This is a short version of the Tidö Agreement in plain language. The purpose of the text is to circulate knowledge about the Agreement in order to mobilise opposition or other ways of dealing with government proposals resulting from the Agreement. This version is available in Swedish, English, Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, Somali and Spanish.

Introduction

The Tidö Agreement is an agreement between the right-wing parties in the Swedish government - the Conservatives, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals - and the Sweden Democrats (SD). The agreement is supposed to provide different opportunities for active cooperation between these four parties. They want to work together for a long time to come. They want to make major changes and show that cooperation can make a real difference. The agreement contains a number of milestones to enable the parties to demonstrate quick results. That is also why the agreement states that enquiries should "make feasible proposals" or that the methods "that produce the best results" should be used. They want to do everything together: find out what they consider to be problems, come up with solutions and then implement changes. Since the SD is not part of the Swedish government, the agreement is very important for that party. In the agreement, SD is referred to as a "cooperation party not in the government" and the party leader has a place in what they call the "inner cabinet" together with the other party leaders.

It is called the Tidö Agreement because the Agreement was signed at a castle outside Västerås called the Tidö Castle. Even though it is called an agreement, what is written in the Tidö Agreement is not legally binding. Many of the things it says may not be possible to implement at all. Much criticism has been directed at the Agreement by human rights organisations, trade unions and various professionals. The Agreement has been described by many as signalling policy, while others see it as an attempt to radically change the way politics is conducted.

In this text, we describe the seven elements of the Agreement. Under each heading, there is first a summary and then bullet points on the proposals. A common word is "cooperation project", i.e. different areas where the parties want to make changes. According to the parties, the aim is that every party should be involved in all parts of the changes. SD should have just as much say as the other parties, and the other parties must inform SD about everything that happens in the government. SD should also be allowed to appear at press conferences when proposals are presented. In the first year, the parties want to work on: healthcare, climate and energy, crime, migration and integration, education, economy and culture.

The treaty's seven parts

1 Healthcare

The section on healthcare is about the state having more responsibility and control. A key word is result-based, which means that the hospital or health-centre is given a budget based on what they do, not what they plan to do. There should be a state-run health-centre and a national birth-plan. Everyone should have their own contact doctor. The digital infrastructure of the healthcare system will be changed to make healthcare more similar across the country, as is the case with pharmacies. Language requirements will be investigated for those working in elderly care.

• The state should be responsible for healthcare instead of the regions.

• Changes should be made in terms of paying when you go to the dentist.

• Cancer care will be changed.

• A plan should be developed to change the care for women who are giving birth.

• Changes in dental care so that reimbursement is similar to the rest of the healthcare system.

• Language requirements should be introduced in elderly care.

2 Climate and energy

In the second part of the agreement, the parties have linked climate action to energy. This is because almost the entire section is about nuclear power. The parties want more nuclear power. They want to leave the previous goal that Sweden should use renewable energy, from sources that will not run out. Instead, they want a goal of fossil-free electricity production, which means that the electricity is not produced directly from fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas. A study on restarting the Ringhals nuclear power plant should be carried out quickly. The prohibitions in a law called the Swedish Environmental Code to authorise new reactors at more locations and to have more than ten in operation at the same time will be removed. The ban on restarting closed reactors will be removed. The state will subsidise nuclear power. There should also be more chargers for electric cars. Apart from nuclear power, no other measures to save the climate are mentioned.

• New nuclear power plants will be built.

• Instead of "renewable", the goal should be fossil-free.

• 400 billion Swedish Crowns will be used to start using nuclear power again.

• The shutdown of nuclear power plants should be stopped.

• Ringhals will be restarted.

• Closed reactors should be able to be restarted. Today this is forbidden.

