Sweden's European Union presidency is nearing its end this December and it appears that Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has done his best to work on the priority issues during the last five months. The most important was to secure the cooperation of major countries like the United States, China and India in the forthcoming Summit Meeting on Climate Changes in Copenhagen. Although no iron-clad assurances were made by these countries during the prime minister's recent state visits, Reinfeldt has stated that he was hopeful the meeting will result in an agreement that meets the economic and environmental considerations of countries concerned.
The European Union has now entered a new phase whereby an EU president and a foreign minister have been chosen. The choice, when the names were announced created a ripple of surprises because they were unknown personalities in the EU galaxy of politicians. For months now, there were popular choices speculated for the presidency and the foreign minister posts. The final vote came as a total surprise.
Sweden will have a new EU commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, who is coming from the Liberal Party but who in her own right is an EU veteran. She will handle one of the toughest questions confronting the EU, that of asylum and migration as well as crime prevention. Dagens Nyheter stressed that tough policies are required today in the form of laws to curtail trafficking, organised crime and sexual exploitation of children as well as illegal immigration.
The asylum and migration issues continue to be a main thorn in the European Union's effort to accommodate refugees and asylum-seekers from countries in conflict. It is common knowledge that Sweden has taken more asylum-seekers than its economy can sustain, while other EU countries have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to pleas for greater humanity and solidarity in the burden-sharing of refugee intakes.
Sweden is a small country with a big heart. It is a welcome development that the next Swedish commisioner after Margot Wallström is a woman, who will hopefully deal with all these tough issues with both heart and mind. Europe is far from being a united union with common purposes and interests. The national interests of many EU member-states remain strong even if the national borders have become more porous.#
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Truth missing in party leaders' talks
Shortly after the Eu parliamentary elections last Sunday, June 7 this year - the leaders of Sweden's two biggest parties gave glowing views on the result of the elections. Mona Sahlin, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party stated that "it was blowing red-green winds" while Moderate Party leader and current Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt spoke of "success" made in the elections.
DN Columnist Peter Wolodarski questioned such statements as lacking truth and pointed out that both parties were losers as they lost supporters to the Liberal and Green Parties. Such lack of candidness contributes to falsity in the public debate, and if both party leaders cannot admit the truth of losing, then who else would?
Those who made big inroad into the EU elections were smaller parties, even one new upstart whose pro-EU views were better understood by voters. For one, the Social Democratic Party prominently placed as its first candidate a known anti-EU politician. The Green Party which made a dramatic switch towards EU membership drew strong votes and went up from 6 to 11 percent. For most Swedes, membership in the EU is a certainty which makes anti-EU politicians less palatable to the voters.
The Swedish EU election had a low electoral turnout which indicated a lack of interest among voters, if not a lack of good knowledge on how exactly the politics in Brussels affect the individual lives of every Swedish citizen. The success of the newly-started Pirat Party and the Sverigedemokraterna is an indication of discontent among a majority of the Swedish electorate, creating a state of apprehension not just for the forthcoming national elections in 2010, but in how Sweden will cope with a deepening economic crisis.#
DN Columnist Peter Wolodarski questioned such statements as lacking truth and pointed out that both parties were losers as they lost supporters to the Liberal and Green Parties. Such lack of candidness contributes to falsity in the public debate, and if both party leaders cannot admit the truth of losing, then who else would?
Those who made big inroad into the EU elections were smaller parties, even one new upstart whose pro-EU views were better understood by voters. For one, the Social Democratic Party prominently placed as its first candidate a known anti-EU politician. The Green Party which made a dramatic switch towards EU membership drew strong votes and went up from 6 to 11 percent. For most Swedes, membership in the EU is a certainty which makes anti-EU politicians less palatable to the voters.
The Swedish EU election had a low electoral turnout which indicated a lack of interest among voters, if not a lack of good knowledge on how exactly the politics in Brussels affect the individual lives of every Swedish citizen. The success of the newly-started Pirat Party and the Sverigedemokraterna is an indication of discontent among a majority of the Swedish electorate, creating a state of apprehension not just for the forthcoming national elections in 2010, but in how Sweden will cope with a deepening economic crisis.#
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Swedish Moderate Party leaders criticise EU's growth strategy
Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Minister of Finance Anders Borg presented today in Dagens Nyheter's Debate, the Moderate Party's job manifesto five days before the EU parliamentary elections on Sunday, June 7th. A sustainable public sector finance should be the cornerstone in a new EU strategy for growth, they stated. The Lisbon strategy should have made the EU the world's most competitive economy in 2010, but even if some progress were made the strategy was a failure, they said. An overhaul and re-start is necessary already by autumn 2009 when Sweden takes over the EU Presidency, thus making the issue a priority question in the coming 5-year period, Reinfeldt and Borg wrote.
