Sweden and the EU

Latest business news about Sweden and the European Union

• Sweden country profile

Sarkozy arrives in Sweden for talks on Europe — 03 July 2009, 16:43 CET

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Stockholm Friday for talks on Europe with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country has just taken over the EU presidency.

Sweden kicks off EU presidency in institutional fog — 02 July 2009, 00:06 CET

Sweden kicked off its six-month European Union presidency Wednesday amid fears the bloc's unresolved institutional woes may overshadow its priorities of tackling climate change and the economic crisis.

Tensions over Russia-EU summit as Sweden takes helm — 02 July 2009, 00:02 CET

Sweden assumed the EU's rotating presidency Wednesday but already faced problems due to its strained ties with Russia, with Moscow opposing plans to hold a key summit in Stockholm, an official said.

Sweden takes over EU helm with economy and climate in focus — 01 July 2009, 12:46 CET

Sweden took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on Wednesday, vowing to tackle climate change and combat soaring unemployment in Europe following the global economic crisis.

Sweden calls on EU members to rein in spending — 30 June 2009, 23:52 CET

Sweden's EU presidency will urge fellow members to tighten their belts after pumping several billion euros into their economies to offset the effects of the economic crisis, taking the risk of a conflict with the bloc's big spenders.

Work programme for the Swedish Presidency of the EU — 29 June 2009, 16:17 CET

Sweden takes over the Presidency of the EU on 1 July. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt presented on 23 June the work programme for Sweden's six months in the EU driving seat. It is firstly a question of leading the EU through the financial and economic crisis, dealing with unemployment in Europe and continuing the work to tackle climate change.

Reinfeldt and Bildt: tactician and veteran diplomat at EU helm — 29 June 2009, 16:30 CET

One is a calculating tactician new to the global stage, the other an impulsive veteran passionate about EU expansion: Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt are Sweden's tag team for the upcoming EU presidency.

Economic crisis, climate warming top Swedish EU priorities — 29 June 2009, 16:25 CET

The global economic crisis, soaring unemployment in Europe and climate change top Sweden's agenda as it takes over the European Union six-month presidency in difficult conditions on Wednesday.

Stormy Czech EU presidency ends without glamour — 28 June 2009, 13:42 CET

The laboured Czech European Union presidency tarnished by the fall of the government midway through the tenure is drawing to a close as the Czechs pass the baton to the Swedes on July 1.

Swedish PM to hold talks with Britain's Brown — 26 June 2009, 16:55 CET

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will hold talks on the country's forthcoming EU presidency with British counterpart Gordon Brown next week, a spokeswoman for the Swedish premier said Friday.

Swedish EU presidency to focus on economy, climate — 23 June 2009, 23:33 CET

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.

Poll shows Swedes evenly split on euro: poll — 23 June 2009, 13:57 CET

Swedes are split down the middle on whether to adopt the euro, an opinion poll suggested Tuesday, as observers attribute rising support for the "yes" camp to the global financial crisis.

Croatia, Slovenia need to reflect about border row: Sweden — 22 June 2009, 13:06 CET

Croatia and Slovenia need "a period of reflection" about how to end their border row, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Monday, insisting the EU has no obvious role to play at the moment.

Czechs pick wobbly way to hand over EU presidency — 21 June 2009, 12:01 CET

Prague's historic Charles Bridge witnessed a wobbly symbolic handover of the Czech European Union presidency to Sweden on Saturday as officials passed a keg of Czech beer from one boat to another.

EU tells Sweden to cut subsidies to big metro newspapers — 17 June 2009, 22:58 CET

The Commission has told Sweden to gradually cut subsidies to big metro newspapers or face a formal state aid probe on grounds the aid distorts competition.

Swedish budget deficit hit by help to neighbours — 12 June 2009, 16:15 CET

The Swedish debt office increased sharply its forecast for the budget deficit this year, in a revision on Friday, owing to the economic crisis.

Swedish PM calls for national carbon taxes in Europe — 09 June 2009, 21:21 CET

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which will assume the rotating EU presidency next month, called Tuesday for European nations to tax carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases.

Sweden's political pirates signal Internet's election power — 08 June 2009, 20:53 CET

If tech-savvy campaigning helped power Barack Obama to the White House, the election of Sweden's Pirate Party in Europe signals that Internet and related privacy issues are political drivers for young voters.

Swedish Pirate Party enters EU parliament: results — 08 June 2009, 01:06 CET

A Swedish party that wants to legalise Internet file-sharing and beef up web privacy scored a big victory Sunday by winning a European Parliament seat, results showed.

EU approves Swedish guarantees for Volvo Cars — 05 June 2009, 13:46 CET

The European Commission said on Friday it had approved Swedish state guarantees for EUR 500 million in loans Volvo Cars is seeking from the European Investment Bank.

Swedish lenders face EUR 16bn losses: central bank — 02 June 2009, 11:40 CET

Swedish banks will lose 16 billion euros (22.5 billion dollars) this year and next because of the credit crisis, the country's central bank estimated on Tuesday.

Swedish pirates have wind in their sails for EU vote — 31 May 2009, 15:52 CET

A Swedish party which wants an Internet file sharing free-for-all, the Pirate Party, could become one of the surprise new entrants to the European Parliament this week.

Copyright reformers running third in Sweden EU race: poll — 21 May 2009, 23:08 CET

A fringe party that wants to overhaul copyright laws is running in third place and gaining support in the run-up to European Parliament elections in Sweden.

Volvo Cars fails to secure EUR 200 million EIB loan — 07 May 2009, 14:38 CET

Volvo Cars said on Thursday that talks with the Swedish government over state guarantees for a 200 million euro European Investment Bank loan had failed.

Pro-piracy party soars in Swedish EU poll — 30 April 2009, 16:09 CET

A Swedish pro-piracy party may win a seat in the European elections, a poll shows, as its support soars after a Stockholm court jailed the founders of filesharing site The Pirate Bay.