
pollution68,  especially  long  range  transported  mercury, 
which affects 100% of water bodies. Flow regulation and 
river 
morphological  alterations  affect  29%  and 
management  affects  negatively  8%  of  water  bodies. 
There  are  some  regional  differences,  e.g.  low  regulation 
and  morphological  alterations  affect  42%  in  the  North 
Baltic river basin district but much smaller proportion of 
water bodies in the North and West of the country. 

The  Swedish  River  Basin  Management  Plans  have  some 
deficiencies  that  result  in  uncertainties  about  the  status 
In 
and  effectiveness  of  Programmes  of  Measures. 
particular there are weaknesses in monitoring. A number 
of  exemptions  were  applied.  The  planned  measures  are 
expected to result in improvement of ecological status of 
surface water bodies by 6%69. The measures should also 
bring improvement of ecological potential of artificial and 
heavily modified water bodies by 4%62.  

The  Nitrates  Directive  2008-2011  reporting  showed 
positive  results  in  terms  of  nitrates  concentrations; 
however data on eutrophication of inland waters showed 
the need for further improvements. Additionally, Sweden 

65 Good ecological status is defined in the Water Framework Directive, 
referring to the quality of the biological community, the hydrological 
characteristics and the chemical characteristics. 

66 Many European river basins and waters have been altered by human 
activities, such as land drainage, flood protection and, building of 
dams to create reservoirs. 

67 Good chemical status is defined in the Water Framework Directive 

referring to compliance with all the quality standards established for 
chemical substances at European level. 

68 Diffuse pollution comes from widespread activities with no one 

discrete source. 

69 See tables 6.8 and 6.12 from the COM working staff document (SE) 

accompanying the report from the Commission on the 
implementation of the WFD RBMPs (2012). 

As  regards  drinking  water,  Sweden  reaches  very  high 
compliance 
for  microbiological, 
chemical  and  indicator  parameters  laid  down  in  the 
Drinking Water Directive70. 

rates  of  99-100% 

As  shown  in  Figure  10,  in  2015,  in  Sweden,  out  of  445 
bathing waters, 62.2% were of excellent quality, 17.3% of 
good quality, 3.6% of sufficient quality. 10 bathing waters 
were  of  poor  quality  or  non-compliant  while  it  was  not 
possible  to  assess  the  remaining  64  bathing  waters71. 
Overall,  Sweden's  bathing  water  quality  has  improved 
since 2014. 
Figure 10: Bathing water quality 2012 – 201572 

in  the 

With  regard  to  the  implementation  of  the  Urban  Waste 
Water  Treatment  Directive, 
latest  reporting 
exercise  (data  from  2012)73  Sweden  reported  367 
relevant  agglomerations  which  represents  an  increase 
from  327  agglomerations  in  the  year  2010.Following 
information by Swedish authorities, the generated waste 
water 
to  a  new  calculation 
methodology. This reporting and calculation issue needs 
to  be  resolved  by  the  Swedish  authorities  to  ensure 
certainty  in  the  figures  that  are  communicated  to  the 
Commission.  

load  changed  due 

Sweden  also  reported  that  in  2012,  88.9%  of  the  waste 
is  subject  to  more  stringent 
water 

load  collected 

70 Commission's Synthesis Report on the Quality of Drinking Water in 
the Union examining Member States' reports for the 2011-2013 
period, foreseen under Article 13(5) of Directive 98/83/EC; 
COM(2016)666. 

71 European Environment Agency, 2016. European bathing water quality 

in 2015, p. 26 

72 European Environment Agency, State of bathing water, 2016 
73 European Commission, Eighth Report on the Implementation Status 
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water 
Directive (COM (2016)105 final) and Commission Staff Working 
Document accompanying the report (SWD(2016)45 final). 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
                                                            
treatment  in  accordance  with  Article  5  of  the  Urban 
Waste  Treatment  Directive  –  amounting 
to  116 
agglomerations out of 155 subject to those obligations74. 

The Commission is following-up on a number of issues in 
Sweden, as regards the urban waste water treatment in 
both  small  and  large  agglomerations,  by  means  of 
infringements. 

Sweden  undertook  a  preliminary  assessment  of  the  risk 
of flooding from rivers and lakes only as the majority of 
historical floods are of this type75. Sweden has up to now 
been  relatively  spared  from  serious  flooding.  However, 
with  increasing  temperatures  above  global  average,  and 
changing  precipitation  patterns  the  risk  of  flooding  in 
parts of the country will increase.  

Between 2002 and 2013, for the one flood recorded the 
total direct costs were EUR 320 million. The average cost 
per flood was EUR 320 million, close to the EU average of 
EUR  370  million.  Between  2002  and  2013,  EUR  289 
million was invested in flood risk management measures, 
equivalent  to  EUR  26  million  per  year  on  average.  EUR 
183  million  was  from  EU  funds  (but  not  all  of  this  total 
may have been used for flood risk management)76. 

Suggested action 

  Improve  the  water  monitoring  system  and  status 

assessment. 

  Cover all identified pressures and implementation gaps 
with  Programmes  of  Measures  that  should  be 
adequately funded.  

  Review 

and 

improve  measures 

reduce 
to 
hydromorphological  pressure 
in  river  basins.  Also, 
licencing policy to allow or maintain hydropower plants 
should be reviewed and updated. 

