Sweden takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union
Sweden takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Here, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson attends the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, October 20, 2022. REUTERS - PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW
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The new year is synonymous with a change in the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Sweden succeeds this Sunday to the Czech Republic to the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Stockholm will therefore be at the head of negotiations and compromises with the European Parliament.
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“
A safer, greener and freer Europe
” is the slogan chosen by Stockholm for its presidency of the Council of the European Union.
If these outlines were worked out with the two predecessors of Sweden, the Czech Republic
and France,
as is the rule, each country imposes its mark on the presidency and pushes certain files more than others.
The number one priority will be security and economic and military support for
Ukraine
as well as the fight against international cross-border crime.
Among the challenges to be met are supplying
the European Union
with energy and accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality.
Other priorities for Sweden's mandate will be resilience, ecological transition and democratic values within the EU.
But also the desire to promote free trade and to rule out any protectionist reflex, a priority which could create tensions at a time when Paris and Berlin want to harden their tone against the protectionism of the United States.
A presidency without overzealousness
In Brussels, we expect a Swedish presidency without excess of zeal which will not want to cause a stir.
Indeed, the Scandinavian kingdom has always traditionally kept a certain distance vis-à-vis the European Union.
Proof of this is its refusal to enter the euro zone.
It is therefore with restraint that Stockholm has announced its intention to relaunch several negotiations and trade agreements, despite an unfavorable context.
Indeed, several countries, including the Franco-German couple, are currently up against the United States and its
Inflation Reduction Act
, reports our correspondent in Brussels,
Jean-Jacques Hery
.
This plan of 420 billion euros in aid is denounced as protectionist, because reserved for firms established across the Atlantic.
This will lead to “
distortions of competition at the expense of EU companies
”, according to the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
On the commercial level, Swedish intentions seem to oppose Franco-German ambitions against the United States.
We will have to reach a compromise and succeed in oiling the wheels.
The question is: how?
We will undoubtedly have a first indication of this during the next Franco-German Council of Ministers, scheduled for the end of January.
Paris and Berlin could then clarify their positions on this issue a little more.
The Sweden Democrats have always taken a stand against the European Union, like most other far-right parties in Europe.
Tobias Hübinette, research professor at the University of Karlstadt
Juliette Gheerbrant
From a political point of view, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's government is causing concern in Brussels and Stockholm:
the centre-right coalition
has signed an agreement with the far-right Swedish Democrats, the country's leading party.
This government agreement, which takes up a good part of the program of the Democrats of Sweden, was only to concern domestic policy.
But Swedish media revealed that a confidential clause gave the far-right party a voice, including on Stockholm's European policy.
Climate-skeptical far-right allies in the Swedish government
Regarding climate issues, Sweden is often ahead of international regulations, but the new coalition in power worries NGOs and some researchers.
The government depends on the support of the extreme right party of the Democrats of Sweden (SD), an extreme right formation which became the first party in the country with 20% of the vote last September.
However, this party is climatosceptic.
“
The Sweden Democrats are a party that clearly refute climate change, they even see it as a kind of new religion.
Which is a way of saying that it has no real basis
, explains Tobias Hübinette, research professor at the University of Karlstad.
This peremptory and radical position on the climate question could well influence the other parties, including during the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
A governing agreement has been signed between the
Sweden Democrats
and the coalition parties in government in Sweden, but there is an appendix to that agreement, which says that the Sweden Democrats will have a say in matters of climate policy, including at European level.
But the public only learned about it recently, about two months ago, after revelations in the press.
And it is quite worrying to imagine that a climatosceptic influence marks the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
»
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