ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Agriculture card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 61 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEnvironment & resources
  • Centre of gravityThe EU
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionEuropean Parliament election
Environment & resources

Agriculture

Growing & providing food

The milk, the bread and the meat in your shop have passed through Europe's most thoroughly regulated policy area. The farm subsidies are decided in Brussels, paid out through Swedish agencies and land on farms in your municipality (kommun). If you want to understand the EU's power in everyday life, start with farming.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · environmental supervision on farms · approx 10 %
  • State · implementation & control · approx 30 %
  • EU · farm subsidies & rules · approx 60 %

The EU dominates through the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. Of the Swedish levels, the central government does the most, but the European Parliament election is farming's most important election.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalitySupervision on the farm
The regionOn the side
Central governmentThe implementer
Who decides?
The municipality's environmental committee (miljönämnden) and the inspectors at the environment office.
The region has no formal role in agricultural policy.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket), the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) and the County Administrative Boards (Länsstyrelsen).
What do they decide?
Environmental supervision on the farms, the handling of manure and chemicals, and planning questions concerning agricultural land.
No formal role, but food questions can be part of the regional development work.
Sweden's plan for the EU subsidies, the Animal Welfare Act, food control and the County Administrative Boards' processing of the subsidies.
Where are decisions made?
In the environmental committee. Inspections and decisions are official documents.
In the regional council (regionfullmäktige), mostly as a conversation partner.
At the Board of Agriculture and the County Administrative Board in your county, within the EU's framework.
Who pays?
Supervision fees from the farmers and municipal tax.
Nothing of agricultural policy.
The EU budget covers the subsidies, the central government adds national co-financing.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election steers the committee. Comments on environmental impact go to the environment office.
Regional election The regional election affects farming only indirectly.
General election A referral response (remissvar) when Sweden's agricultural policy is shaped, contact with the County Administrative Board.
EU · centre of gravityThe Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, is one of the EU's largest budget items and steers subsidies, rules and environmental requirements. Influenced directly in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A farm subsidy is paid out
  1. EU

    CAP is negotiated in Brussels

    The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers decide the Common Agricultural Policy, one of the EU's largest budget items. That is where it is decided which subsidies exist and which environmental requirements come with them.

    Point of influence

    The European Parliament election is farming's most important election. The parliament you vote in negotiates the subsidies.

  2. State

    Sweden writes its plan

    The Government draws up a strategic plan for how the EU subsidies are to be used in Sweden, within the EU's framework. The Board of Agriculture shapes the exact conditions.

    Point of influence

    The plan and the regulations are sent out as referrals. Farming organisations and others can respond.

  3. State

    The County Administrative Board processes

    The farmer applies for the subsidies in the Board of Agriculture's e-service, and the County Administrative Board processes the application and carries out on-site checks. The conditions cover everything from animal husbandry to protection zones along watercourses.

  4. Municipality

    The municipality meets the farm

    The municipality's environment office supervises manure handling and chemicals, and the elected representatives decide in their plans whether agricultural land may be built on, a growing battleground in many municipalities.

  5. Your everyday life

    The food on the table

    The price of the milk, the open pasture by the road and the grazing animals you see from the car, all of it is tied to subsidies and rules decided in Brussels and administered in your county.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Should food be produced in Sweden even if it becomes more expensive, and who should pay for it then?

  2. What are the farm subsidies for: cheap food, a living countryside, environmental benefit or preparedness?

  3. Is it reasonable that agricultural policy is decided at the EU level instead of in the Riksdag?

  4. Should fertile agricultural land be allowed to be built on with housing and roads in your municipality?

  5. What do you know about the farms closest to you, and what would you want to ask the person who runs one?

Glossary

CAP
The EU's Common Agricultural Policy, steering subsidies and rules for the whole union's farming.
Strategisk plan
Sweden's national plan for how the EU's farm subsidies are to be used here.
Direktstöd
Support per hectare paid to farmers who meet the conditions.
Miljötillsyn
The municipality's check that farms follow the environmental rules, for example for manure.
Remiss
When a proposal is sent out so that those concerned can have their say before a decision.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.