Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Christmas trees bring festive cheer to Swedish royals, government plans to cut taxes on popular savings accounts, and Social Democrats slam their own climate policies – and the Green Party. Here's the latest news.
Christmas trees get the royal holiday season under way
Queen Silvia and her eight grandchildren received the Royal Palace's annual Christmas trees from students from Sweden's University of Agriculture in Umeå on Monday.
Pictured from left to right in the royal family above are Princess Leonore, Prince Julian, Queen Silvia, Prince Alexander, Princess Adrienne, Princess Estelle, Prince Oscar, Prince Nicolas and Prince Gabriel.
The tradition of agriculture students presenting the Royal Palace with its Christmas tress has existed since the 1960s, and it's why the Nordmann Fir isn't called as a nordmannsgran in Swedish (which as in English was its previous name), but a kungsgran – the King's Fir.
Swedish vocabulary: the Royal Palace – det kungliga slottet
Swedish government coalition plans to cut taxes on ISK savings accounts
The government and Sweden Democrats are pushing ahead with a proposal to cut taxes on so-called ISK accounts.
An investeringssparkonto or ISK is a popular way of saving money in Sweden. It's a ringed account for savings, shares and funds, which is not subject to capital gains tax, but is instead taxed at a fixed, annual rate paid on the entire value of the sum held.
The proposed tax cut would mean that people would not be taxed on the first 300,000 kronor in their ISK accounts.
Relevant organisations and authorities will now be invited to comment on the proposal, before the government decides whether or not to go through with it. It has already included a caveat in the proposal that the economic situation and budget negotiations will in the end determine whether or not the tax cut will be included in the budget bill for 2025, as is currently the plan.
Swedish vocabulary: a tax – en skatt
Social Democrats slam their own climate policies – and Green Party
The Social Democrats in a new internal report criticise their climate policies during their last terms in government.
The report argues that their climate policies widened inequalities, by being a carrot for the rich and a stick for others, for example through financial support for electric cars which was mainly handed out to people in cities.
A Social Democrat spokesperson in an interview with Aftonbladet not only blamed her own party, but also the Green Party, who were part of the coalition government 2014-2021.
"We are responsible. And the Green Party, who pushed through the reforms and held the ministerial portfolio for seven out of those eight years, is definitely responsible," report author Anna-Caren Sätherberg told Aftonbladet.
Isabella Lövin, a former Green Party leader who was climate and environment minister in the coalition government between 2016 and 2021, hit back via communications app X, formerly Twitter: "Total nonsense from S [the Social Democrats] who should be proud to have made Sweden a world leader in green transition during our time."
Swedish vocabulary: carrot and stick – morot och piska (literally carrot and whip)
Sweden's financial watchdog urges banks to close fewer accounts
The number of people in Sweden who have had their bank accounts forcibly closed is up by a third, according to the country's financial watchdog, which says banks should not deny or close accounts without good reason.
According to FI, Sweden's financial supervisory authority, the number of accounts forcibly closed by Sweden's banks grew from 45,000 in 2020 to 60,000 in 2022 as banks sought to reduce money laundering risks.
According to the report, many people in Sweden are also refused accounts.
"Often this is something that happens to people who lack the traditional Swedish ID documents, or people who come from countries outside the Europe and who are in Sweden to work or to study," Malin Alpen, executive director of payments at the authority, wrote in an opinion piece in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: an account – ett konto
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Christmas trees get the royal holiday season under way
Queen Silvia and her eight grandchildren received the Royal Palace's annual Christmas trees from students from Sweden's University of Agriculture in Umeå on Monday.
Pictured from left to right in the royal family above are Princess Leonore, Prince Julian, Queen Silvia, Prince Alexander, Princess Adrienne, Princess Estelle, Prince Oscar, Prince Nicolas and Prince Gabriel.
The tradition of agriculture students presenting the Royal Palace with its Christmas tress has existed since the 1960s, and it's why the Nordmann Fir isn't called as a nordmannsgran in Swedish (which as in English was its previous name), but a kungsgran – the King's Fir.
Swedish vocabulary: the Royal Palace – det kungliga slottet
Swedish government coalition plans to cut taxes on ISK savings accounts
The government and Sweden Democrats are pushing ahead with a proposal to cut taxes on so-called ISK accounts.
An investeringssparkonto or ISK is a popular way of saving money in Sweden. It's a ringed account for savings, shares and funds, which is not subject to capital gains tax, but is instead taxed at a fixed, annual rate paid on the entire value of the sum held.
The proposed tax cut would mean that people would not be taxed on the first 300,000 kronor in their ISK accounts.
Relevant organisations and authorities will now be invited to comment on the proposal, before the government decides whether or not to go through with it. It has already included a caveat in the proposal that the economic situation and budget negotiations will in the end determine whether or not the tax cut will be included in the budget bill for 2025, as is currently the plan.
Swedish vocabulary: a tax – en skatt
Social Democrats slam their own climate policies – and Green Party
The Social Democrats in a new internal report criticise their climate policies during their last terms in government.
The report argues that their climate policies widened inequalities, by being a carrot for the rich and a stick for others, for example through financial support for electric cars which was mainly handed out to people in cities.
A Social Democrat spokesperson in an interview with Aftonbladet not only blamed her own party, but also the Green Party, who were part of the coalition government 2014-2021.
"We are responsible. And the Green Party, who pushed through the reforms and held the ministerial portfolio for seven out of those eight years, is definitely responsible," report author Anna-Caren Sätherberg told Aftonbladet.
Isabella Lövin, a former Green Party leader who was climate and environment minister in the coalition government between 2016 and 2021, hit back via communications app X, formerly Twitter: "Total nonsense from S [the Social Democrats] who should be proud to have made Sweden a world leader in green transition during our time."
Swedish vocabulary: carrot and stick – morot och piska (literally carrot and whip)
Sweden's financial watchdog urges banks to close fewer accounts
The number of people in Sweden who have had their bank accounts forcibly closed is up by a third, according to the country's financial watchdog, which says banks should not deny or close accounts without good reason.
According to FI, Sweden's financial supervisory authority, the number of accounts forcibly closed by Sweden's banks grew from 45,000 in 2020 to 60,000 in 2022 as banks sought to reduce money laundering risks.
According to the report, many people in Sweden are also refused accounts.
"Often this is something that happens to people who lack the traditional Swedish ID documents, or people who come from countries outside the Europe and who are in Sweden to work or to study," Malin Alpen, executive director of payments at the authority, wrote in an opinion piece in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: an account – ett konto
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