ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Borders card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 29 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaSafety & defense
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Safety & defense

Borders

Type, protection & disputes

Sweden's borders are guarded by the central government but drawn to a large degree by the EU: Schengen removed the internal passport checks and the customs union made the union's external border everyone's shared one. At the border you therefore meet three national public agencies working under the EU's rules.

Where does the power lie?1

  • State · control, customs & surveillance · approx 60 %
  • EU · schengen & the customs union · approx 40 %

Few areas are so shaped by the EU: Schengen and the customs union set the framework, Swedish agencies carry it out. The general election and the European Parliament election decide together.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityOutside the mandate
The regionOutside the mandate
Central governmentThe control · centre of gravity
Who decides?
No formal role in border control.
No formal role.
The border police, the Swedish Customs (Tullverket), the Swedish Coast Guard (Kustbevakningen) and the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), under the Riksdag and the Government.
What do they decide?
Border municipalities feel the decisions, from trade to commuting, but do not make them.
Border regions cooperate on healthcare and commuting across the border, but do not govern the border itself.
Passport control, customs control, maritime surveillance and the assessment of who may enter and stay. The Government can reintroduce internal border checks.
Where are decisions made?
Not at all: border matters are national and European.
In voluntary cross-border regional cooperation, nothing more.
At the external border, in ports and at airports, under Swedish law and the EU's rules.
Who pays?
Nothing earmarked.
Nothing earmarked.
The central government budget: the agencies at the border.
Fastest way in?
The municipal election No direct way. Border matters are decided in the general election and the European Parliament election.
The regional election No direct way: this level has no formal power over the borders.
The general election The general election steers laws and agencies. Referrals on border and migration laws are open.
EUThe Schengen rules, the customs union and the border agency Frontex are decided at EU level. The European Parliament election weighs unusually heavily on this card.

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 You land at Arlanda: the border in practice
  1. EU

    The EU sets the rules of the game

    Schengen decides when passports are to be checked, the customs union which goods may be brought in, and Frontex supports the countries at the external border. The rules are negotiated by the governments and the European Parliament.

    Point of influence

    The European Parliament election shapes the Schengen, asylum and customs rules directly. Few elections have such a concrete effect at a border.

  2. State

    The Riksdag and Government draw Sweden's line

    The Aliens Act, customs legislation and decisions on temporary internal border checks are national. The Government represents Sweden when the EU rules are negotiated.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers Swedish border and migration policy and the line the Government pursues in the EU.

  3. State

    The border police check at the crossing

    If you come from a country outside Schengen, your passport and entry conditions are checked. Within Schengen you normally pass freely, unless temporary checks have been reintroduced.

  4. State

    The Customs selects and examines

    Customs works with risk analysis: most are waved through, some are selected. Weapons, narcotics and smuggled goods are the main targets, and at sea the Coast Guard guards the same border.

  5. State

    The Migration Agency assesses the person seeking protection

    Someone who seeks asylum at the border has their case assessed under the Aliens Act and the EU's common asylum rules. The applicant can appeal a rejection to the migration court, and further to the Migration Court of Appeal.

  6. Your everyday life

    Twenty minutes through the terminal

    A smooth passage rests on rules from Brussels, decisions in the Riksdag and the work of three agencies. The border is noticed most when one of these changes.

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. What does Sweden gain and lose from having no border checks with its neighbouring countries?

  2. How open should a border be, and who should decide it: Sweden on its own or the EU countries together?

  3. What should be checked more strictly at the border, and what is perhaps already checked too strictly?

  4. How would your everyday life change if passport checks came back in the Nordic region?

  5. Did you know how much of border policy is decided in the European Parliament election, and does it affect how you vote there?

Glossary

Schengen
The EU cooperation that has removed the internal border checks between most European countries.
Yttre gräns
The Schengen area's shared border with the outside world, where passports are always checked.
Tullunion
The EU's shared customs area: no internal tariffs and a common tariff against the outside world.
Frontex
The EU's border and coast guard agency that supports the countries at the external border.
Inre gränskontroll
A temporary check at a border within Schengen, which a government can reintroduce in case of serious threats.

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.