Freeway - The Swedish Presidency

The Swedish Presidency

From now and for another six months Sweden has the presidency for the EU. The priorities are the three E’s and some other subjects. There are going to be two top meeting where they are going to discuss the future of the EU. These top meetings take place in Gothenburg and Stockholm.

The presidency in the EU council of ministers requires a lot of preparation. You must know about the issue so you easily can take over from the earlier presidency. The Swedish presidency’s big priority is these three main areas also called the three E’s.

Enlargement
Employment
Environment

Enlargement

Enlargement is the issue with the highest priority during the Swedish presidency. Sweden and the EU want to make a European peace and security order. All members agree that enlargement brings political, economic and environmental advantages. Enlargement also put demands on the present now being EU members and the candidate countries. Cyprus, Malta, Turkey and ten other countries from the former eastern block that have applied to join the European Union. The enlargement is a historic opportunity to unite Europe that has been divided for a lot of years.

Employment

Growth and full employment are the EU’s important economic and social goals. Today almost 15 million people are unemployed in the European Union. Long-term unemployment, lack of education and shortage of equality between men and women is the reality for many Europeans. Full employment is the best to reach social solidarity with the union. Telecommunications and IT is important for growth and employment, that is why the European council increases special attention on this area in the meeting in Stockholm.

Environment

The environment and the work for a good development has been a big question since Sweden became a EU member. A good development means that you should integrate the environmental questions in all parts in the whole society. In Cardiff 1998 EU’s different minister councils got a statement to work out the strategies of how environment care and good development will integrate in energy-, transport- and farming sectors. At the top meeting in Helsingfors, in December 1999, they decided that all these sector strategies will be finished at the top meeting in Gothenburg which is the 15-16 June.

Another thing that Sweden is supposed to work with within Environment is that we today have no knowledge about many dangerous materials. Important things to work against this, is to, as far as possible compensate dangerous materials with not so dangerous materials.
Climate is a central question on the EU agenda. The threat about the climate changes will have a high priority during the Swedish presidency.
The integrate product politic will be run further during Sweden’s guidance. The aim with this is to reduce the environment burden from goods during their lifecycle.

Here we show where the two top meeting
are taking place.

Other priority issues
These territories that we mention here are very important and they have in many ways something to do with each other. Within these territories the EU and the rest of Europe stand before big challenges and possibilities. But this does not mean that they have forgotten other territories. Sweden’s hope is that they could make progress within increased equality between women and men, better consumer protection that will say that you should offer the consumer safety products and services, another important part of the modernizing of EU-agreements is openness and observation that will say that citizen are supposed to have observation in the EU decision progress. One last thing is that the collaboration between the EU and Russia will work. This is very important for Europe for safety and development.