Swedish EU presidency to focus on economy, climate

(STOCKHOLM) - Sweden on Tuesday said it will prioritise the fight against Europe's rising unemployment amid the global economic downturn and climate change when it takes over the EU presidency on July 1.

"Together we must deal with the financial crisis and tackle the rising unemployment that is currently affecting the whole of Europe," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told parliament as he presented the main goals of the Swedish presidency.

A record 1.9 million people lost their jobs across the 27-nation European Union in the first quarter, up from 690,000 in the final three months of 2008, according to recent statistics from the Eurostat data agency.

The unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent in April for the 27 EU states, it said.

"The EU must emerge from the economic crisis in a stronger position. The world is experiencing one of the most serious financial and economic crises in modern times," the government said in its work programme, adding that it expected unemployment to increase during the autumn months.

"Together we must also do our bit and bring together the whole world to tackle climate change. These two priorities dominate our presidency," Reinfeldt said.

Sweden will represent the EU at a United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December, where the UN hopes to get world leaders to approve a new global warming treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol on cutting carbon emissions that expires in 2012.

"The task of the presidency, together with other parties, is to work for the adoption of a new climate agreement" in Copenhagen, the work programme said.

The Scandinavian country also wants to strengthen EU cooperation on justice and home affairs in a five-year plan called the Stockholm Programme which includes police and customs cooperation, rescue services, criminal and civil law cooperation, asylum, migration, visas and checks at external borders.

The Baltic Sea region will also be in focus, as Stockholm hopes to get an EU strategy adopted "in order to deal with environmental problems and increase the region's competitiveness," a statement said.

Stressing that "the EU must continue to develop towards a more secure and open Europe," Sweden is also keen to further develop the European Neighbourhood Policy, which offers closer ties to the EU's immediate neighbours, and to continue the work of EU enlargement.