Swedish Civil Defense Authorities Gathered – GD: "Civil Defense Is Now Core Business"

Several important building blocks have been put in place during the year, such as the Starting Points for Total Defense 2025-2030, which supports ongoing planning, and the Agreement on Orientation and Coordination, which clarifies the command system between actors. The meeting aimed partly to summarize key efforts made in 2025 to strengthen total defense, and partly to look ahead to 2026 and see which joint processes are upcoming. The Employment Agency and the Conscription and Testing Agency participated alongside labor market parties: the Swedish Agency for Public Management, SKR, the Swedish Business Federation, as well as LO, Saco, and TCO with a joint message: – We have worked hard during the autumn to achieve a common understanding of personnel supply in civil defense. It was also clarified that military placement of employees is voluntary and has no legal effect, but the government's current policy remains that relevant government agencies should military-place the personnel needed for increased preparedness. The work on personnel supply in civil defense will continue in 2026 with relevant actors in a dedicated Personnel Supply Council. GD MSB summarized the main message: – It is a huge managerial responsibility to identify activities during heightened preparedness and to have a staffing plan. The Civil Preparedness Council meets once a year, and this year four new preparedness authorities participated for the first time: the National Board of Housing, Riksarkivet (National Archives), the Swedish National Heritage Board, and the Swedish Geological Survey.