The Government’s work in response to the virus responsible for COVID-19

The Government has decided on a ban on entry to Sweden to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 entering the country or being spread to other countries. A temporary entry ban for entry from EU/EEA States and certain other states has been in force since February. As of 30 June, the Swedish regulation has been adapted to the EU regulation on a COVID certificate. This entails an entry ban on travel to Sweden from EU/EEA States unless a vaccination certificate, a test certificate, a certificate confirming recovery from COVID-19 or a corresponding certificate can be presented. At present, this regulation applies until 31 August 2021. Entry from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway is not subject to any entry restrictions. A temporary ban on non-essential travel from countries outside the EU/EEA to Sweden, introduced following a call from the European Council and the European Commission, has been in effect since March 2020. Since February, the ban has included a requirement to present a certificate verifying a negative COVID-19 test result for entry into Sweden. To travel to Sweden from countries outside the EU/EEA, you must be covered by at least one of the exemptions from the entry ban and also be able to present a negative COVID-19 test or be exempt from the test requirement. These rules have been extended on multiple occasions and at present apply until 31 August 2021.

At a press conference on Monday, it was announced that a number of restrictions will be lifted as of 15 July. This is in line with step 3 of the Government’s plan for phasing out restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sweden is still in an extraordinary situation. Read more about the recommendations and decisions in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ policy areas of public health, medical care, social care and social insurance. The date in the title indicates when the article was written.

The Government previously presented a plan for adapting and phasing out the restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At a press conference on Monday, June 28 2021, it was announced that a number of restrictions will be lifted as of 1 July 2021, in line with stage 2 of the Government’s plan.

The Government has decided to extend the entry ban on travel to Sweden from EU/EEA countries. The Swedish regulations are also being adapted to the EU regulation on a COVID certificate. This mainly entails an entry ban on travel to Sweden unless a vaccination certificate, a negative COVID-19 test result, a certificate confirming recovery from COVID-19 or a corresponding certificate can be presented. The extension enters into force on 30 June and remains in effect until 31 August. Entry from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway is still not subject to any entry restrictions.

The Government has decided on an amendment to the temporary ban on entry into Sweden. The amendment concerns an exemption for residents of a certain specified non-EU country and is in line with the Council of the European Union’s latest recommendation to EU Member States.

At the Government’s initiative, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and Minister for Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs Anna Hallberg met with colleagues from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway on 9 June to discuss opportunities to strengthen and create synergies in Nordic vaccine production.

The Government has decided to extend the government credit guarantee scheme, ‘Företagsakuten’, to support small- and medium-sized companies in financial difficulty due to the pandemic from 30 June to 30 September 2021.

In July 2020, EU heads of state and government agreed on a recovery package to mitigate the effects of the crisis. The package, called NextGenerationEU, comprises EUR 750 billion (2018 prices) in loans and grants to Member States. The main part of this will be channelled through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). On 28 May 2021, Sweden submitted its recovery plan to the EU.