Fredrik Reinfeldt's cabinet

52nd Cabinet of Sweden
Date formed6 October 2006
Date dissolved3 October 2014
People and organisations
Head of stateCarl XVI Gustaf
Head of governmentFredrik Reinfeldt
Deputy head of governmentMaud Olofsson (2006–2010)
Jan Björklund (2010–2014)
No. of ministers25
Ministers removed17
Member partyModerate Party
Liberal People's Party
Centre Party
Christian Democrats
Status in legislatureCoalition majority government (2006–2010)
Coalition minority government (2010–2014)
History
Election(s)2006 election
2010 election
PredecessorPersson's cabinet
SuccessorLöfven's cabinet

The cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt (Swedish: Regeringen Reinfeldt) was the cabinet of Sweden from 2006 to 2014. It was a coalition cabinet consisting of the four parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden: the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats.

The cabinet was installed on 6 October 2006, following the 2006 general election which ousted the Social Democrats after twelve years in power. It retained power after the 2010 general election as a minority government, and was the longest-serving consecutive non-social democratic government since the cabinet of Erik Gustaf Boström in 1900. It was led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of the Moderate Party.

Ministers

PortfolioMinisterTookofficeLeftofficeParty
Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister6 October 20063 October 2014 Moderate
Deputy Prime Minister
not a separate minister post
6 October 20065 October 2010 Centre
5 October 20103 October 2014 Liberals
Minister for European Affairs6 October 200622 January 2010 Liberals
2 February 20103 October 2014 Liberals
Ministry of Justice
Minister for Justice6 October 20063 October 2014 Moderate
Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy6 October 200629 September 2014 Moderate
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs6 October 20063 October 2014 Moderate
Minister of Commerce and Industry6 October 200614 October 2006 Moderate
24 October 20066 September 2007 Moderate
12 September 20073 October 2014 Moderate
Minister for International Development Cooperation6 October 200617 September 2013 Moderate
17 September 20133 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Defence
Minister for Defence6 October 20065 September 2007 Moderate
5 September 200729 March 2012 Moderate
29 March 201218 April 2012 Moderate
18 April 20123 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
Minister for Health and Social Affairs6 October 20063 October 2014 Christian Democrats
Minister for Elderly and Children Welfare6 October 20063 October 2014 Christian Democrats
Minister for Public Administration and Housing5 October 20103 October 2014 Christian Democrats
Minister for Social Security6 October 20065 October 2010 Moderate
5 October 20103 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Finance
Minister for Finance6 October 20063 October 2014 Moderate
Minister for Financial Markets6 October 20065 October 2010 Christian Democrats
5 October 20103 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Education and Research
Minister for Education6 October 200612 September 2007 Liberals
12 September 20073 October 2014 Liberals
Minister for Schools6 October 200612 September 2007 Liberals
Minister for Higher Education and Research12 September 200717 June 2009 Liberals
17 June 20095 October 2010 Liberals
Minister for Gender Equality5 October 201021 January 2013 Liberals
21 January 20133 October 2014 Liberals
Ministry of Agriculture
Minister for Agriculture6 October 20063 October 2014 Centre
Ministry of the Environment
Minister for the Environment6 October 200629 September 2011 Centre
29 September 20113 October 2014 Centre
Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications
Minister for Enterprise6 October 200629 September 2011 Centre
29 September 20113 October 2014 Centre
Minister of IT and Energy5 October 20103 October 2014 Centre
Minister for Infrastructure6 October 20065 October 2010 Centre
5 October 20103 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality
Minister for Integration and Gender Equality6 October 20065 October 2010 Liberals
Ministry of Culture
Minister for Culture6 October 200616 October 2006 Moderate
24 October 20063 October 2014 Moderate
Ministry of Employment
Minister for Employment6 October 20067 July 2010 Moderate
7 July 20105 October 2010 Moderate
5 October 201017 September 2013 Moderate
17 September 20133 October 2014 Moderate
Minister of Integration5 October 20103 October 2014 Liberals

Party breakdown

Party breakdown of cabinet ministers:

13
4
4
3

New ministries

Policy of the cabinet

The new government was presented on 6 October 2006. The following reforms were proposed:

  • Communication and transportation:
    • The tax on automotive fuels will be raised because of inflation adjustment, by 9 öre per litre for gasoline and 6 öre per litre for diesel (excluding VAT).[1]
  • Culture:
  • Education:
    • The reform of the secondary education (gymnasium) which was to take effect from 1 January 2007 will be scrapped and instead the new government will start planning for a deeper reform to take place some time before 2010.[4]
  • Government agencies:
    • The following government agencies will be closed down: Swedish Integration Board (Swedish: Integrationsverket), National Institute for Working Life (Swedish: Arbetslivsinstitutet), Swedish Animal Welfare Agency (Swedish: Djurskyddsmyndigheten) and the County Labour Boards (Swedish: länsarbetsnämnderna).[5]
    • All agencies are being scrutinized for reformation.
    • Heads of agencies to be made into merit based appointments.
  • Foreign aid:
    • The monetary foreign aid's goal and what countries receiving aid is being reconsidered.

