The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency is a Swedish administrative authority, organised under the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for issues concerning civil protection, public safety, emergency management and civil defence. Responsibility refers to measures taken before, during and after an emergency or crisis. MSB work in close cooperation with the municipalities, the county councils, other authorities, organisations and the private sector to achieve increased safety and security at all levels of society. This is done through education, support, training exercises, regulation and supervision. The agency covers the whole spectrum of contingencies; from everyday road traffic accidents and fires, up to chemical emergencies, power cuts and other technical failures. Additionally, more serious emergencies, such as bomb threats and other antagonistic attacks, epidemics, natural disasters and war. In most cases, the responsibility for on-scene action does not lie with the Civil Contingencies Agency but with municipal rescue services, law enforcement agencies or other agencies.

History

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency was established 1 January 2009, when Swedish Rescue Services Agency (), the Swedish Emergency Management Agency () and the Swedish National Board of Psychological Defence () were merged into one body. In 2022 the Agency for Psychological Defence was established as a separate agency. During the 2018 Sweden wildfires, Sweden requested help from

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department. Sweden received help from

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The help included firefighters, equipment and water bombing aircraft. From 1 January 2026 the agency will be renamed as the Agency for Civil Defence.

Organisation

The MSB is based in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Karlstad, Kristinehamn and Ljung. The MSB also has some colleges in Sandö, Revinge and Rosersberg. The agency has about 850 employees, led by Director-General Charlotte Petri Gornitzka. It's organised into five departments: Risk & Vulnerability Reduction Department, Emergency Management Development Department, Coordination and Operations Department, Evaluation and Monitoring Department and the Administration Department.

Directors-General

*2009–2017: Helena Lindberg *2018–2021: Dan Eliasson *2021: Camilla Asp (acting) *2021–2024: Charlotte Petri Gornitzka *2024–: Mikael Frisell

Overdirector

* 2025–: Anna Starbrink

References

External links