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🇸🇪 Sweden /Elections & Politics

Government: Now we are burying the elephant graveyard

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Sweden’s government has appointed an inquiry into ending a system that keeps dismissed agency chiefs in government employment on full salaries until their contracts expire.
  • The inquiry will examine replacing the arrangement with severance payments and reviewing additional income guarantees for former officials.
  • Eight former agency chiefs currently work in the Government Offices, costing about 13 million kronor annually, and the inquiry must report by April 5, 2027.

Sweden’s government wants to put an end to what it calls the “elephant graveyard,” where agency chiefs removed from their posts remain employed by the Government Offices on full pay. Civil Affairs Minister Erik Slottner described the planned reform with a blunt metaphor: “Instead of slowly cutting up the elephant, we are now burying the elephant graveyard.”

The government has appointed an inquiry to propose how the system could be abolished and replaced with severance payments. Under current rules, a director-general cannot be dismissed before the end of the appointment. If the government decides that an agency chief should leave, or if the agency is closed, the official is transferred to the Government Offices and stays there on full salary until the appointment expires.

Agency chiefs normally receive six-year contracts, with the possibility of a three-year extension. An early transfer can therefore leave a former director-general or county governor employed for several years with duties that are not clearly defined. The system also includes benefits that the government wants the inquiry to review. Former agency chiefs may receive a two-year severance payment after their time in the Government Offices ends. Officials aged 61 or older who have worked for a total of six years may instead qualify for a four-year income guarantee.

Eight former agency chiefs currently work in the Government Offices. Two were placed there after their agencies were shut down, and their combined salaries total about 13 million kronor a year. Former Sida chief Jakob Granit and former Financial Supervisory Authority chief Daniel Barr have the longest time remaining on their appointments. Both may stay employed until sometime in 2029 and earn more than 140,000 kronor a month.

About 50 agency chiefs were transferred between 2011 and 2025, an average of roughly three a year regardless of which government was in power. The inquiry must complete its work by April 5, 2027.

Instead of slowly cutting up the elephant, we are now burying the elephant graveyard.

· Erik SlottnerSweden’s civil affairs minister described the government’s plan to abolish the system for former agency chiefs.
About this summary

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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