Ideella ”skalföreningar” – En analys av bidragsfusk och bristande insyn i ideella föreningar

Sammanfattning

Non-profit associations have played an important role in Swedish culture and human interaction. Associations grants can be crucial for the functioning ac- tivities of non-profit associations. This form of associations is, however, not regulated by law and is instead primarily based on case law and legal doctrine. This can create problems for public oversight in terms of which activities ap- ply for association grants and whether they are entitled to receive such grants. To address this problem, several administrative authorities have called for a register of authorised representatives for non-profit associations. In February 2025, an official government report was published concerning an investigation into a municipal affiliation with the Swedish Payments Agency’s (Utbetalningsmyndigheten) operations. A municipal affiliation with the Swedish Payment Agency could serve as a complement to munici- palities internal control measures for the purpose of preventing wrongful pay- ments of association grants. In light of this, the purpose of this essay is to examine the legal construction of non-profit associations trough an analysing of current law. This is further placed in a broader perspective regarding public oversight of non-profit asso- ciations and how this form of association can be used as a tool for criminal activity in relation to municipal grant allocation. The analysis further dis- cusses of which deficiencies can be identified in municipalities work against wrongful payments and how their operations can be made more efficient trough the establishment of a register of authorised representatives and a mu- nicipal affiliation with the Swedish Payment Agency’s operations.