Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On 5 November 2025 the Riksdag voted in favour of the Government's proposal to repeal Sweden's 2018 moratorium on uranium mining and exploration. The decision amends the Environmental Code (Miljöbalken) and the Minerals Act (Minerallagen) to reclassify uranium as a "concession mineral" — a mineral "especially useful for society" — allowing bedrock exploration and full mining-concession applications under Sweden's existing mineral-rights framework. The new rules enter into force on 1 January 2026. Sweden hosts an estimated 27% of Europe's known uranium reserves (per the Geological Survey of Sweden, SGU); the reversal is the first European uranium-mining policy opening of the post-Chernobyl era and complements the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (which lists uranium as a strategic raw material) and the emerging EU Nuclear Common Industrial Agenda.

Sweden amended the Minerals Act (Minerallagen, 1991:45) via Proposition 2023/24:126 and SFS 2024:325, enacted by the Riksdag on 29 May 2024 and effective 1 July 2024, removing the requirement that a Natura 2000 permit must be obtained before a mining exploitation concession (bearbetningskoncession) can be granted. The Natura 2000 assessment is decoupled from the concession track and moved to the Environmental Code's environmental-permit stage, where the full scope of the mining project is known and EU habitat-impact requirements can be completely and accurately met. The reform materially reduces the sequencing bottleneck in Swedish mine permitting, allowing the Bergmästaren (National Mining Inspectorate) to advance exploitation concessions in parallel with ongoing Natura 2000 proceedings rather than requiring prior resolution of Natura 2000 status. Sweden is Europe's largest iron ore producer and hosts the EU's largest known rare earth deposit (LKAB Per Geijer).

Sweden's first horizontal foreign-direct-investment screening regime. Lag (2023:560) om granskning av utländska direktinvesteringar — promulgated (utfärdad) by the Ministry of Justice on 21 September 2023 on the basis of Government Bill 2022/23:116, and entered into force on 1 December 2023 — establishes mandatory ex-ante notification to Inspektionen för strategiska produkter (ISP) for direct or indirect acquisitions of voting rights of ≥10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, 65%, or 90% in Swedish entities conducting "skyddsvärd verksamhet" (protected business activities). The protected-activity perimeter is defined by Förordning (2023:624) and the ISP listing across seven sub-categories: essential services, security-sensitive activities, critical raw materials/metals/ minerals, sensitive location and personal data, military equipment, dual-use goods, and emerging or strategically protected technologies. Both EU and non-EU investors are within scope. Unnotified transactions are void by operation of law and may carry administrative fines of SEK 25,000 to SEK 100 million. From 1 Dec 2023 to 29 Nov 2024 ISP processed 1,206 notifications, opened 24 deeper screenings, approved 11, approved 5 with conditions, and prohibited 1 transaction.