From Sunday January 1st until June 30th. Sweden has taken over the presidency of the European Union for the next six months. It has fixed in its program the need to maintain the unity of the 27 in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine but also around American economic policy.
Sweden took over the presidency of the EU on January 1 with the desire to promote free trade and avoid any protectionist reflex, a priority which could create tensions at a time when Paris and Berlin want to toughen their tone against the States States and their “Inflation Reduction Act”.
The role of Sweden’s Democrats, the great unknown
Formed in mid-October, the new Swedish government will first have to, at the start of this six-month rotating presidency lasting until June 30, overcome questions about the impact of its unprecedented alliance with the nationalist Democrats of Sweden (SD), big winners of the September legislative elections. After eight years on the left in power, Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson leads a coalition made up of his Moderates party and his traditional allies, the Christian Democrats and Liberals.
But the government is based on a parliamentary majority that also includes the SDs. If the latter no longer mentions leaving the EU in its program, friction seems inevitable, in particular on the sensitive file of immigration.
“There are a lot of nice words when you read the prime minister’s article on the priorities of the Swedish EU presidency. But the concern is great when, in practice, it is the SD who hold the baton”, says Helene Fritzon, MEP for the Social Democrats, now the leading left-wing opposition party.
The governmental agreement of Tidö – the castle where it was negotiated – between the four formations of the majority provides that the SDs are informed of all decisions taken by the executive concerning the EU. “But in general, EU subjects are excluded from this agreement”, tempers Göran von Sydow, director of the Swedish Institute for European Studies (Sieps). For him, the fact that “most ministers and their close collaborators have very little experience of European meetings” is however a source of concern.
Historical distance from the EU
Priorities displayed by Stockholm beyond “economic competitiveness”? Maintain the unity of the Twenty-Seven on Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, the climate, and the defense of “fundamental values”, in particular in response to the controversial measures taken by Hungary and Poland.
Sweden, which is not part of the euro zone, “keeps a fairly distant relationship with Europe”, underlines Sébastien Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute, who predicts a rotating presidency which “will fulfill its duty” but ” will not be zealous” and “will not have a leading role”. If some take the opportunity to put their country in full light on the continent, the Nordic country has opted for a form of restraint.
Unlike the last two presidencies, French and Czech, marked by summits of heads of state in Versailles and Prague, no high mass is planned in the country. As for the ministerial meetings, they will take place in a modest conference center near Stockholm’s main airport.
A “cantilevered” presidency
On the merits, Sweden, which wishes to relaunch negotiations for international trade agreements with several countries and regions, could come up against an unfavorable timetable and the Franco-German couple, which seems to be regaining color in its quest for an answer. common in Washington. The Swedish presidency coincides with the entry into force in the United States of theInflation Reduction Act (IRA). This 420 billion dollar plan, largely devoted to the climate, also takes on a protectionist character vigorously denounced by French President Emmanuel Macron during a recent trip to Washington.
With exceptional aid reserved for companies located across the Atlantic, it will lead to “distortions of competition at the expense of EU companies” in the words of Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market.
“The Swedish presidency will no doubt be at odds with the Franco-German steps that are being prepared” in response to the American plan, predicts Sébastien Maillard. “Stockholm will have to manage the tensions between the Twenty-Seven on the degree of response and aggressiveness” of the EU in the face of the American plan, he adds, stressing that the Franco-German Council of Ministers, scheduled for 22 January in Paris, could send a strong signal on this file.
After 2001 and 2009, this is the third Swedish presidency since joining the EU in 1995. Although the political line of the Swedish parties remains rather pro-European, Europe has aroused limited enthusiasm in the Nordic country these last years. Two decades after the “No” vote in the referendum on joining the euro in 2003, polls estimate that two out of three Swedes reject the single currency.