Enhancing the sustainability of cities  

The  EU  Policy  on  the  urban  environment  encourages 
cities  to 
implement  policies  for  sustainable  urban 
planning and design, including innovative approaches for 
urban  public 
sustainable 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation.  

transport  and  mobility, 

SDG11  aims  at  making  cities  and  human  settlements 
inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

Europe is a Union of cities and towns; around 75% of the 

74 European Commission, Eighth Report on the Implementation Status 
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water 
Directive (COM (2016)105 final) and Commission Staff Working 
Document accompanying the report (SWD(2016)45 final). 
75Commission Staff Working Document, report on the progress in 
implementation of the Floods Directive SDG(2015)51 final p. 55 
76 RPA, 2014. Study on Economic and Social Benefits of Environmental 

Protection and Resource Efficiency Related to the European 
Semester. Study for the European Commission, Annex 1: Country 
fiches 

Sweden  19 

EU  population  are  living  in  urban  areas77.  The  urban 
environment  poses  particular  challenges 
the 
environment  and  human  health,  whilst  also  providing 
opportunities and efficiency gains in the use of resources.  

for 

The  Member  States,  European  institutions,  cities  and 
stakeholders have prepared a new Urban Agenda for the 
EU  (incorporating  the  Smart  Cities  initiative)  to  tackle 
these  issues  in  a  comprehensive  way,  including  their 
connections with social and economic challenges. At the 
heart  of  this  Urban  Agenda  will  be  the  development  of 
twelve  partnerships  on  the  identified  urban  challenges, 
including air quality and housing78.  

The  European  Commission  will 
benchmark system in 201779. 

launch  a  new  EU 

The  EU  stimulates  green  cities  through  awards  and 
funding,  such  as  the  EU  Green  Capital  Award  aimed  at 
cities  with  more  than  100,000  inhabitants  and  the  EU 
Green  Leaf  initiative  aimed  at  cities  and  towns,  with 
between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants.  

in  2006 

introduced 

Stockholm  was  the  first  winner  of  the  European  Green 
Capital  Award  in  2010.  Stockholm  introduced  a  number 
of  measures  to  make  local  transport  more  sustainable, 
including  the  promotion  of  bicycle  lanes  and  public 
transport, use of alternative fuels and road pricing. Road 
pricing  was 
in  the  form  of  a 
congestion tax. The tax is imposed on Swedish registered 
vehicles  driving  in  and  out  of  the  Stockholm  inner  city 
zone  on  weekdays.  Consequently,  traffic  work  and 
emissions  in  the  city  centre  are  down  by  10-15%80.  The 
city  has  taken  action  to  reduce  traffic  noise:  Proactive 
actions,  regulations,  planning  and  reduction  of  noise  at 
the  source81.  Furthermore,  Stockholm  has  adopted  an 
ambitious  planning  strategy,  aimed  at  building  the  city 
inwards82. 

In Malmö, the SYSAV Waste to Energy plant in Malmö is 
the  most  energy  efficient  plant  in  Sweden  producing 
district  heating83.    The  Traffic  Environment  Programme 
aims  to  foresee  Malmö  to  become  quieter,  more 
efficient,  cleaner,  as  well  as  to  reduce  its  impact  on  the 
health of Malmö inhabitants84. Measures aim to: reduce 

77 European Environment Agency, Urban environment 
78 http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/ 
79 The Commission is developing an Urban Benchmarking and 

Monitoring ('UBaM') tool to be launched in 2017. Best practices 
emerge and these will be better disseminated via the app featuring 
the UBaM tool, and increasingly via e.g. EUROCITIES, ICLEI, CEMR, 
Committee of the Regions, Covenant of Mayors and others. 

80 European Commission, European Green Capital Award 2010 & 2011, 

Catalogue of Best Practice, p.10  

81 European Commission, European Green Capital Award 2010 & 2011, 

Catalogue of Best Practice, p.1 

82 European Commission, European Green Capital Award 2010 & 2011, 

Catalogue of Best Practicep.30 

83 European Commission, Good Practice & Benchmarking Report 

European Green Capital Award 2012 & 2013, p.16 

84 European Commission, Good Practice & Benchmarking Report 

European Green Capital Award 2012 & 2013, p.44 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
improve  air  quality;  reduce  noise;  and 
fossil  fuels; 
increase  cycling,  walking  and  public  transport.  Malmö’s 
large‐scale new development area, the Western Harbour 
initial  planning  stages, 
(or  Västra  Hamnen),  since 
incorporated  to  prioritise 
transport  strategies  were 
collective transport, cycles and pedestrians ahead of cars 
to  reduce  the  environmental  impact.  The  world’s  first 
botanical roof garden was launched in 1999 in Malmo co-
financed  by  the  LIFE  programme.  It  cover  almost  one 
hectare,  and  is  a  unique  attraction  for  Malmö  and 
Sweden85. 

Sweden  20 

contribution  towards  the  achievement  of  the  SDGs, 
which Member States committed to in 2015 and include 
many  commitments  contained  already  in  legally  binding 
agreements. 

The  fact  that  some  Member  States  did  not  sign  and/or 
ratify  a  number  of  MEAs  compromises  environmental 
implementation,  including  within  the  Union,  as  well  as 
the  Union’s  credibility 
in  related  negotiations  and 
the 
international  meetings  where 
participation of third countries to such agreements is an 
established  EU  policy  objective.  In  agreements  where 
voting takes place it has a direct impact on the number of 
votes to be cast by the EU.  

supporting 

Sweden has signed and ratified almost all MEAs.  

Umea has developed an impressive tool called the ‘Green 
Target’  that  is  used  as  a  quality  control  in  the  planning 
process86.  It  is  the  objective  of  Umea  to  ensure  that  all 
citizens  have  access  to  facilities  including  playgrounds, 
small  groves,  lawns  etc.  within  250m  of  their  homes.  In 
2015  approximately  89%  of  citizens  were  living  within 
300m of green urban areas larger than 5,000m2 in inner 
city. The town is pioneering the use of ultra-fast charged 
electric  full-size  urban  buses  with  hybrid  back-up  with 
benefit for air quality, noise and climate87. 

