Reinfeldt cabinet
Fredrik Reinfeldt's cabinet | |
|---|---|
 52nd Cabinet ofSweden | |
 | |
| Date formed | 6 October 2006 |
| Date dissolved | 3 October 2014 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Carl XVI Gustaf |
| Head of government | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
| Deputy head of government | Maud Olofsson(2006–2010) Jan Björklund(2010–2014) |
| No.of ministers | 25 |
| Ministers removed | 17 |
| Member party | Moderate Party Liberal People's Party Centre Party Christian Democrats |
| Status in legislature | Coalition majority government(2006–2010) Coalition minority government(2010–2014) |
| History | |
| Elections | 2006 election 2010 election |
| Predecessor | Persson's cabinet |
| Successor | Löfven's cabinet |
 |
|---|
Thecabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt(Swedish:Regeringen Reinfeldt) was thecabinetofSwedenfrom 2006 to 2014. It was acoalition cabinetconsisting of the four parties in thecentre-rightAlliance for Sweden:theModerate Party,Centre Party,Liberal People's Partyand theChristian Democrats.
The cabinet was installed on 6 October 2006, following the2006 general electionwhich ousted theSocial Democratsafter twelve years in power. It retained power after the2010 general electionas aminority government,and was the longest-serving consecutive non-social democraticgovernment since the cabinet ofErik Gustaf Boströmin 1900. It was led byPrime MinisterFredrik Reinfeldtof the Moderate Party.
Ministers
[edit]Party breakdown
[edit]Party breakdown of cabinet ministers:
13
| |
4
| |
4
| |
3
|
New ministries
[edit]- Ministry of Employment,belonged to theMinistry of Industry, Employment and Communicationsin thecabinet of Göran Persson.
- Ministry of Culture,belonged to theMinistry of Education and Culturein thecabinet of Göran Persson.
- Ministry of Environmentwas before called theMinistry of Sustainable Development.
- Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality,belonged to theMinistry of Justiceand theMinistry for Foreign Affairsin thecabinet of Göran Persson.
Policy of the cabinet
[edit]![[icon]](/translate/en.wikipedia.org?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg&t=hv){kind=small} | This sectionneeds expansion.You can help byadding to it.(June 2008) |
The new government was presented on 6 October 2006. The following reforms were proposed:
- Communication and transportation:
- Culture:
- The new government plans to reintroduce entrance fees to the country's 21 state-operated museums.[2]
- Third-party liability premiums forvehicle insurancewill be raised.[1]
- The current operator's license for the public service broadcastersSveriges Television,Sveriges RadioandSveriges Utbildningsradiowill come up for renegotiation in three years, instead of six as negotiated with the outgoing government.[3]
- Education:
- Government agencies:
- The followinggovernment agencieswill be closed down:Swedish Integration Board(Swedish:Integrationsverket),National Institute for Working Life(Swedish:Arbetslivsinstitutet),Swedish Animal Welfare Agency(Swedish:Djurskyddsmyndigheten) and theCounty Labour Boards(Swedish:länsarbetsnämnderna).[5]
- All agencies are being scrutinized for reformation.
- Heads of agencies to be made intomerit basedappointments.
- Foreign aid:
- The monetary foreign aid's goal and what countries receiving aid is being reconsidered.
Implemented reforms
[edit]- 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
- Abolishedcompulsory military service
- High Schools reforms and new grading system for the entire school system
- Reforming the legal framework of theNational Defence Radio Establishment(FRA-law)
- Implemented theEnforcement Directive(IPRED)
- Defence Act of 2009
- Abolished thestate monopolyonpharmaceuticals
- Deregulated railroad traffic[8]
- Radio frequencies for mobile broadband in 800 MHz band[9]
- Liberalisation of theAlcohol Law
- Abolition of theSwedish Cinema Office
- Abolition of compulsory student union[10]
- Deductability of gifts to nonprofit organisations
- Reforms of the health insurance system
- Decreased restaurantVATfrom 25 to 12 percent, to the same level as for any other food.
- Legalisation ofsame-sex marriage
- Corporate taxrate lowered from 26.3% to 22%.[11]
Controversies and resignations
[edit]On 7 October 2006, the day after the new cabinet was announced two of the ministers, theMinister of Foreign TradeMaria Boreliusand theMinister for CultureCecilia 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 theirTV licensefor 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 theMinister 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 toProject Simoom.
Public perception
[edit]In public opinion survey conducted byAftonbladet/Sifoin 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 DemocraticPersson cabinetever received during its years in power, and the highest ratings ever since the surveys started in 1996.[17]
From the2006 Swedish general electionthe 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.[citation needed]Center-right newspapers in Sweden criticize the cabinet for not being pedagogically proficient,[citation needed]while the opposition newspapers just connects the impopularity of the cabinet with thescandalsand the performed practical politics.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^abTyngre börda för bilismen,Näringsliv24, October 20, 2006(in Swedish)
- ^Free museum entry to be abolished(in English),The Local,October 11, 2006.
- ^Sändningstillstånd kan bli kortare för public service(in English),The Local,October 11, 2006.
- ^Regeringen stoppar gymnasiereform,Upsala Nya Tidning,October 11, 2006(in Swedish)
- ^Fler myndighetsnedläggningar utreds,Svenska Dagbladet,October 23, 2006(in Swedish)
- ^Kjellberg, Anders (2009)"The Swedish Ghent system and trade unions under pressure"Transferno 3-4 2009 (pp. 481–504). ISSN 1024-2589
- ^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
- ^"Konkurrens på spåret med resenären i centrum!".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-24.
- ^http://www.dn.se/debatt/tv-branschens-ensamratt-till-frekvensutrymme-bryts-1.687636[dead link]
- ^"Startpage".20 September 2017.
- ^Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (2012-09-13)."Jobb- och tillväxtsatsningar: Sänkt bolagsskatt, investeraravdrag och stärkt rättssäkerhet".Regeringskansliet(in Swedish).Retrieved2017-11-10.
- ^Ministers could be reported to police over TV fee(in English),The Local,October 12, 2006.
- ^Ministers reported to police for unpaid TV licencesArchived2007-03-10 at theWayback Machine(in English),The Local,October 13, 2006.
- ^Second Swedish minister resignsArchived2012-04-19 at theWayback Machine(in English),The Local,October 16, 2006.
- ^Odenbergs avgång en protest mot nedskärningar,Dagens Nyheter, September 5, 2007
- ^Aftonbladet,January 4, 2007 (not online).
- ^Erixon, Dick,"Högsta betyg för svensk regering någonsin",January 10, 2007.
- ^Synovate/Temo Opinion research