The inquiry proposes the introduction of a new general secrecy-breaking provision. In other words, secrecy surrounding an individual's personal or financial circumstances should not prevent the exchange of information between authorities.
The exchange of information should be possible if it can contribute to the detection or investigation of incorrect payments or to investigate and combat criminal activity. A practical example could be the exchange of information between the Customs Agency and the Enforcement Authority or when a person moves between different locations.
In a crime-preventive cooperative effort, it should be possible to share information between schools, county administrative boards, correctional services, and the police to obtain a better information base, says the investigator Göran Lundahl.
The proposal is thus intended to cover all authorities and municipalities as well as regions. However, the material health and medical secrecy should not be broken.
This survey has shown that there is a general and extensive need for information exchange between authorities, particularly in the case of incorrect payments.
Seen as a major obstacle
Secrecy has been seen as a major obstacle in the fight against welfare fraud, and according to the investigator Göran Lundahl, there is now a great need for simplification of a complex system.
We have chosen to delimit the provision to capture three types of situations: firstly, irregularities in financial flows, secondly, investigating crimes, and thirdly, combating criminal activity, and the last situation – authorities should get correct decision-making basis in case management, says Göran Lundahl.
As regards consequences, the investigator primarily sees an increased workload for authorities.
— But overall, we do not believe that increased resources will be needed for state authorities or that it will lead to cost increases for authorities and regions.
"Completely decisive"
According to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer, the need for change is great.
We know that it is completely decisive that authorities can share information in an effective and simple way, and not least to combat organized crime, he says at the press conference.
There has been talk about this problem for several years, but it has been desperately difficult for politics to move forward. Now it's happening.
The legislative changes are proposed to come into effect on September 1, 2025.