International agreements  

The  EU  Treaties  require  that  the  Union  policy  on  the 
environment  promotes  measures  at  the  international 
level  to  deal  with  regional  or  worldwide  environmental 
problems. 

Most  environmental  problems  have  a  transboundary 
nature  and  often  a  global  scope  and  they  can  only  be 
addressed effectively through international co-operation. 
International  environmental  agreements  concluded  by 
the Union are binding upon the institutions of the Union 
and  on  its Member  States. This  requires  the  EU and the 
Member  States  to  sign,  ratify  and  effectively  implement 
all  relevant  multilateral  environmental  agreements 
(MEAs) in a timely manner. This will also be an important 

85 European Commission, Good Practice & Benchmarking Report 

European Green Capital Award 2012 & 2013, p.22 

86 European Commission, Urban Environment Good Practice & 

Benchmarking Report European Green Capital Award 2017, p.18 

87 European Commission, Urban Environment Good Practice & 

Benchmarking Report European Green Capital Award 2017, p.60 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
 
 
Part II: Enabling Framework: Implementation Tools 

4. Market based instruments and investment  

indexation of the CO2 tax.  

Sweden  21 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

The Circular Economy Action Plan encourages the use of 
financial  incentives  and  economic  instruments,  such  as 
taxation  to  ensure  that  product  prices  better  reflect 
environmental costs. The phasing out of environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  is  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  in  national  reform  programmes 
submitted by Member States. 

Taxing pollution and resource use can generate increased 
revenue  and  bring  important  social  and  environmental 
benefits. 

Expressed in terms of percentage share of GDP, Sweden’s 
environmental tax revenue for 2014 was below the EU28 
average  of  2.46%  with  2.21%. 
In  the  same  year 
environmental tax revenues accounted for 5.18% of total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social-security  contributions 
(EU28 average: 6.35%). As shown in Figure 11, Sweden is 
among  the  countries  with  the  least  environmental  tax 
revenues as a percentage of total tax revenues.  
 A  2016  study88  based  on  levels  of  environmental  taxes 
that already exist in similar countries, shows there might 
be  considerable  potential  for  shifting  taxes  from  labour 
to  environmental  taxes  in  Sweden,  which  could  be  used 
to increase revenues or reduce other taxes. Under a good 
practice  scenario89,  these  taxes  could  generate  an 
additional  SEK  30.84  billion  (EUR  3.36  billion)  in  2018, 
rising to SEK 79.34 billion (EUR 8.64 billion) in 2030 (both 
in  real  2015  terms).  This  is  equivalent  to  an  increase  by 
in  2018  and  2030, 
0.68%  and  1.26%  of  GDP 
respectively90.  

The largest additional contribution would come from the 
amendments to vehicle taxes generating SEK 68.51 billion 
in 2030 (EUR 7.46 billion) (real 2015 terms), equivalent to 
1.09% of GDP81, although this might imply a different tax 
structure  in  SE  and  does  not  take  into  account  the 

88 Eunomia Research and Consulting, IEEP, Aarhus University, ENT, 

2016. Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential 
for the EU28 N.B. National governments are responsible for setting 
tax rates within the EU Single Market rules and this report is not 
suggesting concrete changes as to the level of environmental 
taxation. It merely presents the findings of the 2016 study by 
Eunomia et al on the potential benefits various environmental taxes 
could bring. It is then for the national authorities to assess this study 
and their concrete impacts in the national context. A first step in this 
respect, already done by a number of Member States, is to set up 
expert groups to assess these and make specific proposals. 
89 The good practice scenario means benchmarking to a successful 

taxation practice in another Member State. 

90 Eunomia Research and Consulting, IEEP, Aarhus University, ENT, 

2016. Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential 
for the EU28 

reform 

programme, 

From 2001 to 2006 a Green Tax Shift reform programme 
was  undertaken  to  reallocate  taxes  from  labour  to 
environmentally  harmful  activities.  The  main  change  as 
regards environmental taxes was that the carbon tax was 
increased,  but  other  taxes  were  adjusted  too,  including 
those  for  vehicles,  waste  and  pesticides.  Despite  the 
from 
ambitious 
environmentally-related  taxes  have  not  kept  pace  with 
increases 
in  Sweden, 
environment-related  taxes  as  a  share  of  GDP  have  not 
increased.  Partly  this  has  been  due  to  the  intended 
behavioral 
increased 
substitution  to  biofuels  in  the  transport  sector.  Also  the 
relative  advantage  for  diesel  vehicles  has  eroded 
revenues  from  the  higher-taxed  petrol  vehicles  as  the 
vehicle stock changed.  

in  GDP.  Hence,  since  2001, 

taxes,  and  an 

impacts  of 

revenues 

Figure  11:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  a  share  of 
total  revenues  from  taxes  and  social  contributions 
(excluding imputed social contributions) in 201491 

limiting, 
There  has  been  a  focus  on  removing,  or 
exemptions,  and  reductions  in  tax  rates  for  carbon  and 
energy. A package agreed in 2009 aims at limiting these, 

91 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, accessed October 2016 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
                                                            
Sweden  22 

stepwise,  up  to  2015,  with  the  biggest  reductions  to 
materialize in the final year. Further, discounts in carbon 
tax  on  heating  fuels  in  the  non-ETS  sectors  have  been 
progressively  reduced  and  will  be  totally  abolished  in 
2018.  From  2017  an  additional  annual  appreciation  rule 
for taxes on petrol and diesel is has been introduced. The 
energy  and  carbon  taxes  on  fossil  fuels  have  been 
adjusted  annually  in  line  with  the  consumer  price  index 
since the 1990’s, and for taxes on petrol and diesel a link 
to  GDP  growth  has  been  introduced  from  2017  by  an 
annual  adjustment  at  the  rate  of  GDP  growth  plus  two 
percentage points. 