3 Crime

The Tidö Agreement states that gang crime is Sweden's most important social problem, and focuses most of its attention on measures against this type of crime. In addition, there are some reforms that they believe will reduce violence in close relationships and the possession of drugs and weapons. Many reforms are limited to youth crime. Overall, what is proposed is longer sentences for young people who commit offences and more opportunities to take children and young people who are "in close contact with criminal activities" into care. It is unclear what this means. At the same time, higher penalties are proposed for offences against public officials, such as police officers or others working in public authorities. Penalties will be changed so that more offences lead to imprisonment and those convicted will spend more time in prison. The agreement includes various proposals for enhanced surveillance. Several proposals deal with expulsion as a result of organised crime. The agreement also mentions a new penalty known as a custodial sentence, which would involve indefinite detention, with the convicted person being released only when they are no longer considered dangerous. The parties also want to be able to rent prison places in other countries, so that those sentenced in Sweden serve their sentence outside of Sweden. Some proposals would entail major changes and, according to many experts, threaten rule of law principles, and some require a constitutional amendment to be implemented.

• Being part of a criminal gang should be punishable even if you have not committed a crime.

• Gang criminals should receive double punishment.

• A custodial sentence should be introduced as a punishment. This means that a person can sit in prison for an indefinite period until the Prison and Probation Service considers that they are no longer a threat to society.

• More secret coercive measures could be used, such as data collection and camera surveillance.

• It should be possible to introduce search zones in certain areas where the police can check everyone for a limited time despite no suspicion of crime. A search zone can only apply at the request of a prosecutor after a crime has been committed.

• Anonymous witnesses should be allowed. This means that people can testify in court without the accused or suspect knowing who the witness is.

• The introduction of residence ban as a punishment. This means that a person can be forbidden to stay in a certain residential area if the court judges that a ban would prevent more crime.

• Those who have reached the age of 18 will not receive a penalty discount.

• The quantity discount is removed. This means that a person can be sentenced to many years in prison if they have committed several minor offences at the same time.

• It should be possible to request remand in custody for less serious offences.

• Prison places could be rented abroad.

• A ban on begging will be investigated.

4 Migration and integration

The parties want society to undergo major changes in its "view on migration". Migration is the largest section in the Agreement, twice as long as the section on crime, which is the second largest point. These two are the most prioritised in the Agreement. The parties want to adapt migration policy to the minimum level of EU law. They state: "Sweden will not be more generous in its approach to asylum in any respect". The parties want to use more technical tools to find out a person's identity, such as DNA. They want the police to check more people who they believe have no right to live in Sweden; this is called "internal controls of foreigners". The parties want to force or encourage more immigrants to go to a country where they previously lived and make it more difficult to come to Sweden to look for work, known as labour immigration. They also want to make it even more difficult for split families to reunite. They want to force asylum seekers to live in camps, so-called transit centres, during the asylum period and they want asylum seekers themselves to pay for interpreters, lawyers, food and accommodation. At the same time, they want asylum seekers to be unable to work during the asylum process. They want to make it easier to expel non-citizens because they do not live the way the parties think people should live - this is known as a good character requirement. For example, they want to enable the expulsion of women who are exploited for prostitution. They want to remove permanent residence permits and make it easier for the Migration Agency to withdraw residence permits that have already been granted. They want to make it much more difficult to become a citizen by requiring knowledge of the Swedish language and knowledge of Swedish society. You should also have lived in Sweden for 8 years to become a citizen. Those who fulfil these requirements may be granted citizenship in Sweden. Higher demands will be placed on foreign-born citizens to take responsibility for integrating themselves into Sweden (a demand-based integration policy). This also means a requirement to work and pay taxes before immigrants can have access to Swedish welfare, which means, for example, that people with disabilities must enter the labour market in order to be entitled to everyday assistance.

• EU's minimum level of migration policy should be introduced.

• Rights in the asylum process will be weakened, several limitations are suggested, such as requiring asylum seekers to pay for interpreters, lawyers, food and accommodation.

• It will be more difficult to immigrate to work in Sweden.

• It will be more difficult for families to be reunited.

• Immigrants should be encouraged to return to their former home country.

• A census will be carried out. It is not stated in the Tidö Agreement how this will be carried out, but all inhabitants will be counted to find out who is legally residing in Sweden.

• The limitation period for expulsion and deportation decisions will be extended or abolished. This means that the state has more time to decide on expulsion, which means that those waiting for a decision cannot, for example, look for a job.

• The ban on return travel should run for a longer period of time, i.e. if you do not leave Sweden when it is stated that you should, you may not return for a longer period of time.

