SD sources: Negotiates the level of the reduction obligation

In the election campaign, the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats all went forward with promises of significantly reduced fuel prices. This would become a reality with, above all, a reduced reduction obligation, i.e. the requirement for the blending of biofuel in petrol and diesel.

But a key question has been how low the involvement should be. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) has said that January 1, 2024 will be reduced to "the EU's lowest level", which the government has defined at 6 percent.

SD's interpretation so far: zero percent.

But now the Sweden Democrats that SVT has been in contact with are relaxing the demands on the amount of involvement. An SD source says that the party can imagine a range of 0 to 6 percent.

"The government will at least implement a substantial reduction in the reduction obligation. Then we will see what it ends up in, says Martin Kinnunen (SD), climate policy spokesperson.

Hoisted to the highest level

The issue has now been raised directly to the level of State Secretary in the government's coordination, where the nonsocialist parties and the SD are faced with the task of finding a common way forward. This is the highest level before party leaders are called in.

Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari (L) points out in an email to SVT that "the lower the reduction obligation we have, the more we need to balance with other measures to reduce emissions."

"The Liberals are pushing for a cut, just as they agree, but it must also be compatible with the climate goals. It will not end up at zero, says a liberal in the Government Offices.

But the Sweden Democrats are not interested in discussing countermeasures – just negotiate a figure for the amount of involvement. Anything else would be to renegotiate the issue, the message goes.

Mitigating requirements

It is important for both the government and SD to resolve the issue as soon as possible because the petrol companies expect a response.

"The issue has also been hanging in the air for a long time and is the most pointed issue we have had to deal with in the collaboration, so it would be good if we could finish it," says a Sweden Democrat.