A Defence Act ( sv, Försvarsbeslut, literally ''Defence Decision'') is an act passed by the

Swedish Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

every four years which details how the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

will function and develop during the coming years. Between 1901 and 1958, Acts were generally passed every ten years, with the exception of the Defence Act of 1942, which was passed earlier due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Defence Act of 1968 introduced a system requiring Defence Acts to be passed every five years. The work revolving a new Defence Act starts off with all elements of the Swedish

Total Defence Total defence is a defence policy combining and extending the concept of military defence and civil defence. It has been adopted by several countries: for example Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, L ...

drawing up plans on what structure and capacity the Defence will operate under during the coming 10 to 15 years. After discussions with the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, the defence authorities deliver a proposal to the cabinet detailing how the defence of Sweden can be developed. The government then drafts a proposition which is sent to the Riksdag, where it is eventually passed.

History

Until the Defence Act of 1958, the

had been steadily improving in quality and in numbers. A policy of gradual disarmament commenced as a result of the Defence Act of 1968, thus lowering the yearly conscripted manpower pool of 50,000 men and women to today's 5,000. In December 1988, the Carlsson Cabinet decided on disbanding the sitting Defence Committee and replacing it with a new committee where members of all parties of the Riksdag would be present. The evaluation time was increased by 6 months, due to the poor handling of the Defence Inquiry of 1987. Since 1989, Defence Acts have been passed every four years until 2008, when the

Reinfeldt Cabinet The cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt ( sv, 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, Lib ...

delayed the

Defence Act of 2008 Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

to the spring of 2009. As of the Defence Act of 2004, the Swedish Armed Forces has abandoned the traditional doctrine of invasion defence and moved on to a doctrine of operational defence. The 2004 act also decided that the military was to establish the

Nordic Battlegroup The Nordic Battlegroup (NBG) is one of eighteen European Union battlegroups. It consists of around 2,500 soldiers including officers, with manpower contributed from the seven participating Northern European countries, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Irel ...

, consisting of troops from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

(and later, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

was included). As of the Defence Act of 2009, conscription was suspended during times of peace and was replaced from 2011 by volunteer military training. Conscription was reintroduced in 2017.

History

References

Further reading