Government agencies in Sweden

The government agencies in Sweden are state-controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Sweden. The ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to monitor the agencies and preparing decision and policy papers for the government as a collective body to decide upon.

A Cabinet Minister is explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. The cardinal rule is that Ministers are not allowed to issue orders to agencies in their portfolio personally (with only a few exceptions) as the government agencies are subject to decisions made by the government, although the government cannot even directly overrule an agency in the handling of an individual case.

Other than the executive branch, the Riksdag also has a number of independent agencies.

Riksdag

• Riksbank, Sweden's central bank.
• National Audit Office () — the supreme audit institution of Sweden.
• The Parliamentary Ombudsman ().

Ministry of Justice

• Chancellor of Justice ()
• Commission on Security and Integrity Protection ()
• Crime Victim Authority ()
• Authority for Privacy Protection ()
• Economic Crime Authority ()
• Migration Agency ()
• Board of Forensic Medicine ()
• Council for Crime Prevention ()
• Courts Administration ()
• Police Authority ()
• Security Service ()
• Prison and Probation Service ()
• Prosecution Authority ()
• Inspectorate of Auditors ()
• Gene Technology Advisory Board ()
• Legal Aid Authority ()
• Judges Proposals Board ()
• Council on Legislation ()

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

• Legations and embassies in foreign countries
• Export Credits Guarantee Board ()
• Folke Bernadotte Academy (
• Inspectorate of Strategic Products ()
• Board of Trade ()
• Nordic Africa Institute ()
• SWEDAC ()
• Sida ()
• Swedish Institute ()
• Swedish Institute Alexandria ()
• Business Sweden ().

Ministry of Defence

• Armed Forces ()
• Defence Materiel Administration ()
• Defence Conscription and Assessment Agency ()
• National Defence Radio Establishment ()
• Defence Research Agency ()
• Foreign Intelligence Inspectorate ()
• Foreign Intelligence Court ()
• Agency for Defence Analysis ()
• Coast Guard ()
• Psychological Defence Agency ()
• Civil Contingencies Agency ()
• Accident Investigation Authority ()

Ministry of Employment

• Gender Equality Agency ()
• Delegation against segregation ()
• Agency for Work Environment Expertise()
• Public Employment Service ()
• Work Environment Authority ()
• Labour Court ()
• Unemployment Insurance Board ()
• Council for Employee Representation on Boards of Directors ()
• Council for the European Social Fund in Sweden ()
• Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy ()
• Advisory Board on Patent Rights and Compensation Settlements for Inventions at Work ()
• National Mediation Office ()
• ILO committee ()
• Board against Discrimination ()
• Ombudsman for Children ()
• Equality Ombudsman ()

Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation

• Board of Agriculture (
• Swedish Forest Agency ()
• Food Agency ()
• National Board of Fisheries ()
• University of Agricultural Sciences ()
• Swedish Veterinary Agency ()
• Veterinary Disciplinary Board ()

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

• Alcoholic Beverages Product Range Board ()
• eHealth Agency ()
• Public Health Agency ()
• Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life ()
• Social Insurance Agency ()
• Medical Responsibility Board ()
• Social Insurane Inspectorate ()
• Health and Social Care Inspectorate ()
• Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency ()
• Medical Products Agency ()
• Agency for Participation ()
• Family Law and Parental Support Authority ()
• Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis ()
• Pensions Agency ()
• Board of Health and Welfare ()
• Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services ()
• Board of Institutional Care ()
• Ombudsman for Children in Sweden ()
• Agency for Support to Faith Communities ()
• Agency for Youth and Civil Society ()

Ministry of Finance

• Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency ()
• Institute of Economic Research ()
• Fiscal Policy Council ()
• Financial Management Authority ()
• Tax Agency ()
• Enforcement Authority ()
• Customs Service ()
• Financial Supervisory Authority ()
• National Debt Office ()
• County administrative boards ()
• Statistics Sweden or ()
• National Property Board ()
• Fortifications Agency ()
• Consumer Agency ()
• Gambling Authority ()
• Lantmäteriet
• National Board of Housing, Building and Planning ()
• National Government Service Pension and Group Life Insurance Board ()
• Special Board for the Public Sector ()
• Agency for Government Employers ()
• Agency for Public Management ()
• Government Service Centre ()
• Government Employee Pensions Board ()
• National Board of Appeal ()
• Government Disciplinary Board for Higher Officials ()
• Arbitration Tribunal for Occupational Injury Compensation ()
• Accounting Standards Board ()
• Estate Agents Inspectorate ()
• Board for Consumer Disputes ()
• The National Agency for Public Procurement ()

