SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Tove Andersson, Anders Linnerborg, Sara Eriksson and Ellen Lewin, Setterwalls Advokatbyrå AB
Setterwalls Advokatbyrå AB PO Box 4501 203 20 Malmo Sweden
Tel: +46 10 690 04 00 Fax: +46 10 690 04 70 Email: malmo@setterwalls.se Web: www.setterwalls.se
Certain less impactful environmental activities are often reviewed by the environmental permit office at the county administrative board ( miljöprövningsdel- egationen inom länsstyrelsen ) or by the municipality. Within the general courts, there are special land and environmental courts that handle the more impact- ful environmental activities, including water activities ( vattenverksamhet ) as well as general environmental law cases. The final and precedent-setting instance for environmental law cases is often the Land and Environmental Court of Appeal, but in some cases the Supreme Court or government. The Swedish government has recently presented an official inquiry into how to make the environmental permitting process shorter and more efficient. The report, SOU 2024:98, was presented in January 2025. The inquiry proposes (among other things) a new national permitting authority, the Environmental Permitting Agency. It will replace the environmental permit offices at the county administrative boards and, to a certain extent, the Land and Environmental Courts regarding permit proceedings at first instance. The new agency will be established 1 July 2027. Other alterations to the permitting system, not yet decided, are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2028. 2.2 Co-Operation Authorities collaborate and co-ordinate in various ways to optimise environmental supervision and to effectively handle complex environmental issues. They share information, co-ordinate and streamline supervisory measures, and strive to unify policy devel- opment. Both in legislative matters as well as consul- tation processes for specific activities and measures,
1. Regulatory Framework and Law 1.1 Environmental Protection Policies, Principles and Laws At the centre of Swedish environmental legislation is the Swedish Environmental Code ( miljöbalken ), which regulates key policies and principles for environmental protection. There are a large number of ordinances and regulations ( förordningar och föreskrifter ) under the code. Besides this core environmental legisla- tion is sectoral legislation that regulates specific areas, such as physical planning, extraction of natu- ral resources, transportation, and ionising radiation. Additionally, there are laws and general legal princi- ples that do not regulate the environment directly but still have an impact on its quality (eg, rules relating to right of public access).
2. Enforcement Authorities and Mechanisms 2.1 Regulatory Authorities
Laws are enacted by Parliament, while ordinances are issued by the government and environmental regula- tions by authorities such as the Swedish Environmen- tal Protection Agency ( Naturvårdsverket ). Several authorities are responsible for environmen- tal supervision but the county administrative board ( länsstyrelsen ) or the municipality is often the main supervisory authority for environmentally hazardous activities ( miljöfarlig verksamhet ).
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