The citizens' right to know where their tax money goes is in opposition to business owners' right to prevent transparency.
On 11 March, the government proposed that decisions on support under the Short-Term Working Scheme should not be confidential, in order to satisfy the interest in transparency.
Support is provided to alleviate the consequences of the pandemic.
The government's proposal means that the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act must be amended. According to the proposal, the amendment is to enter into force on 1 August.
However, for applications for support received before 22 October 2020, the new rules, according to the proposal, will only apply from 21 October 2021.
The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, which manages the support, has previously stated that claiming confidentiality around this support could harm employers.
Therese Andersson, Business Area Manager for Members at FAR, states that FAR does not take a stance on the issue of transparency and public access:
– From FAR's perspective, we want to state that our role in short-term support is to support our members so that they can help companies get the right support at the right time, and that the right companies receive the support. However, FAR does not take a stance on the issue of transparency and public access; that is a matter for the government, says Therese Andersson in a written statement to Resultat.
Björn Dickson
This article is published in co-operation with Results magazine.