Sweden’s  move  towards  environmental  taxes  seems  to 
have  lost  some  momentum,  since  the  end  of  the  Green 
Tax Shift in 2006. The shares of taxes related to transport 
remain  fairly  modest  and  so  are  the  taxes  related  to 
pollution and resources. 

Green Public Procurement  

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member States to take further steps to reach the target 
of applying green procurement criteria to at least 50% of 
public tenders. 
Green  Public  Procurement  (GPP)  is  a  process  whereby 
public  authorities  seek  to  procure  goods,  services  and 
works  with  a  reduced  environmental  impact  throughout 
their  life-cycle  when  compared  to  goods,  services  and 
works  with  the  same  primary  function  that  would 
otherwise be procured.  

increased. 

In  September  2016  the  Swedish  National  Agency  for 
Public Procurement (UHM) was founded. The agency has 
an  overall  responsibility  for  developing  and  supporting 
the  contracting 
the  procurement  carried  out  by 
authorities and entities. Sweden has adopted a voluntary 
GPP  approach  and  UHM’s  criteria  library  consists  of  a 
comprehensive  database  of  sustainability  standards. 
With the help of an online wizard, contracting authorities 
are  guided  through  the  different  environmental  criteria 
available for a number of products. The wizard allows the 
selection  of  three  levels  of  criteria:  basic,  advanced  and 
frontrunner.  

In  addition  to  the  ready-to-use  criteria,  contracting 
authorities  are  able  to  ‘design’  their  own  GPP  criteria 
with the support available on the website of the UHM. In 
this case, criteria consist predominantly of Eco-labels and 
environmental management systems94. 

According to a GPP monitoring survey from 2013 carried 
out  by  the  Swedish  Environmental  Protection  Agency 
53%  of  organisations  have 
internal  environmental 
objectives  and/or  internal  GPP  policies,  in  case  internal 
environmental objectives are set up, these are monitored 
in 56% of cases, environmental requirements are applied 
by  respondents  in  transportation:  74%,  energy:  69%,  IT 
equipment:  66%,  food  products:  58%,  and  construction: 
52%95. 

Investments: the contribution of EU funds  

The  purchasing  power  of  public  procurement  equals  to 
approximately  14%  of  GDP92.  A  substantial  part  of  this 
money  is  spent  on  sectors  with  high  environmental 
impact such as construction or transport, so GPP can help 
to  significantly  lower  the  impact  of  public  spending  and 
foster 
The 
innovative 
Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria93. 

businesses. 

sustainable 

Sweden  is  one  of  the  forerunners  on  GPP.  A  national 
strategy  on  public  procurement,  including  GPP,  was 
endorsed  by  government  on  30  June  2016  GPP  criteria 
are developed  at  the  national level for  construction  and 
real  estate,  cleaning  and  chemicals,  vehicles  and 
transportation, office and textiles, electricity and lighting, 
food, health and care, services, and toxic free child care. 

Since  2013,  green  and  sustainable  public  procurement 
have  been  at  the  forefront  of  government  initiatives  to 
strengthen public procurement. To this end, the financial 
to  GPP  support  actions  was 
envelope  dedicated 

92 European Commission, 2015. Public Procurement 
93 In the Communication “Public procurement for a better environment” 
(COM /2008/400) the Commission recommended the creation of a 
process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic concept of GPP 
relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and ambitious 
environmental criteria for products and services, based on a life-cycle 
approach and scientific evidence base. 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  Regulations 
provide  that  Member  States  promote  environment  and 
funding  strategies  and 
climate  objectives 
programmes 
territorial 
cohesion,  rural  development  and  maritime  policy,  and 
reinforce the capacity of implementing bodies to deliver 
cost-effective and sustainable investments in these areas. 

in  their 
for  economic, 

social  and 

Making  good  use  of  the  European  Structural  and 
Investment  Funds  (ESIF)96  is  essential  to  achieve  the 
environmental goals and integrate these into other policy 
areas.  Other  instruments  such  as  the  Horizon  2020,  the 
LIFE  programme  and  European  Fund  for  Strategic 
Investment97  (EFSI)  may  also  support  implementation 
and spread of best practice. 

94 PwC, 2015. Strategic use of public procurement in promoting green, 
social and innovative policies, study for the European Commission 
95 PwC, 2015. Strategic use of public procurement in promoting green, 
social and innovative policies, study for the European Commission 

96 ESIF comprises five funds – the European Regional Development 
Funds (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund 
(ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 
(EAFRD), and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The 
ERDF, the CF and the ESF together form the Cohesion Policy funds. 

97 EIB: European Fund for Strategic Investments 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
                                                            
Sweden  has  ERDF  funding  of  EUR  945m  over  the  2014-
2020  programming  period  (see  Figure  12),  and  focuses 
this  limited  allocation  on  smart  and  sustainable  growth 
areas  which  explicitly  or  not  –  contribute  to  the 
improvement  of  the  environment  or  address  climate 
change. 

Sweden  23 

European 

The  Swedish  priorities  in  EAFRD  where  SE  has  EUR  1 
764m 
2014-2020 
programming period are 63% for measures that support 
environment and climate (including investments). 

funding 

over 

the 

Figure  12:  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds 
2014-2020: Budget Sweden by theme, EUR billion98 

It is too early to draw conclusions as regards the use and 
results  of  ESIF  funds  for  the  period  2014-2020,  as  the 
relevant  programmes  are  still  in  an  early  stage  of  their 
implementation.  

