There are fifteen parliamentary committees in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. Each committee is made up of seventeen elected MPs, with at least one member from each political party. Additionally, the Committee on European Union Affairs, while not one of the standing committees, has a similar role.
The first Committee on the Constitution was established in the Riksdag of the Estates in May 1809. The committee played a decisive role in bringing about a new Instrument of Government, which was adopted on 6 June 1809. The existence of a Committee on the Constitution and other parliamentary committees was further regulated in the current Instrument of Government from 1974.
In connection with the introduction of the unicameral parliament in 1971, the committee structure of the Riksdag was changed to a system primarily based on subject-specific committees. Prior to this, the committee structure had been organized according to the functional committee principle, with separate committees for different functions—for example, constitutional legislation (the Committee on the Constitution), general legislation (the Law Committee), taxation (the House Ways and Means Committee), and budget regulation (the Committee of Supply). By the late 1960s, there were a total of 10 standing committees, of which three were law committees; First, Second, and Third. Some of these committees were further divided into two or more sections, each of which drafted proposals for reports that were submitted in the committee’s name after being presented in committee sessions.[4]
From 1971, the Riksdag had 16 standing committees.[a] These were, as mentioned, organized according to the subject-specific committee principle, meaning that all matters within a particular policy area are handled by the same committee. Some minor exceptions to this principle exist. The Committee on Civil-Law Legislation, for example, handled legislative matters in civil law regardless of subject area and did not handle appropriation matters. The Committee on the Constitution, the Committee on Finance, and the Committee on Taxation also partially deviate from the subject-specific committee principle, as they have their roots in the old system based on the functional committee principle, which was organized around the distinct functions of the state.[4]
Broadly speaking, the committee structure today remains the same as it was in 1971. The only changes are that the Committee on Home Affairs (Inrikesutskottet) was renamed the Committee on the Labour Market in 1976, and the Committee on Civil Affairs became the Committee on Housing in 1983. In addition, the Committee on Agriculture was renamed the Committee on Environment and Agriculture in 1998.[4] The Committee on Civil-Law Legislation and the Committee on Housing were merge into the newly established Committee on Civil Affairs in 2006.[5] It should also be noted that the structure of government ministries has undergone significant changes during the same period, gradually reducing the correspondence that once existed between the committee structure and the ministerial divisions.[4]
Regarding special committees, since 1971 these have only been appointed on a single occasion—namely in 1992, when the EEA Committee (EES-utskottet) was formed. Joint committees, however, have been relatively common in recent years. Since the parliamentary session of 1995/96, joint committees have occurred in the following combinations: the Joint Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, the Joint Constitution and Foreign Committee (Sammansatta konstitutions- och utrikesutskottet), and the Joint Foreign and Environment and Agriculture Committee (Sammansatta utrikes- och miljö- och jordbruksutskottet).[4]
While the committee structure has remained largely intact since the 1971 reform, there have been some changes in the scope of matters handled by committees. These changes have generally been minor. They consist partly of adjustments to the division of responsibilities among committees in the Riksdag’s rules of procedure, and partly of reassignments of expenditure areas—where purposes and activities funded by appropriations are transferred from one expenditure area to another, which may shift the preparation responsibility from one committee to another. In some cases (but not always), this also requires amendments to the rules of procedure regarding committee responsibilities. Since 1971, the Riksdag has made such changes to committee responsibilities on about 15 occasions. The largest reassignments have included: consumer issues from the Committee on Industry and Trade to the Committee on Civil-Law Legislation (1983); asylum and migration issues from the Committee on the Labour Market to the Committee on Social Insurance (1983); regional policy from the Committee on the Labour Market to the Committee on Industry and Trade (1998); financial market issues from the Committee on Industry and Trade to the Committee on Finance (1996); and preschool and after-school care from the Committee on Health and Welfare to the Committee on Education (1998). Changes in the expenditure areas of activities in recent years have mainly aimed to align the government’s policy areas (as decided by the government) with the working methods of the Riksdag.[4]
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