As of January 1, 2023, Sweden will hold the Presidency of the European Union. The question is how the Swedish government will fulfill that role, with an EU skeptical party as a tolerance partner. For example, the country could be at odds with regard to climate and migration.
Each country that holds the presidency of the European Union for six months tries to color that task in its own way. The same applies to Sweden, whose turn is on January 1. Under the Swedish presidency, yellow and blue in particular will dominate: the colors of the Swedish flag, those of the EU, but also of Ukraine.
In the coming six months, the response to the war will be at the top of the European agenda; the EU may decide on new sanctions against Russia and further aid to Ukraine. Sweden must ensure that the noses remain in the same direction. In other areas, the country has the potential to divide the EU. Yellow and blue together make green, but the climate theme is in danger of disappearing into the background.
Duties and priorities of a chairman
The presidency is for the so-called Council of the European Union. Together with the European Parliament, the Council has the function of approving, amending or disapproving laws and budgets proposed by the European Commission. All 27 Member States are represented by one minister in the Council of the EU. Which minister that is depends on the subject. When it comes to transport, the ministers of Transport, for example, meet, in the case of finance, the ministers of Finance, and so on.
The President organizes the meetings of the Council of the EU and determines when legislation is discussed. But the power of the chairman should not be overestimated, says Adriaan Schout, EU expert at Clingendael and professor of European governance at Radboud University: “You inherit an ongoing agenda and there are international developments that are already on it.”
By organizing conferences on certain themes, you as chairman can draw attention to dossiers and, for example, give the European Commission a ‘hook’ to devise new policy, according to Schout: “The Netherlands has done that with the environment, for example, France with problems around the Mediterranean and Spain with ties to Latin America.”
Each chairman formulates his own priorities. For Sweden, these are security, competition, climate and the democratic values of the EU. But successive presidents also form trios with an overarching agenda. Sweden is part of a trio with France, which held the presidency in the first half of 2022, and the Czech Republic, which held the presidency for the past six months.
An important task of the chairman is to act as an ‘honest and neutral mediator’. The EU prefers to decide with the widest possible consensus; a chairman who is above the parties can play a major role in this. Schout: “The chairmanship is a privileged position. Because you are in contact with every member state, you have the best information at your disposal.”
Main Swedish interests
The only question is to what extent a president can properly fulfill that role if the country itself has a major interest in certain policy areas. In words, Sweden is one of the greatest advocates of a strong climate policy. But in reality, the Swedish green under the new right-wing conservative cabinet of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is really a shade less bright.
Strict climate targets for companies are fine, but “we say no to policies that limit innovation,” Kristersson told his parliament. Moreover, when the new cabinet was formed, Sweden abolished its separate Ministry for the Environment. The environment and climate now fall under the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation.
One of the most important climate and nature challenges in the coming year is reaching agreement on the new EU forest strategy, part of the European Green Deal. If it is up to the European Commission, less natural forest may be felled in the future. And it is precisely there that the Swedes are inconvenient, because of their large timber industry. This was also the case under previous governments.
Schout does not think that this will make the Swedish task more difficult. “Every presidency knows such files. Everyone realizes that this is happening in front of the world. You therefore cannot afford to push through your own interests.”
The influence of the Sweden Democrats
What may pose a dilemma for Sweden is its trade relationship with the United States. The European Commission is green and yellow annoyed with the American Inflation Reduction Act, a support package of USD 369 billion for sustainable investments in American industry. The European Commission sees this as protectionism and may want to respond with its own protectionist measures in Europe. But Sweden is a strong supporter of as much free trade as possible.
Important legislation on migration is also in the pipeline. However, the right-wing Sweden Democrats, who tolerate Kristersson’s cabinet, are strongly against taking in more migrants, while countries such as Italy and Greece want migrants to be more fairly distributed across the EU.
In addition, the Sweden Democrats in the European Parliament voted against cutting part of the EU grant to Hungary for undermining the rule of law. That while Sweden has called strengthening democratic institutions a spearhead. These differing viewpoints can cause friction.
It remains to be seen what influence this cabinet will have on the Swedish presidency. “In the informal circuit, Sweden may be able to argue for ways of thinking to solve the migration problem, such as stricter rules for repatriation,” says Schout. But the presidency can also have a dampening effect on overly political action. Germany, for example, as the largest net contributor to the EU, has a strong vision of budgetary discipline. As chairman, however, it repeatedly found itself in the situation that it had to conclude budget negotiations. Schout: “The presidency makes you think more solution-oriented. That weakened the German position.”
The Swedish cabinet may be outspoken in its own country, but as EU president there is a good chance that Sweden is careful about admitting its colors.