Sweden applies final touches before taking over EU presidency

Jun 30, 2009, 12:13 GMT

Stockholm - Sweden spent Tuesday putting the final touches on its preparations to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union for the second time since it joined the bloc in 1995.

The six-month presidency kicks off Wednesday with a European Commmission visit headed by President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other cabinet members will receive the commission at Stockholm City Hall - the same venue used for the annual banquet held in honour of the Nobel Prize laureates - for working meetings and a luncheon.

Barroso and other commissioners were also due to meet Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Taking over from the Czech Republic, the Swedish presidency comes amidst challenges that include the fallout from the global financial crisis, rising unemployment in the 27-nation bloc and changes in key institutions at the centre of the EU machine.

Summing up the contingencies, the Swedish premier said the presidency will take place under 'very special circumstances.'

Climate change is also high on the agenda during the Swedish presidency. The EU wants to play a leading role at the upcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December, when participating countries will be asked to agree on substantial cuts in the emission of dangerous greenhouse gases, as of 2012.

Reinfeldt, who on Monday visited London for talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Barroso, says he will travel extensively in the run-up to the Copenhagen parley to secure broad support for the deal. Within the EU, member states still need to agree on how to provide funds to developing countries that need to switch their energy mix and require access to new technology.

Other Swedish priorities include strengthening EU cooperation on justice and adopting an EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region.

In addition to reading briefing papers and other documents, Reinfeldt, 43, has said he jogs and works out as part of his preparations to handle lengthy discussions at conferences and other meetings.

Planning for unexpected events is part of every EU presidency. During Reinfeldt's watch, elections are due in Germany at the end of September while Irish voters are expected to vote in a referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty in the autumn.

Marten Grunditz, head of the Swedish EU secretariat said organizers estimate that the number of meetings that will require Reinfeldt's attention has increased by some 50 per cent since 2001, when Sweden held the rotating presidency for the first time.

Then the EU had 15 members. Now it has 27 member states.

Organizers have had to factor in more delegates and scouted for suitable venues for the over 100 meetings to be held in Sweden.

Grunditz said the Swedish EU presidency estimates some 23,000 delegates and some 2,000 to 3,000 journalists will visit Sweden during its presidency.

But most meetings, including summits of government leaders, are held in Brussels.