To address the venture capital gap in the green sector, a 
Green fund with a total budget of SEK 1 300m has been 
set  up  within  the  National  ERDF  programme.  The  green 
sector  is  a  high  risk  market  as  there  is  a  long  time  to 
market  and  large  investments  required  in  the  early 
stages. The managing authority is therefore setting up a 
Green  fund  to  provide  venture  capital  to  companies  in 
the  clean  energy  sector  (50%  ERDF  and  50%  financial 
intermediary) which will then co-finance (pari-passu with 
private capital) portfolio companies. 

98 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 

Data By Country 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                            
 
5. Effective governance and knowledge 

Sweden  24 

SDG  16  aims  at  providing  access  to  justice  and  building 
effective,  accountable  and  inclusive  institutions  at  all 
levels. SDG 17 aims at better implementation, improving 
policy  coordination  and  policy  coherence,  stimulating 
science, 
innovation,  establishing 
partnerships and developing measurements of progress. 

technology 

and 

Effective governance of EU environmental legislation and 
policies  requires  having  an  appropriate 
institutional 
framework,  policy  coherence  and  coordination,  applying 
legal  and  non-legal  instruments,  engaging  with  non-
governmental  stakeholders,  and  having  adequate  levels 
of  knowledge  and  skills99.  Successful  implementation 
depends, to a large extent, on central, regional and local 
government  fulfilling  key  legislative  and  administrative 
tasks,  notably  adoption  of 
implementing 
legislation,  co-ordinated  action  to  meet  environmental 
objectives  and  correct  decision-making  on  matters  such 
as  industrial  permits.  Beyond  fulfilment  of  these  tasks, 
government  must 
to  ensure  day-to-day 
compliance  by  economic  operators,  utilities  and 
individuals  ("compliance  assurance").  Civil  society  also 
has  a  role  to  play,  including  through  legal  action.  To 
underpin the roles of all actors, it is crucial to collect and 
share  knowledge  and  evidence  on  the  state  of  the 
environment  and  on  environmental  pressures,  drivers 
and impacts. 

intervene 

sound 

Equally,  effective  governance  of  EU  environmental 
legislation  and  policies  benefits  from  a  dialogue  within 
Member  States  and  between  Member  States  and  the 
Commission  on  whether  the  current  EU  environmental 
legislation  is  fit  for  purpose.  Legislation  can  only  be 
properly 
into  account 
experiences  at  Member  State  level  with  putting  EU 
commitments  into  effect.  The  Make  it  Work  initiative,  a 
Member  State  driven  project,  established 
in  2014, 
organizes a discussion on how the clarity, coherence and 
structure  of  EU  environmental 
legislation  can  be 
improved without lowering existing protection standards. 

implemented  when 

it  takes 

Effective  governance  within  central,  regional 
and local government 

Those  involved  in  implementing  environment  legislation 
at  Union,  national,  regional  and  local  levels  need  to  be 
equipped  with  the  knowledge,  tools  and  capacity  to 
improve  the  delivery  of  benefits  from  that  legislation, 
and the governance of the enforcement process. 

99 The Commission has work ongoing to improve the country-specific 
knowledge about quality and functioning of the administrative 
systems of Member States. 

Capacity to implement rules 

is 

that 

crucial 

regional  and 

local 
central, 
It 
administrations  have  the  necessary  capacities  and  skills 
and training to carry out their own tasks and co-operate 
and  co-ordinate  effectively  with  each  other,  within  a 
system of multi-level governance. 

While  environmental  policy  is  highly  integrated  in  other 
policy areas and in the work of sectoral policy areas, it is 
the  Ministry  of  the  Environment  and  Energy  that  is 
for  establishing  environmental  policies 
responsible 
regarding  chemicals,  natural  environment  and  biological 
diversity.  The  Swedish  Environmental  Protection  Agency 
founded in 1967 reports to the Ministry. There is also IVL 
the Swedish Environmental Research Institute which is an 
independent,  non-profit  research  institute,  owned  by  a 
foundation 
Swedish 
Government  and  Swedish  industry.    The  2013  European 
Quality of Government Index puts Sweden in third place 
out of the 28 Member States100. 

jointly  established  by 

the 

Transposition  and  implementation  of  EU  environmental 
legislation  by  Sweden  has  traditionally  been  good.  In 
transposition 
general,  Sweden  communicates 
legislation  fast  and  the  overall  conformity  of  Swedish 
environmental legislation with the EU legislation is good. 
The  number  of  infringements  and  complaints  is  low. 
lodged  complaints  are  often  very  well-
However, 
reasoned and serious.  

the 

The implementation of the urban waste water treatment 
Directive  is  currently  the  issue  of  with  two  ongoing 
infringement  cases  related  to  agglomerations  which  do 
not  meet  the  EU  law  standards.  Licensed  wolf  hunting, 
initiated in 2010 and still pursued, is also a major issue of 
implementation of the nature protection legislation.  

Coordination and integration 

It  is  crucial  that  the  Ministry  of  Environment  and  the 
Agency  have  the  necessary  capacities  and  skills  and 
training to carry out their own tasks and co-operate and 
co-ordinate  effectively  with  each  other,  within  a  system 
of multi-level governance. 

Impact  assessments  are 
environmental integration in all government policies101.  
The  Commission  issued  a  guidance  document  in  2016102 

important  tools  to  ensure 

100 Charron N., 2013. European Quality of Government Index (EQI) 
101 Article 11 of the TFEU provides that "Environmental protection 

requirements must be integrated into the definition and 
implementation of the Union's policies and activities, in particular 
with a view to promoting sustainable development." 

