Sweden was until recently a fairly homogenous country. It is also a strongly secular country, albeit within a Lutheran Church tradition. Its population is only around 10 million. However, the proportion of foreign-born inhabitants increased from 6.7 % in 1970 to 19.1 % in 2010 and continues to rise due to high levels of immigration. There is no tradition of monitoring ethnicity within society and no long-established tradition as regards non-discriminatory legislation either. From 1999, however, the Swedish Government has been very active regarding the introduction of non-discrimination legislation, both anticipating and transposing EU law. One step further on this road was taken on 1 January 2015, when a new ground of discrimination - lack of accessibility - was created. This extended the possibility for persons with disabilities to obtain discrimination awards for failures to adopt reasonable adaptation measures to provide access to areas not covered by Directive 2000/78. The Supreme Court ruled on two cases in June 2014, clarifying the thinking on discrimination awards. The minimum award is now SEK 10 000 (EUR 1 100), and the basic idea is that the compensation for the violation and the prevention supplement shall be of the same amount if one person suffers discrimination and the person responsible for the activity acts diligently afterwards. Sweden, which has had predominantly social democratic Governments during the last century, can be said to have developed a fairly comprehensive welfare state. Social and economic goods have only been articulated as rights - thus giving rise to legal claims - to a limited extent, however, and there is a weak constitutional tradition as regards fundamental rights. In order to understand the functioning of Swedish labour law, and thus large parts of the country's non-discrimination legislation, it is crucial to bear in mind the special role designated to the social partners, whereas other NGOs have a very restricted role. The Swedish labour market is characterised by a high degree of organisational density - roughly 70 %. This is true of employees and employers alike, whether in the private or the public sector. This organisational structure is reflected in collective bargaining and in the fact that important issues are still outside the scope of law, for instance wages. As a general rule, work as a civil servant is ruled by contracts and collective agreements, largely in the same way as private employment, and the same rules apply. The Roma people have been treated much worse compared with other ethnic minorities such as the Sami people. For instance, it was not until 1959 that the Roma people got the right to belong to a municipality. Previously, they only had the right to stay for three days. Therefore, no local authority was responsible for the schooling of their children or for their social welfare. The Roma still face more discrimination compared with other ethnic groups, but nowadays the state is aware of this and is combating it.
