Defence Cooperation Agreement with the United States

The DCA with the United States is a natural extension of Sweden’s NATO membership and the changing conditions for Sweden’s security policy.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine worsened Europe’s security situation and fundamentally changed Swedish security policy. This deteriorating security situation means that Sweden must be able to respond quickly to complex security developments – independently and with others.

A DCA with the US provides the necessary conditions for more continuous cooperation between our countries and facilitates US military support and reinforcements should the security situation so demand.

The DCA is a prerequisite for Sweden’s ability to swiftly receive support from the United States in a well-prepared manner, in the event of a deteriorating security situation. Accordingly, the DCA is of huge importance in preventing the emergence of military threats against Sweden and neighbouring Allies, and deterring and ultimately defending against armed attack. This is achieved by the United States being able to preposition military personnel and materiel here in Sweden and through more joint exercises with the Swedish Armed Forces. The DCA is of significance for defence planning. It acts as a deterrent and is stabilising. Entering the Agreement is in itself an important indication of US security and defence policy engagement with Sweden. 

The DCA facilitates better cooperation continuity by regulating conditions in advance for US forces to operate in Sweden.

The DCA builds upon and complements the existing Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the Status of their Forces (NATO SOFA) and the Agreement among the States Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and the other States participating in the Partnership for Peace regarding the Status of their Forces (PFP SOFA), whose material content is consistent with the NATO SOFA. This is an agreement that Sweden has been party to since the mid-1990s.

The DCA contains additional provisions on the legal status of US national forces and their personnel, dependents and suppliers. These include criminal jurisdiction, taxation exemptions and the right to maintain discipline within the American forces. Additionally, the DCA regulates matters such as the right to access Swedish territory, the right to use certain Swedish Armed Forces’ facilities and areas, and the right to operate certain service activities in support of their own forces and personnel, such as messes and military post offices.

Cooperation under the DCA is based on Sweden’s consent and full respect for Sweden’s sovereignty, laws and international legal obligations, including with regard to the stockpiling of certain types of weapons on Swedish territory. Cooperation is conducted in accordance with international law. All of this is presented in the opening paragraph of the DCA. Other paragraphs should be read together with the opening paragraph.

No. Cooperation under the DCA is based on Sweden’s consent and full respect for Sweden’s sovereignty, laws and international legal obligations, including with regard to the stockpiling of certain types of weapons on Swedish territory. Cooperation is conducted in accordance with international law. All of this is presented in the opening paragraph of the DCA.

Thus, as previously stated, it is Sweden that has the right to decide whether operations may take place on Swedish territory, and a prerequisite for all American presence is that it is conducted with Swedish consent. 

Nonetheless, one of the aims of the DCA is to rid our cooperation of burdensome administrative processes prior to each American presence in Sweden. As a result, it won’t be necessary to take separate decisions prior to each presence and activity conducted within the agreement framework. The DCA applies every time American forces are in Sweden. However, Swedish consent must always be in place – it is not possible for the US to carry out activities on Swedish territory without Swedish consent.

The DCA grants the US the right to store materiel in locations specified in the Appendix and in other locations the two countries have agreed upon. Sweden will always have information about what is stored here. The DCA builds upon close cooperation with the United States, and on Sweden consenting to everything that takes place in Sweden. The DCA clearly states that all activity must be undertaken with full respect for the sovereignty, laws and international legal obligations of Sweden, including with regard to the stockpiling of certain types of weapons on Swedish territory.

The DCA does not alter Sweden’s position, as expressed within the framework of Sweden’s NATO application and reiterated in the government bill on the DCA. This position means that – as in other Nordic countries – there is no reason to keep nuclear weapons on Swedish territory in peacetime. The Swedish position is well known in other countries, including the US. 

Everything that happens within the DCA framework builds upon Swedish consent. Under international law, foreign states are obliged to comply with Sweden’s decreed conditions for activities and operations conducted on Swedish territory. This follows from the sovereignty principle. The DCA’s preamble also emphasises that all activity must be conducted with full respect for Swedish sovereignty. 

In the DCA, the United States has undertaken to inform Swedish government agencies in advance of the type and quantity of materiel that US forces intend to transport or stockpile on Swedish territory and when and how it will be delivered. So Sweden will always have information on what is stored here. 

Yes. Members of the US forces are not exempt from punishment and are subject to both countries’ criminal jurisdiction. What the DCA regulates is the right to exercise jurisdiction and, specifically, which country should exercise primary rights to prosecute and sentence for a crime committed in Sweden.

As a starting point, the US will have jurisdiction for crimes committed by US forces members, both on and off duty, when the offence is punishable in both Sweden and the United States. Sweden will have the right to take back jurisdiction in specific cases of particular importance to Sweden regarding off-duty offences that do not solely concern US interests.

If a particular act is considered legal in the US but criminal in Sweden, then Sweden has the right to try the offender according to Swedish legislation.

The DCA Appendix lists agreed facilities and areas that US forces, foreign and Swedish suppliers and dependents will be granted access to and have the right to use for visits, training, exercises and other activities. These are facilities at the disposal of the Swedish Armed Forces and, in one case, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration. Sweden and the US will have joint access to all locations, excluding any parts that the parties may agree are exclusively reserved for US forces. 

The DCA was signed on 5 December 2023. For the DCA to enter into force, the Riksdag must approve it and adopt the legislative amendments needed to implement it. The Government submitted a bill on the issue to the Riksdag on 8 May 2024. 

In the short term, it means that Swedish Armed Forces and their US counterparts will be able to conduct joint activities at those facilities more easily. In the long term, once collective planning within NATO and with Allies in our neighbourhood has progressed further, facilities might eventually be upgraded for collective defence requirements. The American presence strengthens security locally and nationally.