102 European Commission, 2016. Commission notice — Commission 
guidance document on streamlining environmental assessments 
conducted under Article 2(3) of the Environmental Impact 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
 
                                                            
                                                            
that  are 

regarding  the  setting  up  of  coordinated  and/or  joint 
procedures 
to 
assessments  under  the  EIA  Directive,  Habitats  Directive, 
Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive103.  

simultaneously 

subject 

Compliance assurance 

EU  law  generally  and  specific  provisions  on  inspections, 
other  checks,  penalties  and  environmental  liability  help 
lay  the  basis  for  the  systems  Member  States  need  to 
have 
secure  compliance  with  EU 
to 
environmental rules. 

in  place 

Public  authorities  help  ensure  accountability  of  duty-
holders by monitoring and promoting compliance and by 
taking credible follow-up action (i.e. enforcement) when 
breaches occur or liabilities arise. Compliance monitoring 
can  be  done  both  on  the 
initiative  of  authorities 
themselves  and  in  response to  citizen complaints. It  can 
including 
involve  using  various  kinds  of  checks, 
inspections  for  permitted  activities,  surveillance  for 
possible  illegal  activities,  investigations  for  crimes  and 
audits for systemic weaknesses. Similarly, there is a range 
of  means  to  promote  compliance,  including  awareness-
raising  campaigns  and  use  of  guidance  documents  and 
online  information  tools.  Follow-up  to  breaches  and 
liabilities  can 
(e.g. 
withdrawal of a permit), use of criminal law104 and action 
law  (e.g.  required  remediation  after 
under 
damage  from  an  accident  using 
liability  rules)  and 
contractual  law  (e.g.  measures  to  require  compliance 
with  nature  conservation  contracts).  Taken  together,  all 
of these interventions represent "compliance assurance" 
as shown in Figure 13.  

include  administrative  action 

liability 

Best  practice  has  moved  towards  a  risk-based  approach 
at strategic and operational levels in which the best mix 
of compliance monitoring, promotion and enforcement is 
directed at the most serious problems. Best practice also 
recognises  the  need  for  coordination  and  cooperation 
between  different  authorities  to  ensure  consistency, 
avoid  duplication  of  work  and  reduce  administrative 
burden. Active participation in established pan-European 
networks  of  inspectors,  police,  prosecutors  and  judges, 
such as IMPEL105, EUFJE106, ENPE107 and EnviCrimeNet108, 

Assessment Directive (Directive 2011/92/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU). 

103 European Commission, 2016. Commission notice — Commission 
guidance document on streamlining environmental assessments 
conducted under Article 2(3) of the Environmental Impact 
Assessment Directive (Directive 2011/92/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU). 

104European Union, Environmental Crime Directive 2008/99/EC 
105 European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement 

of Environmental Law 

106 European Union Forum of judges for the environment 
107 The European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment 
108 EnviCrimeNet 

Sweden  25 

is  a  valuable  tool  for  sharing  experience  and  good 
practices. 

Figure 13: Environmental compliance assurance 

Currently, there exist a number of sectoral obligations on 
inspections  and  the  EU  directive  on  environmental 
liability  (ELD)109  provides  a  means  of  ensuring  that  the 
is  applied  when  there  are 
"polluter-pays  principle" 
accidents  and  incidents  that  harm  the  environment. 
There 
information  giving 
insights  into  existing  strengths  and  weaknesses  in  each 
Member State.  

is  also  publically  available 

For  each  Member  State,  the  following  were  therefore 
reviewed:  use  of  risk-based  compliance  assurance; 
coordination  and  co-operation  between  authorities  and 
participation in pan-European networks; and key aspects 
of implementation of the ELD based on the Commission's 
recently  published  implementation  report  and  REFIT 
evaluation110.  

local 

level  but  there 

In  Sweden,  compliance  promotion  activities  are 
conducted  at  regional  and 
is 
evidence  that  these  could  be  improved111.  Planning  of 
environmental  compliance  monitoring  based  on  risk-
based approaches is widely used in Sweden and thematic 
inspection 
inspection  campaigns  based  on  standard 
manuals  and  checklists  are  regularly  conducted 
in 
attempts  to  establish  a  tailored  approach  to  individual 
economic  sectors112.  However,  variations  still  exist, 
reflecting  factors  such  as  resource  constraints113.  As 

109 European Union, Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/CE 
110 COM(2016)204 final and COM(2016)121 final of 14.4.2016. This 

highlighted the need for better evidence on how the directive is used 
in practice; for tools to support its implementation, such as guidance, 
training and ELD registers; and for financial security to be available in 
case events or incidents generate remediation costs. 

111 OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden 2014, p. 53f. It 

notes that practices vary significantly and the perception of 
businesses seems to be that it is difficult to find information on new 
regulatory requirements and how at best to comply with them 
112 Mazur E., 2011. Environmental Enforcement in Decentralised 

Governance Systems: Towards a Nationwide Level Playing Field, 
OECD Environment Working Papers, No 34, p. 19.  

