EU policy
The EU’s purpose should be to make it easy to make contacts and spread knowledge and ideas within Europe and with the rest of the world. The Union must work for a free and effective internet, free movement and human rights. We want to reform the EU’s way of working, so that transparency increases and more of the decision-making is in the hands of the elected EU parliamentarians. The role of the European Court of Justice must be strengthened.
Overview – The Pirate Party wants to:
- The EU is becoming more transparent in both decision-making and financial contributions
- The EU Parliament gets a stronger role in the legislative process
- The Council of Ministers is abolished and replaced with directly elected senators
- Swedish EU policy within the Council of Ministers is becoming more democratic and transparent
Introduction
The Pirate Party believes in the EU’s opportunities to create an exchange of ideas, experience and knowledge, both between Europeans and with the rest of the world. Through the sharing of information, knowledge and culture, people come closer to each other and society develops. Strengthening Europeans’ opportunities to share with each other, and to build social ties with each other, should be the main purpose of the EU project.
1. Transparency and transparency
The Pirate Party wants decision-making to be characterized by accessibility, openness and transparency. In addition, it must be possible to review and understand decisions from the outside. This creates particular challenges for the EU, which needs to strengthen its work in the area. Decisions must be traceable, from the EU parliamentarians who made them to the national bodies that implement them.
Today, almost all votes in the EU Parliament take place by a show of hands, which makes it impossible to check afterwards how our elected representatives have voted. It is unacceptable.
Therefore, we want to:
§1 Transparent digital records of recipients of EU aid are established;
§2 Journalists who reveal misuse of EU funds must be protected in the same way as whistleblowers;
§3 Votings in the European Parliament’s committees and plenary sessions shall be possible to review in retrospect;
§4 The EU parliamentarians must report how they use their office support.
2. Strengthened EU Parliament
The Pirate Party wants to reform the EU so that decisions are made close to those affected, in a transparent and traceable manner and by elected politicians. Therefore, we want to strengthen the parliament’s power vis-à-vis the Council of Ministers and the Commission. Today, the EU Parliament lacks the ability to propose legislation; instead, one can only modify, approve or reject legislative proposals coming from the European Commission. In certain special legislative matters, the EU Parliament cannot reject legislation, but that right belongs only to the Council of Ministers.
Therefore, we want to:
§5 The EU Parliament is given the right to propose legislation;
§6 The EU Parliament is given the same opportunity to reject all legislative proposals.
3. Reform of the national representation
The purpose of the Council of Ministers is to guarantee representation of the national interests during the work on EU regulations. This is particularly important for less populous countries such as Sweden, whose MEPs make up a very small part of the parliament’s numbers. Therefore, it is particularly serious that the Council of Ministers is the EU institution that functions by far the worst. The Council of Ministers has serious problems with transparency, even on such basic points as being able to review how one’s representatives have voted, and lobbying that approaches corruption. Those who represent me in the Council of Ministers have a weak connection to democracy, as they are sent by the government, which is only indirectly elected by the people.
The Pirate Party wants to strongly reform the Council of Ministers. Instead of the governments of the member states having to negotiate in secret about their interests, far from popular transparency and power, we want to introduce a European senate. The senators must be directly elected by the people and not appointed by either national parliaments or governments. Each country must have the right to an equal number of senators, which guarantees that the Senate is a counterweight to the composition of the EU Parliament. This does not have to change the balance of power between the countries in the Council of Ministers, but the majority requirements can be transferred directly to the Senate.
The Pirate Party also wants to reform how Swedish EU policy is conducted. Today, the people’s interests are not represented in Swedish EU politics, due to a couple of institutional shortcomings. In Sweden, it is the Riksdag that must make laws, not the government. It is a fundamental part of Swedish power-sharing policy and the basis of our parliamentary democracy. Today, the establishment of EU laws is at least as relevant as the establishment of national laws, but in working with EU laws the government has priority over the Riksdag. In theory, the government’s EU policy is to be prepared in the EU Committee, but this has neither the time, expertise nor opportunity to do much more than snap the government’s fingers in the event of particularly serious slippages.
In Sweden, solid investigative work and associated consultation rounds have historically been good guarantors of well-thought-out and anchored legislation. When it comes to Sweden’s EU policy in the Council of Ministers, however, this good practice is omitted. As a rule, investigations and consultation rounds are only used after the important political decisions have been made, and almost only concern pure implementation issues of already established laws.
Therefore, we want to:
§8 The Council of Ministers is abolished and replaced by a European Senate;
§9 Each member state is entitled to two senators;
§10 The senators are directly elected by personal mandate;
§11 The Constitution is amended so that EU legislation is a matter of government, and thus subject to the requirement for legislation by consultation;
§12 Government practice changes so that the way it tries to influence EU laws is transparently reported;
§13 The EU Committee is abolished and legislative matters at the EU level are instead handled by the Riksdag committee that handles the relevant politic area.
4. Monetary union
A currency union requires a coordinated economic policy, and today there are no democratic, transparent mechanisms or conditions for creating one in the EU. Therefore, Sweden must keep the krona as currency and not introduce the euro. Sweden should also maintain the krona’s floating exchange rate and not join the ERM. Sweden shall not guarantee the government debts of other states.
Therefore, we want to:
§14 Sweden still does not adopt the euro as currency.
Pirate policy from A to Z
Administrative policy
- Appointments of directors-general are anchored in the Riksdag
- An administrative education is created
- One year of practical experience in the same or similar activity is required to be a manager in an authority
- The financing of the administration returns to the grant model
Administrative policy is about the design of the administrative structures that will transform decided policy into reality.