Ministry of Education and Research

Schools, children and youth

• National Agency for Education, or ()
• Schools Inspectorate ()
• Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools ()
• Sami Education Board ()
• Board of Appeal for Education ()

Higher education

• Public universities and colleges
• Council for Higher Education, or ()
• Board of Student Finance, or ()
• Higher Education Appeals Board ()
• National Board of Appeal for Student Aid ()
• Office of the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities ()
• Agency for Higher Vocational Education ()

Research

• Institute of Space Physics, or ()
• National Library, or ()
• Polar Research Secretariat, or ()
• Space Agency, or ()
• Research Council, or ()
• Institute for Educational Research ()
• Royal Academy of Science ()
• Ethical Review Authority ()

Ministry of Culture

• Election Authority ()
• Sámi Parliament ()
• Swedish Arts Council ()
• Swedish Media Council ()
• Public Art Agency ()
• National Archives ()
• National Heritage Board ()
• Agency for Support to Faith Communities ()
• Agency for Youth and Civil Society ()
• Press and Broadcasting Authority ()
• Agency for Accessible Media ()
• Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis ()
• Handicraft Council ()
• Arts Grants Committee ()
• Forum for Living History ()

Academies and institutes

• Royal Academy ()
• Royal Swedish Academy of Music ()
• Royal Academy of Letters ()
• Institute for Language and Folklore ()
• Swedish Film Institute ()

Public museums

• National Historical Museums ()
• Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts ()
• Moderna Museet
• Swedish Museum of Natural History ()
• Nordic Museum ()
• Skansen
• National Swedish Museums of Military History ()
• Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design ()
• Museum of Science and Technology ()
• Museum of Work ().

Performing arts

• Royal Dramatic Theatre ()
• Royal Swedish Opera ()
• National Swedish Touring Theatre
• Performing Arts Agency ()

Ministry of the Environment

• Formas ()
• Chemicals Agency ()
• Nuclear Waste Fund ()
• Environmental Protection Agency ()
• Geotechnical Institute ()
• Radiation Safety Authority ()
• Water Supply and Sewage Tribunal ()
• Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute ()
• Agency for Marine and Water Management ()

Defunct agencies

Some historic government agencies have been merged with other agencies or simply closed down.

• Aliens Appeals Board of Sweden, or Utlänningsnämnden, UN. Discontinued and replaced by Migration Courts on 31 March 2006, when the new Aliens Act entered into force.
• Swedish National Board of Education, or Skolöverstyrelsen, governed primary and secondary schools. Was replaced by the Swedish National Agency for Education in 1991 when the responsibility for schools was transferred from the state to the municipalities.
• Swedish National Board of Universities and Colleges, or Universitets- och högskoleämbetet, was responsible for higher education until 1992 when the central agency was abolished. It was replaced with an agency with a considerably more limited field of operations, the Office of the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities, or Kanslersämbetet. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education was set up on 1 July 1995, incorporating the Office of the Chancellor, the Council for the Renewal of Undergraduate Education (Grundutbildningsrådet) and parts of the Swedish National Agency for Services to Universities.
• Swedish National Integration Board, or Integrationsverket. Located in Norrköping. Field of operations: The Swedish Integration Board to ensure that the visions and goals of Sweden's integration policies have an impact in the various areas of society. Closed down on 1 July 2007.
• Swedish National Plant Variety Board, or Statens växtsortnämnd. Field of operations: issues relating to plant breeding and the admission of plants into the different classification lists. Made a part of the Swedish National Board of Agriculture on 1 January 2006.
• Swedish National Public Transport Agency, or Rikstrafiken on 1 April 2010.
• The Railway Safety Fencing Board (Template:Langx) was a government agency responsible for settling conflicts between municipalities and rail transport companies regarding the building of fences along railways. The board existed 1976—2008. It only decided in one case, which occurred in 1977.
• Swedish Seed Testing and Certification Institute, or Statens utsädeskontroll. Field of operations: seed testing. Made a part of the Swedish National Board of Agriculture on 1 January 2006.
• The State Institute for Racial Biology or Statens institut för rasbiologi. Field of operations: studying eugenics and human genetics. Established in 1922 and changed to State Institute for Human Genetics in 1958 and merged into Uppsala University.

See also

• List of Swedish government enterprises
• Government agencies in Iceland
• Government agencies in Norway

References

• Current Government Agencies on Government's website
• Governmental ordinance (in Swedish) listing agencies affiliation per ministry