Papa, Mihaela

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POLICY PAPER 
 
 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SWEDISH 
PRESIDENCY OF EU 
 
 
 
BRENDAN DONELLY (The Federal Trust for Education and Research) 
 
HANNA OJANEN (The Finnish Institute of International Affairs) 
 
PETR KRATOCHVÍL (The Institute of International Relations, Prague) 
 
 
 
The Trans European Policy Studies Association 
May 2009 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. The Swedish Presidency certainly prepares a strategy for the reaction of the European 
Council to the possible outcomes of the Irish referendum likely to be held on the Lisbon 
Treaty in autumn of this year. Even if the Swedish Presidency believes that the Irish electorate 
will, in this second referendum, endorse the Treaty, it would be particularly damaging to the 
Union if a negative Irish vote seemed to take the Presidency by surprise. The Swedish 
Presidency should also be prepared to deal with the contingency of another country or other 
countries failing to quickly complete their ratification procedures even after a positive vote in 
Ireland. 
 
2. The Swedish Presidency, while recognizing that the great bulk of political and economic 
choices in this sphere are made by the member states, should encourage the European Council 
to speak about and act towards the current economic and financial crisis in as united a fashion 
as possible. Criticisms exchanged between the member states on their apparently differing 
economic policies can only create an appearance of European disunity. Under the Swedish 
Presidency, the European Council should lose no opportunity to stress the similarity of 
analysis and policies that underlies national macro-economic programmes in the member 
states; the contribution made toward a recovery by the European Union’s Economic Recovery 
Plan; and the central role of the euro in enhancing the economic stability of Europe over the 
past twelve months. 
 
3. The Swedish Presidency should ensure that the recommendations of the de Larosière report 
on financial regulation are fully discussed and that necessary decisions are taken as soon as 
possible. The consolidation of European banking over the past decade has, in any case, 
reinforced the case for a more effective system of European regulation. The present financial 
crisis has rendered this need even more acute. The Union must demonstrate under the 
Swedish Presidency that it has a coherent strategy for preventing the recurrence of those 
elements in the present financial crisis which stemmed from lax or poorly implemented 
regulation and that this strategy is one with global as well as European validity. The Union’s 
strategy in this field must strike a balance between the need to protect the stability of the 
banking system together with the legitimate interests of depositors and savers, and the need to 
encourage innovation and flexibility in financial markets. 
 
4. The Swedish Presidency should prepare with the member states an ambitious contribution 
from the European Union to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.  This should 
involve the elaboration of and first steps towards the implementation of a comprehensive 
European approach to climate change, an approach based on binding commitments and 
realizable timetables for intermediate goals. On all environmental questions, the European 
Union now finds itself exposed to greater political pressure to deliver tangible results than it 
was in the time of the Bush administration. It is vital that the Union avoid the twin tendencies 
to which it has sometimes succumbed in the past: that of setting distant targets, while action to 
their accomplishment is indefinitely postponed, and the tendency to lecture others on their 
environmental shortcomings while having itself an often modest record in these matters. In 
particular, the Union should work with developing countries to ensure that they are not 
penalized for their failings in this area of the developed world. 
 
5. The Swedish Presidency should see as its most urgent priority in external relations the 
establishment of a clear and predictable relationship between the European Union and Russia 
that would be well understood by both sides. This relationship is vital for political stability on 
the European Union’s borders and to the security of European energy supplies. Legitimate 
differences of opinion exist between the European Union’s member states on this issue, 
differences which in the past have led to the adoption by the European Council of generalized 
declarations allowing the member states to pursue contradictory approaches. The Swedish 
Presidency should use its well established expertise in Russian questions not merely to 
encourage constructive discussion between Russia and the European Union, but also, and 
more importantly, to encourage constructive discussion within the European Union on the 
question of relations between Russia and the European Union. This structured discussion 
should take place at the ministerial, official and academic level, and should continue beyond 
the Swedish Presidency. The Russian awareness of European disunity is a powerfully 
destabilizing element of the relationship between Russia and the European Union.  
 
6. The Swedish Presidency should use the forthcoming review of the Lisbon Strategy to 
encourage member states to pursue more effectively the shared goals of the strategy. In 
particular, the Presidency should recall to member states that the Lisbon Strategy is primarily 
a blueprint for intergovernmental action rather than a legislative programme of the European 
Union comparable to the Internal Market programme. If member states do not wish to fulfil 
their role in the strategy, they cannot legally be compelled to do so. While recalling to the 
member states their self-imposed undertakings under the Lisbon Strategy, the Presidency 
should at the same time avoid in its public utterances unrealistic hopes or aspirations for the 
Strategy. Such unrealism can only lead to disappointment and disillusion.  
 
7. The Swedish Presidency should work energetically towards the adoption of the next five 
year programme in the field of Justice, Freedom and Security.  This programme should be 
designed to reassure citizens that action by the European Union can help to protect their 
physical safety while at the same time respecting their human rights and those of others. Both 
the Presidency and the Union in general should regard these two aspects of the Justice, 
Freedom and Security agenda as complementary and not as in any sense contradictory. The 
Union’s citizens are at the same time concerned that open borders may help the activities of 
criminals operating across frontiers and that pan-European co-operation between security 
forces may work to the disadvantage of legal certainty and transparency. Unless both of these 
legitimate concerns are met, the area of Justice, Freedom and Security will not be a means of 
bringing the European Union closer to its citizens. The areas of migration and asylum in 
particular require balanced political consideration if the Union is to simultaneously remain 
true to its values and pursue its shared economic and social goals. 
 
8. As a demonstration of good faith towards all its negotiating partners, the Swedish 
Presidency should seek to conclude the accession negotiations with Croatia this year. This 
accession should not be dependent upon the ratification or otherwise of the Lisbon Treaty, 
although the precise terms of the instrument of accession might be affected by the fate of the 
Treaty. The negotiations for the other accession candidates to the European Union should be 
continued in the manner and at the pace appropriate to the circumstances of the applicant 
country. Building upon the Swedish-Polish initiative leading to the establishment of the 
Eastern Partnership, the Presidency should continue the European Union’s multilateral 
dialogue with its eastern partners. This dialogue should concentrate upon proposals and 
initiatives which can be implemented in the short or medium term and which will reinforce 
the range of economic, social and political contacts between the European Union and its 
eastern neighbours. 


Recommendations for the Swedish Presidency of EU

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