Åkesson calls for Sunday opening hours at Systembolaget

Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson is pushing for state alcohol retailer Systembolaget to be allowed to open on Sundays and to introduce refrigerated storage rooms, arguing the changes are necessary to maintain the legitimacy of the alcohol monopoly, SVT Nyheter reports.

“There is a reasonableness to having the option to buy a lager, a cider, or a bottle of wine on a Sunday if you want to,” Åkesson said.

It has been 25 years since Systembolaget, Sweden’s state-owned monopoly retailer for alcohol above a certain strength, began opening on Saturdays. Åkesson raised the Sunday opening question in his spring speech earlier in May, saying that in an SD-governed Sweden people would be “free to buy a cold lager at Systembolaget, perhaps even on a Sunday.”

Åkesson said the issue is about securing the monopoly’s standing. “When we have the monopoly, which I fundamentally think is very good, and you want to maintain some kind of legitimacy in that system, it helps if you also meet demand in a different way,” he said.

On the question of refrigerated products, Åkesson said he opposes individual fridges in stores, arguing they would favour larger producers and risk corruption. Instead, he is proposing large chilled rooms where all drinks could be stored, similar to the dairy sections found in larger grocery stores.

The issue has gained renewed attention after the Liberal Party recently presented what it described as “freedom reforms in the alcohol area.” Åkesson said he has already held informal negotiations with coalition partners on chilled drinks but that the parties have not reached full agreement.

Healthcare minister Elisabet Lann of the Christian Democrats previously told SVT that changing Systembolaget’s opening hours was “not on the table.” Åkesson said the issue has “become increasingly important” and that he expects negotiations between the parties to follow. “If you vote for the Sweden Democrats, we will push these issues,” he said.