Local self-government in Sweden is powerful and plays a major role in social security and services provision. It accounts for approximately 25% of GDP. Local authorities enjoy a high degree of freedom to organize their activity at will, although they are strictly regulated by the state and supervised in many responsibility spheres.

Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) is the largest association of local self-government bodies among those represented in this country review. In its headquarters in Stockholm about 440 people are employed. Partly the Association role is to negotiate provisions of collective labour agreements on behalf of the municipalities, districts and regions for more than a million employees, that being approximately 25% of the general employment in the country. It makes SALAR the largest employers’ organization in Sweden.