Sweden will take over the European Union's rotating presidency on Wednesday, after six difficult months of Czech leadership. Sweden's top priorities are climate change and restoring confidence in financial markets. Much of Brussels will breathe a sigh of relief when Sweden is officially handed the European Union presidency on Wednesday. The end of the Czech presidency marks the end of six months of unhelpful sideline drama, as EU leaders struggled to stave off the worst effects of the economic crisis and dealt with issues such as climate change and the troubled Lisbon Treaty. Sweden is taking over the job that most EU member states have voted to scrap. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the six month rotating presidency would be replaced by one president for a two-and-a-half year term. But the treaty still has a number of stumbling blocks, and in the meantime, Sweden has a busy schedule.
Much of Brussels will breathe a sigh of relief when Sweden is officially handed the European Union presidency on Wednesday. The end of the Czech presidency marks the end of six months of unhelpful sideline drama, as EU leaders struggled to stave off the worst effects of the economic crisis and dealt with issues such as climate change and the troubled Lisbon Treaty.
Sweden is taking over the job that most EU member states have voted to scrap. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the six month rotating presidency would be replaced by one president for a two-and-a-half year term. But the treaty still has a number of stumbling blocks, and in the meantime, Sweden has a busy schedule.
Stockholm aimed to lead the way in making post-Kyoto a priority during its presidency at the head of the Union. But the economic crisis has put paid to such ambitious plans and expectations have been considerebly lowered, writes Anita Kratz. Just a few months before he was elected Swedish prime minister in 2006, Fredrik Reinfeldt showed a flagrant disregard for the global warming debate. Then, only a few weeks later, after moving into Rosenbad [seat of Swedish government in Stockholm], he suddenly became a fervent champion of the climate cause. In the interim he had grasped that he had an ace in the hole to play at the Copenhagen climate summit this December, where a new treaty is to be negotiated to supersede the Kyoto Protocol. Nobody talks about climate anymore Fredrik Reinfeldt is ready. He did not even wait for Sweden to take over the European helm from the Czech Republic on 1 July to meet with world leaders like Chinese president Hu Jintao, US presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, and Brazil's Lula. But now the situation has changed - utterly. "Nobody's talking about the climate any more," he observes. The financial crisis has usurped its place centre-stage in debates, thereby conferring on his finance minister, Anders Borg, a pivotal role. As to climate, well, we are simply going to have scale back our expectations for the time being. The European Union is divided, and pockets of resistance have cropped up in the south and east of Europe.
Stockholm aimed to lead the way in making post-Kyoto a priority during its presidency at the head of the Union. But the economic crisis has put paid to such ambitious plans and expectations have been considerebly lowered, writes Anita Kratz.
Just a few months before he was elected Swedish prime minister in 2006, Fredrik Reinfeldt showed a flagrant disregard for the global warming debate. Then, only a few weeks later, after moving into Rosenbad [seat of Swedish government in Stockholm], he suddenly became a fervent champion of the climate cause. In the interim he had grasped that he had an ace in the hole to play at the Copenhagen climate summit this December, where a new treaty is to be negotiated to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.
Nobody talks about climate anymore
Fredrik Reinfeldt is ready. He did not even wait for Sweden to take over the European helm from the Czech Republic on 1 July to meet with world leaders like Chinese president Hu Jintao, US presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, and Brazil's Lula.
But now the situation has changed - utterly. "Nobody's talking about the climate any more," he observes. The financial crisis has usurped its place centre-stage in debates, thereby conferring on his finance minister, Anders Borg, a pivotal role. As to climate, well, we are simply going to have scale back our expectations for the time being. The European Union is divided, and pockets of resistance have cropped up in the south and east of Europe.
this kind of betrayal is so hurtful, because politicians are instrumentalising climate change to piggyback career advancement, but are only to happy to drop it like a used tissue once they actually could do something about it.
whine, mutter...
ship of fools ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
