Government earmarks 183 billion kronor for nuclear waste repository
The government's spring amendment budget calls for it to spend 36 billion kronor on building new nuclear power and a massive 183 billion kronor on a repository for the resulting nuclear waste, public broadcaster SVT has reported.
The government is launching a new financing model which will see the government cover the cost if an operator is left with significant nuclear waste liabilities.
"We think this is the best way to ensure that new nuclear power stations are built in Sweden," said Niklas Wykman, the minister responsible for new nuclear power.
Although the sum is enormous, it will be paid out between 2035 and 2159, so over 124 years.
"This is an important and welcome step in the right direction," said Desirée Comstedt, chief executive of Vattenfall subsidiary Videberg Kraft, which is planning to start building a new reactor at Ringhals in two to three years' time.
Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist criticised the shift in responsibility: "It is completely unreasonable. It's the company itself which should bear the costs and the risk, just as is the case today."
Swedish vocabulary: orimligt – unreasonable
Christian Democrats demand end to use-it-or-lose-it parental leave
The Christian Democrats have said they will make scrapping the three pappamånader, literally "Daddy months", of use-it-or-lose-it parental leave, a condition of backing a new government after the election.
"This demand is going to be an extremely important one for us," the party's leader, Ebba Busch, told TT in an interview about the call for quota-free parental leave.
Busch repeated her criticism of Ulf Kristersson's promise to give the Sweden Democrats influence over migration and integration in a future Tidö government, saying that this would increase the price of the Christian Democrats' support.
"The more the others negotiate before election day, the better the negotiating position they are putting the Christian Democrats in after the election," she said.
The other big policy shift the Christian Democrats are in favour of is shifting responsibility for healthcare provision from regional governments to the central government.
She said she also believed the party deserved more ministerial positions than would be suggested by their share of the vote in an election victory, "because we are skillful and do a good job for Sweden".
Swedish vocabulary: kvotfri – quota free
Government submits law cutting prison age to 13 to parliament
Despite widespread criticism, the government is moving forward with a proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for the most serious crimes.
This will mean that from August 2nd, 13-year-olds can be sentenced to prison if they commit murder, attempted murder, plant explosive devices, or commit rape. The law is temporary and will be lifted if not renewed after five years.
The proposal has been heavily criticised, both in consultation and by the Council on Legislation which vets new laws drawn up by the government from a legal perspective.
“In reality, the current system fails to protect citizens from life-threatening violence, to provide justice for victims, or to break the destructive patterns that often surround these children,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said at a press conference.
He notes that last year there were 52 children under the age of 15 involved in legal proceedings concerning murder or murder plots. “That is staggering.”
Swedish vocabulary: svindlande – staggering
Left Party leaders seek backing to vote 'no' if excluded
The Left Party's leadership is calling for party members to empower them to vote 'no' to any government proposed after the coming election which is not willing to include Left Party ministers.
The proposal, which will be voted on at the congress in Örebro, which starts on Friday, has split the party, with opponents saying it risks blocking a left-wing government, leaving the Left Party with no political influence at all.
The party's platform already says that the government wants to see a government led by the Social Democrats and the Green Party after the election, but the leadership now wants to add a clause saying that it will reject such a government if no one from the Left Party is included.
“With that line and statements like that, we lose focus on substantive policy. And it is, after all, policy we go to elections on—not how many ministerial posts we should have,” Gunilla Cederbom, from the party association in Vänersborg, told TT. “We will get stuck on that question all the time.”
Swedish vocabulary: ett förslag – a proposal
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