113 OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden 2014, p. 54-55. 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                                                                 
 
                                                            
regards enforcement, , the use of conditional fines (that 
are  linked  to  compliance  order  and  determined  on  the 
basis of the estimated costs for the prescribed corrective 
actions)  seems  to  be  a  useful  tool  for  bringing  duty-
holders  back  to  compliance114.  However,  the  set  of 
sanctions  applicable  to  environmental  offences  is  not 
flexible  enough  to  respond  to  different  types  of  non-
compliance behaviour115, there are significant differences 
in  sanctions  application  across  the  country  have  been 
observed116,  and  there 
for 
improvement  in  how  inspectors  and  prosecutors  work 
together117,  given 
in  serious 
cases118. 

is  evidence  of  scope 

low  prosecution  rates 

Since  2011,  the  Swedish  Environmental  Protection 
Agency 
(SEPA)  has  produced  annual  compliance 
monitoring  and  enforcement  reports  which  include  in- 
and  output  statistics  and  SEPA  has  commissioned  a  big 
research  project  to  explore  tools  for  more  effective 
inspection  work  and  better  performance  evaluation  and 
to tackle the problem of insufficient data on compliance 
assurance119. 

Up-to-date  information  is  lacking  in  relation  to  the 
following: 

Mazur E., 2011. Environmental Enforcement in Decentralised 
Governance Systems: Towards a Nationwide Level Playing Field, 
OECD Environment Working Papers, No 34, p. 19; Study on 
'Information collection and impact assessment of possible 
requirements for environmental inspections in the area of EU 
legislation on water, nature protection and trade in certain 
environmentally sensitive goods', 2013 IEEP/BioIntelligence/Ecologic, 
p. 292 (referring to a 2013 study examining effectiveness of 
environmental inspection authorities - Holstein, F. and Gren, I. 2013, 
Violation of environmental regulations in Sweden: Economic motives, 
environmental attitudes, and social capital, Swedish University of 
Agricultural Sciences, Department of Economics, Working Paper 
03/2013).  

114 Mazur E., 2011. Environmental Enforcement in Decentralised 

Governance Systems: Towards a Nationwide Level Playing Field, 
OECD Environment Working Papers, No 34, p. 22; OECD, 
Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden 2014, p. 56.  
115 According to the OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: 

Sweden 2014, p. 56, inspection authorities do not have discretion in 
determining monetary sanctions and the administrative fines 
imposed do not take sufficient account of the causes for the occurred 
breaches and the environmental damage caused.  

116 Sjoberg E., 2013. Decentralized enforcement of national legislation: 
Political influence on environmental fines in Swedish municipalities  
117 Sweden has indicated that a government committee was established 
(Dir. 2016:32) with the task of exploring, among other things, ways of 
improving the cooperation between inspectors on one hand and 
police and prosecutors on the other. This committee will also analyse 
the system for financing of inspections and compliance assurance as 
well as the system for compliance assurance cooperation at national, 
regional and the municipality level. The committee will present the 
outcome of its work in April 2017. 

118 OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden 2014, p. 56.  
119 See Study on 'Information collection and impact assessment of 

possible requirements for environmental inspections in the area of 
EU legislation on water, nature protection and trade in certain 
environmentally sensitive goods', 2013 IEEP/BioIntelligence/Ecologic, 
p. 293; OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden 2014, p. 
48, 55.  

Sweden  26 

 

  data-collection  arrangements  to  track  the  use  and 
effectiveness  of  different  compliance  assurance 
interventions,  in  particular  the  results  of  the  SEPA 
research project; 
the extent to which risk-based methods are used to 
direct  compliance  assurance  at  the  strategic  level 
and in relation to specific problem-areas highlighted 
elsewhere in this Country Report,  i.e. the threats to 
protected  habitat  types  and  species,  air  quality 
breaches  and  the  pressures  on  water  quality  from 
diffuse pollution.  

Sweden reported five incidents of environmental damage 
in the period 2007 – 2013, of which two were initiated by 
requests for action. One of the five involved remediation 
costs  exceeding  EUR  1  million.  There 
lack  of 
information on the take-up of financial security provided 
by  the  insurance  industry  (to  cover  remediation  costs 
where  the  operator  cannot  pay)  following  Sweden's 
abolition in 2010 of mandatory financial security.   

is  a 

Suggested action  

  Improve 

transparency  on 

the  organisation  and 
functioning  of  compliance  assurance  and  on  how 
significant risks are addressed, as outlined above. 

  Encourage 
authorities 
environmental enforcement networks.  

greater  participation  of 
the  activities  of 
in 

competent 
the  European 

  Step  up  efforts 

in  the 

implementation  of  the 
Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  with  proactive 
initiatives, in particular by setting up a national register 
of ELD incidents. It should moreover take further steps 
to  ensure  an  effective  system  of  financial  security  for 
environmental  liabilities  (so  that  operators  not  only 
have  insurance  cover  available  to  them  but  actually 
take  it  up).  The  Swedish  government  has  already 
started to investigate if actions or measures need to be 
taken  in  order  to  improve  the  current  system  for 
financial 
financial  securities  to  ensure  sufficient 
security when needed. 

Public participation and access to justice 

The  Aarhus  Convention,  related  EU  legislation  on  public 
participation and environmental impact assessment, and 
the case-law of the Court of Justice require that citizens 
and  their  associations  should  be  able  to  participate  in 
decision-making  on  projects  and  plans  and  should  enjoy 
effective environmental access to justice. 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they can rely on the three "pillars" of the Convention on 
Access  to  Information,  Public  Participation  in  Decision-
making  and  Access  to  Justice  in  Environmental  Matters 
("the  Aarhus  Convention").  Public  participation  in  the 
administrative  decision  making  process  is  an  important 
element to ensure that the authority takes its decision on 
the  best  possible  basis.  The  Commission  intends  to 

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden 

 
                                                                                                 
examine compliance with mandatory public participation 
requirements more systematically at a later stage. 

Access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters  is  a  set  of 
guarantees  that  allows  citizens  and  their  associations  to 
challenge  acts  or  omissions  of  the  public  administration 
before  a  court. 
for  decentralised 
It 
implementation of EU environmental law. 

is  a 

tool 

For  each  Member  State,  two  crucial  elements  for 
effective  access  to  justice  have  been  systematically 
reviewed:  the  legal  standing  for  the  public,  including 
NGOs and the extent to which prohibitive costs represent 
a barrier. 

