The Swedish Presidency and its priorities were the theme of a lunch seminar at Bibliotekshuset in Karlstad on 25 August. Leading representatives of organisations and government agencies in the region took the opportunity to discuss the role of the regions in Europe.

Göran von Sydow, researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) opened the seminar with a general presentation of the Presidency and its priorities.
“The two most important issues Sweden has to deal with during the Presidency are the economic crisis and the institutional issue. The advantage for the Swedish Presidency is that the government has a very stable political situation at home. The coalition between the Alliance parties is strong, there is no-one who wants to go it alone”, said Göran von Sydow.

The role of the regions in Europe and how they can benefit from the Presidency at local level was an important theme at the seminar. The lecturers also criticised the fact that the Presidency only takes place on an international level.
“The Presidency is a Swedish process and thus a process that brings the EU closer to the regions”, said Lee Miles, researcher at Karlstad University.

Lee Miles also emphasised that it is not a country or region's size that is decisive in how well it succeeds within the EU, but it is rather a case of how well it makes use of its resources.
“The Presidency is like a 100 metre sprint, but for diplomats”, said Lee Miles.

The discussion focused to a great extent on the issue of how the regions can become a new link between citizens and the EU.
“The EU is a political sponge. It is easier to influence the EU than it is to influence the government”, said Magnus Lindh, researcher at Karlstad University.

It is Magnus Lindh’s view that if Sweden is to belong to the core of the EU, it is necessary that the regions are active and create networks in Europe. Through his research, he claims he can show that a number of the EU’s regions help themselves within the Union.
”There are already cases of the state being by-passed; this will become more common in the future and that is good”, said Magnus Lindh.

A more practical question was about how the people of Värmland will judge the success of the Swedish Presidency.
“The people of Värmland don’t view the EU in the same way as people in Germany and Central Europe. It is about the concrete benefits of the EU and maybe also about the EU acting as a counterweight to other parts of the world, for example in the case of migration”, said Claes-Göran Johansson, one of the participants in the audience at the seminar.

The seminar was organised by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies and Karlstad University, as part of the Swedish Presidency’s dialogue activities.