Implemented reforms

  • Working tax cuts
  • Considerably raised fees for unemployment funds, linked to the rate of unemployment among the members of each fund (introduced January 2007, abolished January 2014) resulting in large membership losses of unemployment funds and trade unions[6][7]
  • Municipal allowance
  • Deduction for certain household services, so-called RUT deduction
  • Abolished compulsory military service
  • High Schools reforms and new grading system for the entire school system
  • Reforming the legal framework of the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA-law)
  • Implemented the Enforcement Directive (IPRED)
  • Defence Act of 2009
  • Abolished the state monopoly on pharmaceuticals
  • Deregulated railroad traffic[8]
  • Radio frequencies for mobile broadband in 800 MHz band[9]
  • Liberalisation of the Alcohol Law
  • Abolition of the Swedish Cinema Office
  • Abolition of compulsory student union[10]
  • Deductability of gifts to nonprofit organisations
  • Reforms of the health insurance system
  • Decreased restaurant VAT from 25 to 12 percent, to the same level as for any other food.
  • Legalisation of same-sex marriage
  • Corporate tax rate lowered from 26.3% to 22%.[11]

Controversies and resignations

On 7 October 2006, the day after the new cabinet was announced two of the ministers, the Minister of Foreign Trade Maria Borelius and the Minister for Culture Cecilia Stegö Chilò, admitted that they had previously employed persons to take care of their children without paying the appropriate taxes. On 11 October 2006 it came to light that Cecilia Stegö Chilò and her husband had not paid their TV license for the last 16 years. On 12 October 2006 it emerged that two other ministers in the cabinet had neglected to pay the television license; Maria Borelius and the Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy, Tobias Billström.[12] Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB, the private agency tasked with collecting the license fee, filed criminal charges against Cecilia Stegö Chilò, Maria Borelius and Tobias Billström.[13]

On 14 October 2006 Maria Borelius resigned as Minister of Foreign Trade. On 16 October 2006, just two days after Maria Borelius' resignation, Minister for Culture Cecilia Stegö Chilò resigned as well.[14]

The Minister for Defence, Mikael Odenberg, resigned on 5 September 2007 as he thought the budget cuts his department would face were to high.[15]

On 29 March 2012 Minister for Defence, Sten Tolgfors, resigned due of his way to deal with the Project Simoom.

Public perception

In public opinion survey conducted by Aftonbladet/Sifo in late 2006, the Swedish public was asked to rate each of the new ministers on a 5-graded scale. The average result for the 22 ministers was 2.93.[16] This is higher than any of the rates that the Social Democratic Persson cabinet ever received during its years in power, and the highest ratings ever since the surveys started in 1996.[17]

From the 2006 Swedish general election the opinions for the Reinfeldt cabinet have declined steadily from a level of about 51% down to a level about 40%,[18] which election researchers generally explain as more than what could be expected due to normal inter-election popularity fall. Center-right newspapers in Sweden criticize the cabinet for not being pedagogically proficient, while the opposition newspapers just connects the impopularity of the cabinet with the scandals and the performed practical politics.

References

  1. 1 2 Tyngre börda för bilismen, Näringsliv24, October 20, 2006 (in Swedish)
  2. Free museum entry to be abolished (in English), The Local, October 11, 2006.
  3. Sändningstillstånd kan bli kortare för public service (in English), The Local, October 11, 2006.
  4. Regeringen stoppar gymnasiereform, Upsala Nya Tidning, October 11, 2006 (in Swedish)
  5. Fler myndighetsnedläggningar utreds, Svenska Dagbladet, October 23, 2006 (in Swedish)
  6. Kjellberg, Anders (2009) "The Swedish Ghent system and trade unions under pressure" Transfer no 3-4 2009 (pp. 481–504). ISSN 1024-2589
  7. Anders Kjellberg (2011) "The Decline in Swedish Union Density since 2007" Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies (NJWLS) Vol. 1. No 1 (August 2011), pp. 67-93
  8. "Konkurrens på spåret med resenären i centrum!". Archived from the original on 2011-08-24.
  9. http://www.dn.se/debatt/tv-branschens-ensamratt-till-frekvensutrymme-bryts-1.687636
  10. "Startpage". 20 September 2017.
  11. Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (2012-09-13). "Jobb- och tillväxtsatsningar: Sänkt bolagsskatt, investeraravdrag och stärkt rättssäkerhet". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  12. Ministers could be reported to police over TV fee (in English), The Local, October 12, 2006.
  13. Ministers reported to police for unpaid TV licences Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine (in English), The Local, October 13, 2006.
  14. Second Swedish minister resigns Archived 2012-04-19 at the Wayback Machine (in English), The Local, October 16, 2006.
  15. Odenbergs avgång en protest mot nedskärningar, Dagens Nyheter, September 5, 2007
  16. Aftonbladet, January 4, 2007 (not online).
  17. Erixon, Dick, "Högsta betyg för svensk regering någonsin", January 10, 2007.
  18. Synovate/Temo Opinion research
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