C 312/258
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
1.9.2023
(30)
In accordance with Article 19(3), point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241and criterion 2.2 of Annex V to that Regulation, the recovery and resilience plan includes an extensive set of mutually reinforcing reforms and investments to be implemented by 2026.
While Sweden's recovery and resilience plan was only adopted in 2022, its implementation is now underway.
Despite a slow start, the implementation is generally on track, and, at this stage, risks of non-absorption appear limited given the relatively small financial allocation of the recovery and resilience plan.
The operational arrangements between the Commission and Sweden have been concluded in May 2023.
Sweden is expected to submit its first payment request combining two instalments in the second half of 2023.
Preparations of a REPowerEU chapter and an addendum due to the slight decrease of non-repayable support are ongoing.
The swift inclusion of the new REPowerEU chapter in the recovery and resilience plan will allow additional reforms and investments to be financed in support of Sweden's strategic objectives in the field of energy and the green transition.
The systematic and effective involvement of local and regional author­ ities, social partners and other relevant stakeholders remains important for the successful implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, as well as other economic and employment policies going beyond that plan, in order to ensure broad ownership of the overall policy agenda.
(31)
The Commission approved all Sweden's cohesion policy programming documents in 2022.
Proceeding with the swift implementation of the cohesion policy programmes in complementarity and synergy with the recovery and resilience plan, including the REPowerEU chapter, is key to achieving the green and digital transition, increasing economic and social resilience, and achieving balanced territorial development in Sweden.
(32)
Beyond the economic and social challenges addressed by the recovery and resilience plan and cohesion policy programmes, Sweden faces a number of additional challenges related to (i) unequal opportunities in education for pupils from disadvantaged socio-economic and migrant backgrounds; (ii) the need to better integrate disadvantaged groups into the labour market; and (iii) the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
(33)
Even though Sweden generally performs well on educational outcomes, inequalities persist in the Swedish education system.
Pupils with disadvantaged socio-economic and migrant backgrounds have limited educational opportunities, including opportunities to develop the skills needed to find employment.
Inequalities in education are increasing and are often linked to the lack of opportunities for pupils with migrant backgrounds to choose the school they want, in particular for those who have recently arrived in Sweden.
Differences in grading practices across schools risk further undermining educational outcomes.
The shortage of qualified teachers remains prob­ lematic and is most pressing for special needs teachers, subject teachers in compulsory schools and vocational teachers in secondary schools.
There is scope to improve the set-up and governance of the education system, including the enrolment process and grading system, as well as teachers' career progression.
(34)
Sweden continues to face challenges in integrating people with disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds into the labour market, as well as in reducing the remaining skills gaps.
There is an increasing gap in education levels of non-Union-born people as compared to Union-born people, mainly due to increased tertiary education attainment by the latter.
The share of early leavers from education and training has been increasing, especially among non-Union-born students.
Strengthening participation in learning activities is needed in order to help people from disadvantaged groups develop skills relevant for the labour market and increase their chances of finding a job.
(35)
More effort is needed for Sweden to achieve its national target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.
Although Sweden continues to be among the Member States with the highest share of renewables in its final energy consumption, power grid capacity and transmission constraints may impose restrictions on the further deployment of renewable energy sources in the future.
In 2022, these constraints contributed to surging energy prices for industry and households and limited the expansion of economic activity in remote geographical locations.
Increasing the capacity of the electricity grid is pivotal, given that Sweden's final electricity consumption is expected to double to 300 TWh by 2045, due to the increased electrification needs of industry and transport.
However, the construction and reinforcement of the electricity grid is subject to delays caused by lengthy permitting processes.
In addition, Sweden has some of the lengthiest administrative procedures in the Union for deploying renewable energy sources, in particular onshore wind projects.
The government has launched an investigation into simplifying environmental permit assessments within the remit of the Swedish Environmental Code.
At the same time, concrete policy action is needed in order to accelerate administrative procedures for electricity grid expansion and the deployment of renewable energy sources, for example by limiting the number of authorities involved in these procedures and by running procedures in parallel.