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Culture
- Copyright is being reformed to favor the creation and dissemination of culture
- The model of lending e-books at libraries is being reformed
- Tax-financed culture must be publicly available
- Municipalities must provide maker spaces in the form of shared workshops for all forms of creation
Our culture is increasingly becoming digital. Our possibilities to create, share and develop art could be endless.
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Defence policy
- Two percent of the defense budget is spent on research
- Sweden is working for an international convention against autonomous combat robots
- Cooperation with voluntary organizations is strengthened
- Sweden is working for an international convention against using cyber weapons against civilian targets
Sweden needs defense against external threats, but that requires not only aircraft and cannons, but also a much better cyber defense than we have today.
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Democracy
- The protection of the constitution is strengthened
- The electoral system is reformed and democratised
- The possibilities for direct democratic procedures are expanded
- The principle of publicity is strengthened
Democracy's existing tools need to be strengthened and supplemented. In order to ensure that the decisions that are made are representative of the people, it requires a policy that aims to strengthen community involvement.
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Drug policy
- All forms of drug use are decriminalized
- People with problematic use receive care instead of being punished
- The market for cannabis is regulated with the aim of limiting availability and benefiting the economy
- The police's limited resources are re-prioritised from minor drug crimes to crimes with victims
Technological development is advancing rapidly. It creates enormous opportunities but forces us to think along different lines than those of the 18th and 20th centuries.
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Economics
- Business policy is made more humane and promotes small and micro-entrepreneurs, innovation companies and research
- The economy is resilient and takes responsibility for future generations, and includes externalities and system services instead of ignoring them
- The individual must have agency over his own finances, his lifestyle and his existence
- Data, information and knowledge are considered integral parts of the economy
The Pirate Party wants to replace unemployment benefits and municipalities' financial assistance with general financial support.
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Education
- The teacher is strengthened in his professional role
- School development is given a stronger research connection
- The school's resource allocation is in relation to responsibility and needs
- Pupils' right to support, health and co-determination is strengthened
Society is developing faster and faster, but at the same time, the form of the school has remained stagnant for the last hundred years.
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Environment
- Decisions concerning environmental issues must be evidence-based
- Innovation of environmentally friendly technologies is promoted
- Energy production must essentially be fossil-free and consist of a mix of energy sources, including today's nuclear power
- Protection for the forest and ecosystems is increased
- Support the possibilities for self-produced electricity via solar cells, solar collectors, geothermal and geothermal heat, smaller wind turbines, and more
The single-track political debate on current environmental issues is a defeat for the entire globe and has the potential to have serious consequences.
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EU policy
- The EU is becoming more transparent in both decision-making and financial contributions
- The EU Parliament gets a stronger role in the legislative process
- The Council of Ministers is abolished and replaced with directly elected senators
- Swedish EU policy within the Council of Ministers is becoming more democratic and transparent
The EU's purpose should be to make it easy to make contacts and spread knowledge and ideas within Europe and with the rest of the world.
Read more
Health care
- Care is given a stronger research connection
- The individual's opportunities to influence their own treatment and health are strengthened.
- Healthcare information systems are secure, robust, easy to use and effective.
- The care's resource allocation is in relation to responsibility and needs.
We want equal care - regardless of whether you live in the city or in the countryside - and a diversity of different care providers. Healthcare must be evidence-based and systems improved to introduce new knowledge and new technology into healthcare.
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Integrity
- The social security number is being reformed
- Minimize the coordination of registers between authorities
- Minimize the personal information collected by authorities
- Government e-identification that is not dependent on individual private actors is used
The pirate party wants to stop mass surveillance. Surveillance must only take place in the event of justified, concrete suspicions against particular persons.
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Labour market
- Appointments of directors-general are anchored in the Riksdag
- An administrative education is created
- One year of practical experience in the same or similar activity is required to be a manager in an authority
- The financing of the administration returns to the grant model
Technological development is advancing rapidly. It creates enormous opportunities but forces us to think along different lines than those of the 18th and 20th centuries.
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Law & order
- Police management is changing to discourage prioritization of "easy-to-solve" crimes
- Administrative duties are transferred from police officers to civilian personnel
- An independent authority is introduced with the task of reviewing complaints against police or prosecutors
- Official liability is introduced
Equality before the law is one of the foundations of democracy. At the same time, it is important that police officers and prosecutors are scrutinized so that abuse is avoided and those who do are punished.
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Migration policy
- Assessment of grounds for asylum is separated from decisions on residence permits
- Asylum seekers with special conditions for integration in Sweden or with a need for protection that is particularly satisfied in Sweden are given priority
- Refugees who commit serious crimes are deported
Sweden does not have the opportunity to help all refugees in the world, therefore we have to prioritize who we should help.
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Net neutrality
- Net neutrality is protected
- The Data Storage Act is being torn up
- Geoblocking is prohibited within the EU
- Bypassing DRM protection is legalized
The pirate party fights for a free internet, accessible to everyone. Only then can the internet be a force for freedom and democracy, giving everyone the opportunity to make their voice heard.
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Sexual autonomy
- All interventions in reproductive, sexual and trans medicine are decided by the individual in consultation with his doctor
- The informed consent model is introduced in trans care
- Legal recognition of poly relationships is enabled
- Sex work is decriminalized
The Pirate Party believes that bodily autonomy, especially regarding gender and sex-related aspects, is one of the most fundamental rights.
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