In  general,  the  existing  rules  and  provisions  in  Sweden 
concerning access to administrative appeal and to judicial 
review  are  predictable  and  transparent.  However, 
environmental NGOs still do not have legal standing in all 
environmental  sectors.  Also  the  conditions  to  be 
recognised  as  an  environmental  NGOs  are  partly  too 
restricted.  The  costs  of  administrative  court  procedure, 
however,  are  not  considered  as  being  prohibitively 
high120. 

The  Swedish  government  has  assigned  a  government 
committee (Dir. 2015:121) with the task of investigating, 
among  other  things,  whether  further  measures  are 
necessary in order for Sweden to comply with the Aarhus 
Convention  with 
for 
environmental NGOs in the forestry sector121.  

standing 

regard 

legal 

to 

Suggested action  

  Take  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  standing  of 
environmental NGOs to challenge acts or omissions of 
a public authority in all sectoral EU environmental laws, 
law  as  well  as  the 
in  full  compliance  with  EU 
Convention  on  Access 
Information,  Public 
to 
Participation  in  Decision-making  and  Access  to  Justice 
in environmental matters (Aarhus Convention).  

Access 
evidence 

to 

information,  knowledge  and 

The  Aarhus  Convention  and  related  EU  legislation  on 
access  to  information  and  the  sharing  of  spatial  data 
require that the public has access to clear information on 
the environment, including on how Union environmental 
law is being implemented. 

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 

Sweden  27 

authorities 

public 
the  public, 

and 
increasingly 

and business that environmental information is shared in 
an  efficient  and  effective  way.  This  covers  reporting  by 
active 
and 
businesses 
dissemination 
through 
to 
electronic means. 
The  Aarhus  Convention122,  the  Access  to  Environmental 
Information  Directive123  and  the  INSPIRE  Directive124 
together  create  a  legal  foundation  for  the  sharing  of 
environmental  information  between  public  authorities 
and with the public. They also represent the green part of 
the  ongoing  EU  e-Government  Action  Plan125.  The  first 
two 
to  provide 
information  to  the  public,  both  on  request  and  actively. 
The  INSPIRE  Directive  is  a  pioneering  instrument  for 
electronic  data-sharing  between  public  authorities  who 
can  vary  in  their  data-sharing  policies,  e.g.  on  whether 
access to data is for free. The INSPIRE Directive sets up a 
geoportal which indicates the level of shared spatial data 
in  each  Member  State  –  i.e.  data  related  to  specific 
locations,  such  as  air  quality  monitoring  data.  Amongst 
it  facilitates  the  public  authorities' 
other  benefits 
reporting obligations.  

create  obligations 

instruments 

For  each  Member 
accessibility  of 
State, 
environmental data (based on what the INSPIRE Directive 
envisages)  as  well  as  data-sharing  policies  ('open  data') 
have been systematically reviewed.  

the 

INSPIRE 

in 
that 

the  3-yearly 

Sweden's  performance  on  the  implementation  of  the 
INSPIRE  Directive  as  enabling  framework  to  actively 
disseminate  environmental  information  to  the  public  is 
good,  but  leaves  room  for  improvement.  Sweden  has 
indicated 
implementation 
report126 
the  necessary  data-sharing  policies 
allowing  access  and  use  of  spatial  data  by  national 
administrations,  other  Member  States'  administrations 
and  EU  institutions  without  procedural  obstacles  are 
available  and  implemented.  Sweden  has  currently  no 
common  digital  licence  administration  regarding  access 
to  data  and  services  infrastructure,  but  the  data-sharing 
policies 
in  place  provide  the  essential  conditions 
necessary  for sharing  spatial  data  sets  and services.  It  is 
still  common  that  the  access  to  spatial  data  requires 
registration  and  that  fees  are  asked  for  downloading 
data.  The  general  trend  towards  open  and  free  data  in 
Sweden will in the long term remove the need to register 
and the payment of fees.  
Assessments  of  monitoring  reports127  issued  by  Sweden 

120 European Commission, 2012/2013 access to justice in environmental 

matters  

121 The committee will present the investigation 31 March 2017. 

Regarding the conditions for being recognised as an environmental 
NGO, a proposal by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy to 
change the conditions, including the removal of the condition which 
only grants NGOs that have been active for at least three years in 
Sweden legal standing, is currently being circulated for referral. 

122 European Commission, The Aarhus Convention  
123 European Union, Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to 

environmental information 

124 European Commission, 2016. INSPIRE Directive 
125 European Union, EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 - 

Accelerating the digital transformation of government COM(2016) 
179 final 

126 European Commission, 2016. Inspire – Monitoring and Reporting 
127 Inspire indicator trends  

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Sweden  28 

needed 

and  the  spatial  information  that  Sweden  has  published 
on  the  INSPIRE  geoportal128  indicate  that  not  all  spatial 
information 
and 
for 
implementation of EU environmental law has been made 
available  or  is  accessible.    Some  of  this  missing  spatial 
information consists of the environmental data required 
to  be  made  available  under  the  existing  reporting  and 
monitoring regulations of EU environmental law. 

evaluation 

the 

Suggested action  

  Identify and document all spatial data sets required for 
the  implementation  of  environmental  law,  and  make 
the  data  and  documentation  at  least  accessible  'as  is' 
to  other  public  authorities  and  the  public  through  the 
digital services foreseen in the INSPIRE Directive. 

128 Inspire Resources Summary Report   

Environmental Implementation Report – Sweden