The Swedish 2009 Presidency: possible policy priorities

Abstract:

This European Policy Analysis sets out to discuss the possible policy priorities of the Swedish Presidency held during the second half of 2009.

The paper starts with a brief overview of the national context including the experience of the first Swedish Presidency in 2001, the European context and organisational aspects of the presidency. The analysis subsequently provides a detailed discussion of different prioritised policy areas based on the government’s policy positions ahead of the Trio programme negotiations and various primary sources such as speeches and interviews with civil servants.

The analysis concludes with singling out four areas where we deem the Swedish Presidency will spend most of it energy and what achievements would be required for the presidency to be considered successful. The areas in question are climate change, migration and asylum, the Baltic Sea Strategy and the Eastern Partnership and finally further enlargement of the EU.