Also filed on 16 September, Bill HE 165/2026 proposes amendments to the Police Act and the 2010 bilateral treaty governing police cooperation in the Tornio-Haparanda border region. The draft would allow Finnish and Swedish officers to carry out hot-pursuit operations up to ten kilometres across the land border and to share real-time drone and body-cam footage through a joint command system hosted in Luleå. The initiative responds to a sharp rise in cross-border crime – notably smuggling of synthetic drugs and irregular migration flows that diverted northwards after Norway tightened checkpoints earlier this year. Interior-Ministry statistics show that detections of attempted illegal entry via the northern Schengen internal border jumped 38 % year-on-year in the first half of 2026. For global-mobility stakeholders, the practical impact will be felt in faster roadside controls on the key E8 and E10 corridors linking Finnish Lapland with Swedish ports, as officers from either country will be able to complete identity checks without waiting for counterparts to arrive. Corporate shuttle-bus operators and logistics firms should brief drivers on the new procedures and ensure passengers carry passports or national ID cards even for intra-Schengen trips. The bill enjoys broad support across party lines and from business groups concerned about cargo theft, suggesting passage before Parliament rises for the winter recess. Sweden is expected to ratify mirror-legislation in the Riksdag by March 2027, allowing the updated cooperation regime to enter into force next summer.
Source: Finlex – HE 165/2026
