Committee Reports: Welfare Reform, Housing Registers, and the Legislative Grind

In the week ending February 14, the Riksdag’s standing committees delivered fifteen reports spanning welfare reform, housing transparency, consumer protection, and the quiet rejection of over 150 opposition motions. The sheer volume reveals a legislature operating at full capacity—and a centre-right government that is simultaneously pushing structural reforms and relying on committee discipline to contain opposition ambitions.

Housing and Property: A Registry Revolution

The Civil Affairs Committee’s report CU28 endorses the government’s proposition for a universal housing cooperative registry (bostadsrättsregister). Sweden has approximately one million housing cooperative apartments, yet no centralised record of ownership has existed. The reform creates a comprehensive register intended to combat fraud, improve transparency in property transactions, and close a regulatory gap that has enabled money laundering through opaque housing cooperative structures.

The Justice Ministry’s parallel proposition 2025/26:112 complements this with identity verification requirements for land registration and measures against circumvention of the Housing Cooperative Act. Together, these represent the most significant property transparency reform in decades—a rare case where anti-fraud objectives and market-efficiency arguments align neatly.

The committee also produced reports on planning and construction (CU19), compensation and insolvency law (CU15)—rejecting 36 opposition motions with references to existing rules and ongoing work—and the travel guarantee system reform.

Consumer Protection: The Travel Guarantee Overhaul

The Civil Affairs Committee’s report CU10 introduces a collective fund model for traveller protection, replacing the current system of individual guarantees per travel operator. The reform is elegant in design: travel companies pay into a shared fund, which grows over time and gradually reduces the individual guarantees each operator must maintain. This simultaneously strengthens consumer protection and reduces administrative costs for small travel businesses.

A notable innovation allows legal entities, such as credit card companies, to claim reimbursement from the travel guarantee—a form of subrogation right (regressrätt) that acknowledges the growing role of payment intermediaries in consumer disputes. For travellers who received vouchers from airlines or tour operators that subsequently became worthless due to bankruptcy, the expanded coverage is a direct response to pandemic-era failures. The legislation takes effect on April 1, 2026.

Health Care: Primary Care’s Expanded Mandate

The Social Affairs Committee’s report SoU23 advances the government’s “Good and Close Care” (god och nära vård) reform, clarifying primary care’s role and expanding municipal health services. The key measures include requiring round-the-clock access to medical assessment by doctors and nurses in municipal health care, mandating a medically responsible rehabilitation officer in every municipality, and replacing the term “home nursing care” (hemsjukvård) with “health care in the home” (hälso- och sjukvård i hemmet).

The terminological shift is more than cosmetic. “Health care in the home” encompasses a broader scope than traditional home nursing, reflecting the reality that municipal care increasingly handles complex medical needs, mental health support, and rehabilitation. The requirement for regions and municipalities to collaborate on planning signals an acknowledgment that Sweden’s fragmented health governance—21 regions responsible for hospitals, 290 municipalities handling elderly and primary care—creates dangerous coordination gaps.

The committee’s separate report SoU36 on deploying state personnel abroad addresses a different dimension of government capacity, facilitating the secondment of civil servants to international operations.

The Motion Graveyard

Several reports demonstrate the committee system’s filtering function at its most routine. The Transport Committee’s report TU9 recommended rejecting approximately 120 motions on road traffic and vehicle issues. These covered fossil-free vehicle fleets, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, road maintenance, and winter road management. The committee cited “planned or already implemented measures and ongoing work”—a formula that simultaneously acknowledges the opposition’s concerns and asserts the government’s prior action.

The Environment and Agriculture Committee’s animal welfare report (MJU9) and the Industry Committee’s trade policy report (NU11) follow the same pattern. These “omnibus rejections” are a structural feature of the Swedish system: the general motion period (allmänna motionstiden) produces hundreds of motions each autumn, and the spring committee season systematically processes them. The bulk rejection rate tells a story not of legislative failure, but of a system where the executive, through its committee majorities, controls the policy agenda.

Education and Culture: Institutional Scrutiny

The Education Committee’s report UbU16 on the Swedish National Audit Office’s examination of the teacher certification system (lärarlegitimation) puts institutional design under the microscope. Teacher certification has been controversial since its introduction, with persistent complaints about processing delays and professional barriers. The companion report UbU8 on basic education policy complements this review. The Culture Committee’s report KrU5 on access to culture and the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report UU8 on sexual and reproductive health rights in international development reflect the breadth of the committee calendar.

What the Numbers Tell Us

Fifteen reports processing over 200 motions in a single week is unusual even by the Riksdag’s industrious standards. The pattern reflects the spring session’s intensity as committees race to clear the motion backlog before the parliamentary year’s second half pivots toward government bills. For the Kristersson coalition, the committee system’s reliable rejection of opposition motions is a structural advantage—but the travel guarantee reform and housing registry show that constructive legislation still emerges from the process.

The critical test lies ahead. As these reports reach the chamber floor, votes on trade policy (NU11) and road traffic (TU9) scheduled for early next week will measure Sweden Democrats’ continued cooperation on technical legislation. The housing cooperative registry and primary care reform will face debates where the opposition can challenge implementation timelines and resource adequacy. For a minority government, even routine committee victories require active parliamentary management.