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Hur regeringsformens beredningskrav försvagades efter EU-medlemskapet

Abstract

The right to have a say: How the Instrument of Government’s consultation requirement was weakened after EU membership

When Sweden joined the EU in 1995, changes were made to the Instrument of Government to reflect the transfer of powers from the Swedish Parliament to the EU. In this article, it is argued that while legislative power was transferred, the possibilities for citizens to be heard in this process were diminished. Due to a debatable interpretation of a formulation in the Instrument of Government (ch. 7 art. 2), the government’s obligation to consult with interested parties was deemed not applicable to the government’s work with EU laws. As a result, citizens have considerably weaker possibilities to be heard when the government is formulating its EU policy than when it is proposing new laws to the Swedish Parliament. The remedy must be either to reinterpret, by law, the existing formulation the Instrument of Government or to change it to re-establish at least an indirect constitutional right for citizens to be heard.