THE PRIORITIES of the European Union’s new Swedish presidency are tackling the economic crisis, climate change and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament has heard.
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was in Strasbourg yesterday to outline the presidency’s programme of work until December of this year.
“In the short term, our ambition is to ensure a smooth transition to a new treaty – the Lisbon Treaty. Now, and looking a little further ahead, we must continue to deal with the financial and economic crisis,” he said. “And beneath the surface lurks the threat of a growing climate crisis, which in the long term is the greatest of our challenges.”
Mr Reinfeldt said solutions must be found to the climate change issue. He suggested that Ukraine could become completely independent of gas imports from Russia while at the same time saving money, “solely by increasing its energy efficiency”.
He said the responsibility of the few must become the responsibility of all.
“I know that the European Parliament will take responsibility. The Swedish presidency regards you as our allies. Now we want to write the story of how the climate was saved. And we want to write it together with you.”
Turning to the economic situation, Mr Reinfeldt said the autumn should be spent discussing further measures to get through the crisis.
Mr Reinfeldt said confidence in financial markets must be restored and a strengthened supervisory system must be put in place quickly to prevent similar crises from occurring in the future.
“In the middle of all this we must not forget that there are people behind the figures who are worried about their jobs, who are wondering how they will manage to pay their rent or mortgage and still maintain their standard of living. It is up to us to solve this problem,” he said.
“Our citizens will not accept the repeated use of taxpayers’ money to save financial institutions that have acted irresponsibly.”
The Lisbon Treaty would make the EU more democratic, more transparent, more efficient and more influential on the international stage, Mr Reinfeldt said.
“But more importantly, with the Lisbon Treaty in place, we can close the chapter on an inward-looking phase in the EU’s co-operation. The time has come for the EU to look outwards and into the future.
“The Swedish presidency is ready to carry out all the preparatory work to ensure a smooth transition to a new treaty. But this of course presupposes that the treaty has been ratified by all member states. Let us hope that this becomes reality within the next few months.”