The government agencies in
Sweden are state-controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the
Government of Sweden. The
ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to monitor the agencies and preparing decision and policy papers for the government as a collective body to decide upon.
A Cabinet Minister is
explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. The cardinal rule is that Ministers are not allowed to issue orders to agencies in their portfolio personally (with only a few exceptions) as the government agencies are subject to decisions made by the government, although the government cannot even directly overrule an agency in the handling of an individual case.
Other than the executive branch, the
Riksdag also has a number of independent agencies.
Swedish National Integration Board, or Integrationsverket. Located in
Norrköping. Field of operations: The Swedish Integration Board to ensure that the visions and goals of Sweden's integration policies have an impact in the various areas of society. Closed down on 1 July 2007.
The Railway Safety Fencing Board (
Swedish: Stängselnämnden) was a government agency responsible for settling conflicts between
municipalities and
rail transport companies regarding the building of
fences along railways.[1] The board existed 1976—2008. It only decided in one case, which occurred in 1977.[1]
The State Institute for Racial Biology or Statens institut för rasbiologi. Field of operations: studying eugenics and human genetics. Established in 1922 and changed to State Institute for Human Genetics in 1958 and merged into
Uppsala University.