The two Moderate Party leaders claim that the strong measures adopted to cushion the impact of the financial crises lead to stable state finances, in comparison to those taken by countries like Great Britain, Ireland and Lithuania which resulted in severe cutbacks in state welfare budgets and increased public debts. " We want Sweden to be an example in the work against the crisis and a driving force for EU's becoming a strong force for common traffic rules in the finance markets, responsibility and long-sightedness when it comes to economic policies, as well as correct response for recovery. "It is for this reason that we in Sweden and in EU will look closely at short-term policies that risk making economic recovery harder and enabling unemployment to get deep-seated", they stated.
"It is important to remember that EU, even before the crisis already battled with bad growth conditions, a serious situation of immigrants standing outside the labour market and several member-countries inability to show sustainable public finances. Along with an aging population and the growing needs for welfare services which are old unsolved issues, there are new ones that need to be addressed. It is therefore necessary to have a long-term reform policy for more jobs and economic growth", Reinfeldt and Borg wrote.# (Translations made from DN, Debate June 2, 2009)
The two Moderate Party leaders claim that the strong measures adopted to cushion the impact of the financial crises lead to stable state finances, in comparison to those taken by countries like Great Britain, Ireland and Lithuania which resulted in severe cutbacks in state welfare budgets and increased public debts. " We want Sweden to be an example in the work against the crisis and a driving force for EU's becoming a strong force for common traffic rules in the finance markets, responsibility and long-sightedness when it comes to economic policies, as well as correct response for recovery. "It is for this reason that we in Sweden and in EU will look closely at short-term policies that risk making economic recovery harder and enabling unemployment to get deep-seated", they stated.
"It is important to remember that EU, even before the crisis already battled with bad growth conditions, a serious situation of immigrants standing outside the labour market and several member-countries inability to show sustainable public finances. Along with an aging population and the growing needs for welfare services which are old unsolved issues, there are new ones that need to be addressed. It is therefore necessary to have a long-term reform policy for more jobs and economic growth", Reinfeldt and Borg wrote.# (Translations made from DN, Debate June 2, 2009)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Carl Bildt on challenges facing the Swedish EU Presidency
Sweden's most important agenda for 2009 is the European Union Presidency in the second half of this year. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt outlined the tasks, challenges and problems facing the Swedish presidency in an article he wrote for Dagens Nyheter's Debatt page, in the beginning of this month.
Bildt wrote that, the climate issue - which is closest to the heart of the Swedish agenda, will face difficulties because of the economic crisis. "Weak states and destroyed areas will need bigger support from EU than what Iceland and Lithuania got," he stated. " During 2009, the various consequences of the crisis must be dealt with in Sweden and in our own sorrounding. Not in the least, the global warming crisis must be prevented, which is more difficult as a result of the recessionary downtrend and the financial crisis. Populistic driven protectionism risks making the economic crisis doubly worse, in particular if the negotiations on world trade is not successfully done."
Sweden has now entered the "European year" - participating as member of the EU troika in the first half year; the EU parliamentary elections this coming June and later, the EU presidency. Bildt said that, "we live in a world that is less safe and stable than what we thought a year ago." After a long period of exceptional economic growth, world trade will contract and global growth will go down to a zero level as more advanced countries sink into a recession. The situation could get even worse if the world trade negotiation fails.
Outside of the worst economic scenario, the urgent challenge is the global warming crisis that must be prevented from rapidly deteriorating. The decision made in 2008 has made Europe the main green force in the global dialogue. This task is facing dramatic dialogues between major actors like the USA, China, India, Brazil among others.
Bildt stressed that, a major partnership between USA - under newly-elected President Barack Obama, and the EU is of utmost importance, "if we will have the possibility to tackle the major global challenges as well as engaging other countries in the undertakings."#
Bildt wrote that, the climate issue - which is closest to the heart of the Swedish agenda, will face difficulties because of the economic crisis. "Weak states and destroyed areas will need bigger support from EU than what Iceland and Lithuania got," he stated. " During 2009, the various consequences of the crisis must be dealt with in Sweden and in our own sorrounding. Not in the least, the global warming crisis must be prevented, which is more difficult as a result of the recessionary downtrend and the financial crisis. Populistic driven protectionism risks making the economic crisis doubly worse, in particular if the negotiations on world trade is not successfully done."
Sweden has now entered the "European year" - participating as member of the EU troika in the first half year; the EU parliamentary elections this coming June and later, the EU presidency. Bildt said that, "we live in a world that is less safe and stable than what we thought a year ago." After a long period of exceptional economic growth, world trade will contract and global growth will go down to a zero level as more advanced countries sink into a recession. The situation could get even worse if the world trade negotiation fails.
Outside of the worst economic scenario, the urgent challenge is the global warming crisis that must be prevented from rapidly deteriorating. The decision made in 2008 has made Europe the main green force in the global dialogue. This task is facing dramatic dialogues between major actors like the USA, China, India, Brazil among others.
Bildt stressed that, a major partnership between USA - under newly-elected President Barack Obama, and the EU is of utmost importance, "if we will have the possibility to tackle the major global challenges as well as engaging other countries in the undertakings."#
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