ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Entrepreneurship card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 95 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEconomy & work
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Economy & work

Entrepreneurship

Small/medium businesses & entrepreneurship

Nine out of ten companies in Sweden are small. Behind every café, hair salon and web agency sits a chain of public decisions: tax rules from the Riksdag (Sweden's parliament), permits from your municipality (kommun) and an internal market whose limits the EU sets. Whoever understands the chain also knows where it can be influenced.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · permits, oversight & land · approx 25 %
  • Region · advice & business support · approx 10 %
  • State · taxes, laws & registration · approx 50 %
  • EU · internal market rules · approx 15 %

The central government sets most of the rules, but as a business owner it is often your municipality you meet in everyday life. The general election decides the taxes, the municipal election the service.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe permits & the land
The regionThe support & the development
Central governmentThe rules & the taxes · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the committees (nämnder) for building, environment and permits.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the regional development committee.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), Bolagsverket (the Companies Registration Office) and Tillväxtverket.
What do they decide?
Building permits, land use rights, food safety oversight, alcohol serving permits, and how easy the municipality makes it to run a business.
Regional development strategy, business support, advice and projects meant to strengthen the local economy in the county.
F-tax (F-skatt), VAT (moms), employer contributions, company forms and the laws that govern all business activity.
Where are decisions made?
In committee meetings and the municipal council. Many municipalities have a business guide (företagslots) who helps you find your way.
In the regional council and the development committee, often together with Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth).
In the Riksdag and at the agencies. Verksamt.se gathers the agencies' services for businesses.
Who pays?
Oversight and permits are often paid for with fees, the rest through the municipal tax.
The regional tax plus national and European development funds.
The central government budget funds the agencies, businesses pay taxes and fees.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Talk to the municipality's business office, submit a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag), respond to a public consultation (samråd).
Regional election Apply for the region's business support, take part when the development strategy goes out for consultation (remiss).
General election Respond to referrals (remiss) on cutting red tape, get involved in a business owners' organisation.
EUThe EU's internal market gives you the right to sell across the whole union, and many product and VAT rules are decided in Brussels. Influence it 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 From idea to an open café
  1. EU

    The frame already exists

    The internal market's rules on products, food and VAT are fixed before you have even written your business plan. They apply equally to your café and to a chain with a thousand employees.

  2. State

    The F-tax certificate makes you a business owner

    You register a sole proprietorship or a limited company and apply for F-tax and VAT registration with the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket). Most of it can be done digitally through verksamt.se, the agencies' shared portal for business owners.

    Point of influence

    Do you find the rules cumbersome? The agencies and the Government accept proposals to cut red tape, and the general election decides the taxes.

  3. Region

    Advice and support to apply for

    The region offers business advice and in some cases financial support, especially outside the big cities. Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) coordinates much of the national support for business.

  4. Municipality

    The permits decide opening day

    The food business is registered with the municipality's environmental administration (miljöförvaltning), the sign may need a building permit, and the outdoor seating needs both a permit and space on the municipality's land. Processing times vary between municipalities.

    Point of influence

    The municipality's business office or business guide is your way in, and the municipal election decides how business-friendly the service is.

  5. Your everyday life

    The coffee is served

    The first customer walks in. Every permit, rule and fee along the way here was a decision someone made, and that can be influenced.

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 your municipality do to make it easy to start and run a business, and how do you know?

  2. Which permits and rules feel reasonable, and which feel mostly like obstacles?

  3. Should it be as easy to run a business in the countryside as in a big city, and whose responsibility is that?

  4. What would make you dare to start something of your own?

  5. Small firms often meet the same rules as large ones but have no lawyers. Is that fair?

Glossary

F-skatt
Approval from the Swedish Tax Agency showing that you as a business owner pay tax and contributions yourself on what you earn.
Tillsyn
The ongoing checks by agencies and municipalities that rules are followed, often paid for with fees.
Markupplåtelse
Permission to use the municipality's land, for example for outdoor seating or a sign.
Remiss
When a proposal is sent out so that agencies, organisations and individuals can give their views before a decision.
Företagslots
A municipal function that helps business owners find their way among permits and contacts.

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.