The Swedish Experience: A Fair and Level Playing Field? PSI Alliance 2009 Annual Conference, 25 June 2009 Pia Bergdahl

The Swedish Competition Authority – our task safeguard competition and supervise public procurement in Sweden by –Applying Law –Proposing changes to rules and other measures to eliminate obstacles to effective competition –Building up and disseminating knowledge on competition issues

Swedish Government and Parliament Policies The competitive market share of the Swedish Economy shall increase Development of a more efficient public procurement SME’s are vital in order to promote competition Public agencies’ commercial activities must not restrain private business on the market State agencies should focus on their core-activities Commercial activities should not be organised in public agencies/authorities

How Much Competition do Swedish State Agencies Face? 119 agencies with a turnover of 24 – 32 billion SEK in 2006 Large PSI agencies (Lantmäteriet, Statistics Sweden, Swedish Tax Agency, SMHI) > 1 billion SEK in 2008 Strong growth potential in IT-products result in more new PSI-products than intended in public agencies

PSI Markets and Agencies in Sweden Local Weather forecasts/Weather Routing (SMHI) Adaptive maps and real estate information (Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority) Environmental impact assessments (SMHI, Swedish Maritime Administration) Financial information (Swedish Companies Registration Office) National Road Administration Statistics Sweden

Competition Problems in PSI- markets? Public agencies engage in commercial activities in large scale Unclear boundaries between commercial activities and public tasks –public and private funding in same entity –lack of transparency, no separate accounting Pricing –focus on short term cost recovery –base for calculation of charges not indicated –cross-subsidizing?

Competition problems, Cont. Accessibility and discriminatory practices –poor information on available data –Large datasets and bundling of data –Lack of sales infrastructure Unique information on competitors Licenses and exclusive rights?

Current Regulation Do Not Solve the Problem In general –Public commercial activities insufficiently regulated In PSI markets –Freedom of Information Legislation not adapted to re-use –Unclear Boundaries for Copyright –Public Agencies’ data bases regulated in special law –Lack of conflict resolution mechanisms –No right to appeal in court

SCA Proposals for Better Competition Prohibit the selling of goods and services by central government agencies in competitive markets Reduce competitive distortions by more effective rules for public selling activities Ensure that business activities are separated from the exercise of official authority

SCA’s Proposals - Cont. Better rules on the sale of Public Sector Information –Regulate principles and base for pricing and requirements on information of such –Give the right to appeal in court –Set up a PSI-market watch-dog for supervision and evaluation

Proposals, Cont. Further actions –Definition and governing of motivated public business activities –Introduce charges based on distribution costs –Requirements of a promotive sales organisation for better access to PSI

Thank you!