A full agenda for ministers during theSwedish Presidency
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. These meetings already started on July 6th with the informal ministerial meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, and will end up with ministerial eGovernment meeting and conference on November 18th to 20th.
The ministerial 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. The Swedish Presidency website will provide full coverage on these ministerial informal meetings and the different issues addressed during these events.
Växjö has received many international rewards for its environmental work. On September 13th to 15th, 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 September 23rd and 24th, defence ministers on September 28th and 29th and finance ministers (Ecofin) on October 1st and 2nd. 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 July 6th to 9th, the informal ministerial meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council was held in Jönköping. 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 July 15th to 17th and will host the ministers for foreign affairs on September 4th and 5th . 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 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 July 23rd and 24th and of environment ministers July 24th and 25th were held in Åre. During energy informal meeting, ministers 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 October 14th and 16th . 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.