Today's system means that a person who has not learned the Swedish language has the right to an interpreter, regardless of how long they have lived in Sweden, even if it's after 30-40 years. This is not reasonable, says Minister for Labour Market and Integration Mats Persson (L) at a press conference.
A investigator will analyze when it is reasonable to charge a fee for a publicly funded interpreter and propose how much it should cost and how long a person can live in Sweden without paying anything. The starting point is to increase the incentives to learn Swedish.
What evidence do you have that interpreter fees increase language skills?
Being met with a regulatory framework where the expectation is that you should learn the Swedish language and cannot get a free interpreter has an impact on how quickly you learn Swedish, says Persson.
Several exceptions
The investigator will, however, review when exceptions are needed, not least in healthcare and the judicial system, as well as in situations involving children, the sick, or the disabled. Exceptions should also be made in particularly vulnerable or critical situations with a risk to life and health. Interpreter fees should not apply to, for example, sign language or minority languages.
A ban on children interpreting should also be reviewed, as well as the ability to dismiss a relative from interpreting. This is to prevent, for example, a child being forced to give a parent a cancer diagnosis or a man who has subjected his partner to violence becoming the one who translates for her.
Children are children and they should not have to stay at home to interpret for their parents, says Mats Persson.
Contentious issue
It has been two and a half years since the point about interpreter fees was written into the Tidö Agreement. The question has been debated and both Liberals and Christian Democrats have been critical.
According to Mats Persson, the Liberals have not backed down on a single point in the negotiations with the SD, M, and KD.
The Liberals are very pleased with these directives.
The Sweden Democrats' Ludvig Aspling also says he is pleased and highlights that in some cases it is reasonable to have publicly funded interpreters.
If healthcare is not performed correctly or not at all because a person does not use an interpreter, then the costs risk becoming enormously higher than the costs of the interpreter would have been, says Aspling.
In the Tidö Agreement, the following is stated regarding interpreter fees:
"Limitation of the right to an interpreter for persons with residence permits and Swedish citizenship:
The right to a publicly funded interpreter should be limited. The starting point should be that the individual should pay for interpreter services. It should be considered to introduce a fee for newcomers after a certain period of time has elapsed since the residence permit was granted."
