Sweden

In July 2006, the Swedish Government appointed an inquiry to investigate how research and environmental monitoring could be used to restore a good marine environment in the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat and Skagerrak areas of the North Sea.

In May 2007, the Government adopted supplementary terms of reference for the inquiry relating to including international management of the Baltic Sea and the planning of Swedish sea areas. The final report of the inquiry, “Better Management of the Marine Environment”, was submitted in May 2008.

What stimulates spatial planning in Swedish waters?

Despite a large number of initiatives and international agreements, the environmental situation of the seas surrounding Sweden is far from acceptable. Warning reports on algal blooms and oxygen-deficient seabeds occur almost every summer. The status of fish stocks is worse than ever.

The enormous volume of shipping in the Baltic Sea is accompanied by a considerable risk of a shipping accident resulting in extensive oil discharges. One of the principal conclusions of the inquiry was that despite many conflicting interests and environmental problems, there is seldom any planning of marine environments corresponding to the physical planning done for areas on land.

According to Swedish planning practice, the national government has limited influence over planning, for both land and sea areas. While municipalities are currently formally responsible for assessments and planning in coastal waters areas and the territorial sea, the national government has the ultimate responsibility in the economic zone. However, there are no nationally determined objectives for planning in coastal waters and the territorial sea because of the long tradition of decentralized planning in Sweden. Municipal planning in Sweden’s sea areas is currently very incomplete and inconsistent.

Development of spatial planning in Swedish waters

The Inquiry proposes the introduction of a new planning system for Sweden’s sea areas. This planning would be based on marine spatial plans similar to the comprehensive plans for land areas. These marine plans would contain binding components in the form of fixed zones for use and protection. The ecosystem approach would serve to guide the planning. The marine plans would comprise all open sea from the coast to the outer border of Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. Responsibility for drafting marine plans in Swedish territorial waters would lie at the regional level.

Since Sweden still lacks a uniform system for a regional level of government, it is proposed that existing regional bodies would be responsible for implementing regional marine planning. The proposal would limit the planning responsibility of municipalities. The national government would have overall responsibility for planning throughout Sweden’s entire sea area. According to the inquiry, the planning system would take strategic, practical, organizational and cooperation-oriented issues into consideration. It would:

Be monitored and developed by a central government authority and applied by other authorities and regional bodies;
Contain a clear division of responsibility between actors and define a clear hierarchy of decision-making;
Be based on broad marine plans corresponding to the municipal comprehensive plans for land areas. However, in contrast to the comprehensive plans, the marine plans should include binding components; and
Regional bodies should be given responsibility for planning in the territorial sea and in sea areas within the baseline. A central government authority would have responsibility for planning in the exclusive economic zone.

The planning system would also:

Handle development and exploitation issues, as well as traditional conservation matters;
Include a system for zoning of the sea areas as a binding component within the marine plan;
Harmonize with international and EU legislation on sea areas, as well as with the European Commission’s view of how marine spatial planning should be developed;
Be designed so that the concepts and standards in adjacent countries are relatively similar, in order to facilitate international cooperation;
Contain provisions ensuring that marine spatial planning takes place in consultation with the international organizations concerned and with relevant actors in adjacent countries;
Contain provisions relating to consultation with municipalities. For example, the municipalities would be consultation bodies in the planning process;
Contain formalized mechanisms for consultation with the general public and stakeholders as regards planning within the baseline and in the territorial sea; and
Define the appeals procedure regarding regional marine spatial plans.

The Inquiry proposes that the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning be given overall responsibility for planning Sweden’s sea areas, and specific responsibility for planning the exclusive economic zone. This responsibility will include reviewing regional marine plans against certain criteria and having a supervisory function with regard to regional planning.

Work is underway on an integrated Swedish marine policy and new legislation will be presented in early 2009.

Further information

For additional information go to the website of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.

Last updated: 28 January 2010