Why Swedish Commuters Are Suing Their Own Government

It’s not exactly typical for commuters to sue their own state for slowing down their journey to work. That’s what currently happening in Sweden, however, where workers employed in Denmark say that ID checks have so slowed crossings between the two countries that their daily routines are becoming impossible. It’s a striking turn of events in a region that, until this year, was seen as a model for an almost borderless future.

After the millennium, the cities of Copenhagen and Malmö seemed set to become models for the future of Europe. Separated by a narrow stretch of sea but joined since 2000 by the Oresund Bridge, Denmark’s largest and Sweden’s third largest cities were destined to be parts of a prosperous, green, forward-looking metropolis that just happened to straddle an international border. This wasn’t just airy aspiration. With just under 100,000 people crossing daily last year by bridge and ferry, Denmark planned to rebrand the area as Greater Copenhagen (not all Swedes were thrilled with the name, as you can imagine) and there was talk of establishing an Oresund Parliament. There were even proposals to create what would be the world’s first international metro system (as things stand, trains between the two downtowns take only 30 minutes), helping to fashion what could become Europe’s answer to the Bay Area.