Swedish Ambassador to Latvia Kārina Höglund.
Photo: Ieva Leiniša/LETA
Kārina Höglund, Swedish Ambassador to Latvia, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
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In a few days, on 1 January, Sweden will assume the new Presidency of the Council of the European Union. One of the EU member states assumes the presidency every six months. The presiding country is responsible for the Council’s work on the state of play of EU legislation, continuity of the EU agenda, ensuring orderly legislative processes and promoting effective cooperation between member states.
It is a great honor and a responsibility for Sweden to take over the presidency from the Czech Republic at this difficult time for Europe. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson, introducing the priorities of the presidency, stated that “every time has its problems related to freedom. In Europe, security has become the great freedom issue of our time. The swift and decisive EU response to the invasion of Ukraine is a manifesto of our united action and strength.”
Since 2009, the presiding member states work together in groups of three, the so-called trios. The current trio is France, the Czech Republic and Sweden. Its main thematic priorities are to protect European citizens and their freedoms, promote a new model of European growth and investment, build a greener and more socially just Europe, better protect the health of Europeans, as well as a global Europe that supports diversity of opinion and modern international partnership, while creating a common vision of 27 Member States when it comes to strategic threats.
I take this opportunity to congratulate France and the Czech Republic for the excellent work they have done, as well as to thank our colleagues at the French and Czech embassies in Riga for their excellent cooperation over the past twelve months.
Since the EU has 27 member states, each of them takes the presidency less often than once every ten years. It has been almost 14 years since the previous Swedish presidency and this will be our third presidency since Sweden joined the EU in 1995. Latvia’s next round, however, will come in 2028. The presidency is associated with many expectations and opportunities. One of them is the opportunity to narrow the gap between the needs of local communities and the EU. The Presidency of the Council of the EU not only has to organize and conduct several meetings of the Council and working groups, but also ensure that all member states participate in the negotiations and decision-making process, help agree important decisions and defend the ideas and decisions of the Council of the EU, for example in negotiations with the European Parliament. Sweden aims to be an inclusive and effective presidency that will work towards a unified EU response to new and old challenges that the Union may face over the next six months.
In his December 14 speech to the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament), Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson presented the priorities of the Swedish presidency of the EU and the arguments for such a choice. The main objective of the Swedish presidency is to improve European security. This should be done by systematically supporting Ukraine, as well as underlining the geopolitical importance of the EU in an increasingly insecure world. The Swedish presidency will prioritize ongoing economic and military support to Ukraine, as well as support for Ukraine on its path to becoming an EU member state.
To ensure that the Union is ready to face both expected and unforeseen long-term challenges, it is also necessary to promote economic growth. The Swedish presidency will work to strengthen a coherent approach to European competitiveness at the top of the political agenda. We will also continue to address high and volatile energy prices as we work towards long-term energy market reform. Joint European steps towards independence from fossil fuels are needed not only for the green transition, but also for our security. And finally, democratic values and the rule of law as our core value. The European Union is founded on democratic values which pave the way for unity, individual freedoms, the elimination of discrimination, economic growth and global influence. Therefore, respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights is an essential element of the Swedish Presidency of the Council, and of everyone.
We can guarantee that Sweden will work hard, with great confidence in the collective capacities of the Member States and the EU institutions. We will be a constructive negotiating partner for both the European Commission and the European Parliament. Swedish ministers and officials will conduct several thousand meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg. And thousands of European colleagues – politicians, pundits, journalists – will attend more than 150 meetings across Sweden – from Malmö in the south to Kiruna in the north.
The work of the embassy in Riga will also reflect the presidency. We will certainly closely follow the events on the political scene, analyzing and ensuring the flow of information between Riga, Stockholm and Brussels. We are also working on an ambitious events plan for the first half of 2023. In addition to regular political meetings with Latvian representatives and heads of EU countries’ representation offices, we will organize various public events (both informational and entertaining) to reflect EU developments in Latvia from Sweden’s point of view. In order not to miss a single one, we invite everyone to follow the Facebook page of the Swedish Embassy in Riga!
Investigation
Priorities of the Swedish presidency of the EU
Security – unit
Resilience – competitiveness
Prosperity: the green and energy transition
Democratic values and the rule of law underlie everything
Themes
