Informal EU ministerial meetings in Sweden

During the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, informal ministerial meetings will be held at seven different locations – from Malmö in the south to Umeå in the north. The meetings are a chance for the ministers to have informal discussion on different topics, an opportunity for networking activities and a way for ministers from other member states than Sweden to become better acquainted with the host country.

Stockholm
© European Communities

On 18 November, the ministers responsible for e-Government will meet in Malmö. The ministerial meeting is followed by a two-day conference. 1,000 delegates representing member states, EU institutions and regional, European and international organisations will meet to discuss issues related to e-Government.

Växjö has received many international rewards for its environmental work. On 13-15 September, the informal meeting of ministers for agriculture and fisheries takes place here. The theme is agriculture and climate change. The ministers will, among other things, make study visits to local farms. The purpose is to demonstrate that farms can be run in areas with difficult natural conditions.

The port town of Göteborg is host for three informal ministerial meetings: education ministers on 23–24 September, defence ministers on 28–29 September and finance ministers (Ecofin) on 1–2 October. The informal meeting of education ministers will highlight the important role of teachers and school leaders. The agenda for the meeting of defence ministers includes current military operations and how to develop management capability for various types of crisis. At the informal meeting of finance ministers the member states’ central bank governors participate, as well as the Presidents of the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

On 6-9 July, the informal ministerial meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council was held inJönköping. During the first part, the fight against the influenza pandemic, antibiotic resistance and other health issues were discussed. The second part of the meeting focused on labour market inclusion and social security policy.

Stockholm hosted the informal meeting of ministers for justice and home affairs on 15–17 July and will host the ministers for foreign affairs on 4-5 September. At their informal meeting, the ministers for justice and home affairs discussed the so-called Stockholm Programme. This deals with what cooperation between EU members will look like in areas such as police and customs cooperation, rescue services, criminal and civil law cooperation, asylum and migration issues and visas and external border controls. At their informal meeting on 4-5 September, the 27 EU foreign ministers will meet their counterparts from the candidate countries Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey who will attend the second day of this gathering.

The informal meetings of energy ministers 23-24 July and of environment ministers 24-25 July were held in Åre. They discussed energy efficiency and an eco-efficient economy - combining economic growth with efficient energy use. The question of climate change and the road forward to the international climate conference in Copenhagen in December were also on the agenda.

Umeå is hosting the informal meeting of ministers responsible for competitiveness on 14–16 October. They are going to discuss the single market in the light of the financial crises. On the agenda is also a discussion on how Europe can become a more eco-efficient economy.

More information:
The Swedish Presidency website