"We have brought the EU back on track"

Economic and financial crisis, disagreement on the climate change issue, institutional insecurity and government crisis in the country holding the Presidency at the time, the Czech Republic. When Sweden took over the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in 2009, the challenges were many. Looking back on a hectic autumn, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt² notes that the Swedish Presidency has achieved what it set out to achieve.

“Before we took over, many joked that they were longing for a Swedish Presidency. They expected it to be characterised by order and an ability to drive the process forward. My impression is that we have partly lived up to those expectations”, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

"Unable to process it all yet"

He says that, looking back on the six months in the EU’s driving seat, he is pleased. Pleased with ‘having achieved what we set out to achieve’ and with getting policies into place.

He himself has many memories from this autumn. What he found the most enjoyable was the opportunity to participate in the international forums in which Sweden is not normally included, such as the G8³ and the G20⁴ meetings. The seven summits with countries outside the EU also stand out, as do the intensive days of negotiations during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

“Those days were an incredible experience and gave an insight into both the world’s ambitions and the world’s flaws. That is one of the things I will take with me. But I have probably not had time to process everything yet. That will probably come when I have had more time for reflection”, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Crises eliminated

The Presidency priority issues were mostly about crisis management; economic crisis, climate change crisis and crisis in the EU’s institutional framework. 3 300 meetings, uncountable telephone calls and a number of trips later, the crises have been eliminated. The EU’s financial market has been given a new financial supervisory architecture, the Union has a common mandate on the climate change issue, the Treaty of Lisbon has entered into force and the EU has agreed on two new leaders - a permanent President and a “foreign minister”.

“But it has been a great challenge of a kind that you are not always given in life. Suddenly, your ability in entirely new areas is tested and you are not always certain how it is going to end up. It has been a hectic autumn”, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

When asked what has been the most difficult issue to handle, Mr Reinfeldt mentions two things: The Treaty of Lisbon and the climate change issue.

“In terms of diplomacy and work, the greatest challenge was the objections against the Lisbon Treaty made by the Czech President. Vaclav Klaus⁵ made a last-minute demand which was complicated enough in and by itself but which also created a chain reaction in the neighbouring countries. Some of those witnessing this felt that a hard line had to be taken against him. That made for a lot of things to handle at one and the same time and it could easily have meant a delay. But we succeeded in resolving the issue”, Mr Reinfeldt says.

"The global leadership lacks what the EU has"

“The most difficult policy area to manage has been the issue of climate change. For the simple reason that there is a frustrating element in being able to state that science has proved that humans affect the climate and that we basically have both the economic funds and technological ability to do something about it”, says Fredrik Reinfeldt.

During the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, Mr Reinfeldt led the EU in the negotiations. Earlier in the autumn, the EU heads of state and government were agreed on a joint mandate on the climate change issue, but at the UN conference, the world could not reach an agreement.

“And that is due to the fact that the global political leadership lacks what the EU has: a well-oiled decision-making machine. Also, too many do not take responsibility”, says Mr Reinfeldt and continues:

“Given how much I have worked on this, and how much the democracies pushed for an agreement in Copenhagen, because that was mainly what happened, some progress has been made. The documents we produced does provide a structure for how to resolve this, but the numbers and ambitions are not high enough.”

You can find a summary of the Swedish EU Presidency’s achievements via the link on the right.

• 1. 

  Van 1 juli t/m 31 december 2009 vervulde Zweden het voorzitterschap van de Europese Unie. Zweden nam het stokje over van Tsjechië. Het Zweeds voorzitterschap was het laatste 'alleenstaande' voorzitterschap, hierna werkten de voorzittende landen altijd in een zogenaamde Trojka.
   
• 2. 

  Fredrik Reinfeldt (1965) was in 2006-2014 minister-president van Zweden. Hij was leider van de conservatief-liberale Moderaterna-partij, die in 2004 een coalitie (Allians för Sverige) vormde met de christendemocraten, de Volkspartij (sociaal-liberalen) en de Centrumpartij (boeren). Reinfeldt, die economie heeft gestudeerd, zit sinds 1991 in de Zweedse Rijksdag en werd in 2003 leider van zijn partij.
   
• 3. 

  Dit intergouvernementele forum van acht vooraanstaande industriële staten houdt jaarlijks een bijeenkomst waar economische en politieke zaken besproken worden. De Groep van Acht of G8 werd in 1975 opgericht als G6 en ging vanaf 1978 als G7 door het leven. Vanaf 1998 is het de G8.
   
• 4. 

  Dit internationale forum bestaat uit de 19 grootste nationale economieën plus de Europese Unie. De officiële naam van de G20 is de 'Groep van Twintig Ministers van Financiën en Voorzitters van Centrale Banken'. De G20 heeft tot doel bij te dragen aan wereldwijde economische groei en ontwikkeling.
   
• 5. 

  Vacláv Klaus (1941) was in 2003-2013 president van de Tsjechische Republiek. Hij is econoom en was werkzaam als wetenschapper en medewerker van de Tsjechoslowaakse Staatsbank. In 1989 speelde hij een belangrijke rol in Burgerforum en na de omwenteling werd hij minister van Financiën. Klaus werd daarna leider van de rechts-liberale partij ODS en minister-president van Tsjechië. Na de verkiezingsnederlaag van 1997 werd hij Kamervoorzitter. In februari 2003 werd hij gekozen tot president en in 2008 als zodanig herkozen.