• The authorities should cooperate more to expel people.

• More internal controls of foreigners will be introduced in police work. The possibility of taking DNA samples during these checks will be investigated.

• A reporting obligation should be introduced whereby all authorities report to the police and the Migration Agency if they encounter someone who does not have a residence permit.

• More detention places should be available at the Migration Agency and monitoring of people waiting for deportation decisions to be implemented should be increased.

• Fewer quota refugees will be accepted per year (900 instead of the previous 5,000), with "Swedish values" being a criterion in the selection process. LGBTQ people, women and girls are specifically mentioned (to be included).

• To access welfare, a person must first work in Sweden and pay taxes in the country. This is known as qualifying for welfare, including child, housing and parental benefit, assistance allowance and financial assistance.

• Municipalities should be prohibited from providing financial support to undocumented migrants.

• Municipalities and state authorities will be obliged to inform the Migration Agency and the Police when they come into contact with people who are staying in Sweden without authorisation. This means that authorities that a person may come into contact with, will be responsible for ensuring the person's legal right to stay in Sweden.

• The penalty for polygamy and child marriage should be increased.

• The issue of expulsion should always be considered when foreigners are charged with a criminal offence. This means that the court should always consider expulsion if a person who lacks Swedish citizenship commits an offence. This means that the legal threshold for expulsion will be lowered.

• Cooperation with foreign states will be expanded to achieve effective return, and aid policy will be used to support this.

5 Schools

The point about schools focus on the need to improve knowledge (learning facts should be important rather than understanding). School hours should be extended, children should learn more facts and gain more subject knowledge. The parties want to change the steering document grading system. Private school owners should not be allowed to make a profit in the first few years. More investment should be made to increase the number of specialised teachers. The parties want to introduce clear rules to create order in the classroom. School allowance should be paid by the state instead of the municipality. School voucher means that schools are financed per pupil instead of receiving a lump sum.

• A new grading system will be introduced.

• More focus should be placed on factual knowledge.

• Profit distribution will be prohibited in the first few years after a school is established or changes ownership.

• More rules of order should be introduced in schools.

• All pupils should study more Swedish and maths, which means extended school hours.

• Teachers should be able to decide that some pupils must stay in school longer, after school or during holidays.

• Pupils who do not behave should be suspended for a longer period than is currently possible.

• Principals will be given more powers to move pupils to special groups, or 'day schools', where they are not allowed to meet their regular class.

• Teachers will be obliged to report any suspected criminal offences committed on or in connection with school premises.

6 Growth and household economy

The economic part in the Tidö Agreement is classically right-wing. This is reflected in the fact that it will be easier for companies, even more difficult for people who need benefits than before, and that taxes will be lowered. Taxes on savings will also be reduced. The reduction in unemployment benefits is not mentioned, but it was said at the press conference when the Tidö Agreement was presented. Households will be compensated for the high electricity prices and fuel prices will be significantly reduced, partly by lowering the reduction obligation for fossil fuels to the EU's minimum level. Corporate taxation should be competitive and companies should be well incentivised to invest in research and better able to attract and retain key skills. Improve conditions for small and middle companies to grow and hire. Higher demands will be placed on people who need help from the social services.

• There will be a cap on benefits and those on benefits will have to engage in socially important activities to qualify for benefits.

• Health insurance should provide financial security for those who cannot work due to illness.

• Taxes on labour should be reduced for low and middle-income earners.

• Tax on pensioners should be reduced.

• Taxes on savings will be reduced.

• Reduce fuel prices.

7 Other issues

The last point of the agreement deals with issues such as media, culture and abortion. Media independence and diversity will be facilitated. The public service must be independent and its long-term funding must be maintained. In a partly new media landscape, public service activities need to be developed as part of the democratic infrastructure. Political control of cultural content should be reduced, and a Swedish cultural canon should be developed.

• The independence of the public service media must be maintained and its long-term financing preserved.

• Measures should be taken to reduce political control of cultural content.

• A Swedish cultural canon will be developed. This means that the state will produce a selection of what it considers to be important cultural works that will then represent Swedish culture.