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DE RUEHSM #0857/01 3581109
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P 231109Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3999
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STOCKHOLM 000857 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV INR EU SW
SUBJECT: "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED" DURING SWEDEN'S EU 
PRESIDENCY 
 
REF: STOCKHOLM 792 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Sweden has about six months before it 
assumes the EU presidency on July 1, 2009, but the government 
is already in overdrive preparing policy goals and 
restructuring governmental offices.  EUR/ERA Director Bill 
Lucas visited Stockholm on December 4-5 to discuss priorities 
for the Swedish presidency with senior officials in the Prime 
Minister,s office, the EU Minister,s Office, and the MFA. 
All interlocutors listed the same Swedish priorities for the 
presidency--climate change, EU enlargement, and asylum 
issues--but are also aware that they have to "expect the 
unexpected."  End Summary. 
 
WHO'S WHO: THE SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY TEAM 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Drawing on lessons learned from its 2001 EU 
presidency, Sweden restructured its internal EU presidency 
bureaucracy, most importantly by bringing the Office of the 
Minister for EU Affairs into the Prime Ministry. 
 
-- Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has overall 
responsibility for Sweden's EU presidency.  His State 
Secretary for International Affairs, Gustaf Lind, is tasked 
with setting inter-ministerial priorities, formulating policy 
towards EU issues, organizing the PM's international 
engagement, and preparing for EU summits. 
 
-- Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom's office is led 
by her State Secretary, Maria Asenius.  Asenius told Lucas 
her office is charged with the EU Treaty, long-term budget 
issues, basic preparations for the presidency, and the 
political leadership of horizontal EU issues including 
employment strategies and legal issues.  During the 
presidency, Malmstrom will chair the General Affairs Council 
and be Sweden's face before the European Parliament. 
 
-- Both Reinfeldt and Malmstrom receive policy support from 
the three-person Foreign and EU Affairs Division of the Prime 
Minister's Office, headed by career diplomat Mikaela Kumlin 
Granit. 
 
-- The much larger EU Policy Coordination Unit in the Prime 
Ministry is run by career civil servants and headed by 
Ambassador Ingrid Hjelt af Trolle.  It serves as a 
secretariat, dealing with the daily coordination of EU work 
and following general EU issues.  It also leads interagency 
coordination of EU-related matters and formulates policy on 
EU issues and cross-ministry priorities, preparing, for 
example, instructions for COREPER meetings.  It is 
responsible for interfacing with the Swedish public on EU 
issues. 
 
-- Finally, the MFA's EU Department handles EU-related 
bilateral issues, including enlargement and reform and 
assists the PM's Office in its preparations for European 
Council meetings.  The EU Correspondent Office within this 
department coordinates the MFA's GAERC preparations and will 
assist the PM's Office on  issues related to the Common 
Foreign and Security Policy. 
 
PRIORITIES FOR THE SWEDISH PRESIDENCY 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The joint 18-month program of the French, Czech and 
Swedish presidencies was formulated in May 2008, and Sweden 
is now deciding which precise areas to highlight and what 
specific goals it will strive for within the program, with 
final decisions to be made in late spring 2009, Asenius said. 
 In 2001, Sweden focused on the "Three E's"--environment, EU 
enlargement, and the economy.  All of Lucas' interlocutors 
stated that the 2009 objectives will likely be similar: 
climate change, EU enlargement, and EU border, visa and 
asylum policies. 
 
-- Climate Change: Officials in the PM's office told Lucas 
climate change will be PM Reinfeldt's top priority, with the 
goal of reaching a binding international agreement at the 
Copenhagen COP 15 scheduled for December 2009, near the end 
of the Swedish presidency.  Asenius said binding commitments 
from the USG will be a top priority; Hjelt af Trolle 
discussed the need to "give China something to bring it on 
board."  Most interlocutors bemoaned the fact that the 
current financial crisis has led to a number of EU leaders 
saying that they might not be able to afford the financial 
investment required to meet EU emissions reduction goals. 
Hjelt af Trolle and Lucas agreed that key elements should 
involve clean-tech transfers and participation by India and 
China to reduce carbon emissions. 
 
 
STOCKHOLM 00000857  002 OF 003 
 
 
-- Sweden will also develop an EU Baltic Sea Strategy, 
drawing on and strengthening existing EU provisions.  Kumlin 
Granit described the Strategy as an "EU pilot program" for 
dealing with problems sub-regionally, "because we have 
problems here that they do not have, for example, in the 
Mediterranean."  The Strategy will seek to improve 
environmental protections and increase economic development 
through the harmonization of rules and regulations governing 
trade and transportation among eight of nine Baltic states 
that are EU members.  The EU Commission is expected to 
present a proposal by June, to be adopted by the European 
Council before the end of the Swedish presidency.  "Before, 
the Baltic divided East and West," Granit told Lucas, "but 
now it is an EU Sea." 
 
-- EU Enlargement: Hjelt af Trolle said aspiring members have 
high expectations for the Swedish presidency and the pace of 
enlargement must be "kept up."  Croatia will undergo intense 
negotiations next year, even if it does not complete them 
before the end of 2009.  Sweden expects to deal with Turkey's 
accession intentions as well, though "it is difficult to be a 
friend of Turkey when we see so little progress," Asenius 
said.  Kumlin Granit added that Turkey's continued refusal to 
open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels is causing many in 
the EU to consider sanctions rather than membership.  If 
Turkey makes little progress on the Ankara agreement, Sweden 
will have an uphill battle to counter the resulting fallout 
with key EU states, she added.  The Eastern Partnership 
Program (reftel), a Swedish-Polish initiative, is scheduled 
to go into effect in March, but the Swedes anticipate having 
an active role in its implementation during their presidency. 
 
-- Asylum and Border issues: The Hague Program will end in 
2009 and Sweden already has taken the lead within the EU to 
develop a new five-year "Stockholm Program" that will aim to 
further harmonize EU asylum and migration policies, leading 
to a common European migration and asylum system.  Asenius 
said there is a need for greater emphasis on rights over 
coercion and oppressive measures.  Asenius noted there would 
be room for U.S. cooperation under this program on law 
enforcement, anti-trafficking, and anti-terrorism issues. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lucas emphasized the U.S. desire to coordinate 
closely with the Swedish presidency to advance our mutual 
goals, picking up in particular on the Swedish priorities 
involving climate change and enlargement/outreach to the 
Balkans and Eastern neighborhood.  In the latter context, he 
cited the need for U.S.-EU collaboration on relations with a 
more assertive Russia.  Lucas also flagged Afghanistan, Iraq, 
Iran, Middle East peace, energy security, and the 
Transatlantic Economic Council as areas for continued U.S.-EU 
cooperation.  Swedish interlocutors were open to these 
suggestions, but several cited the global economic downturn 
as a reason the EU/Swedish presidency might not be able to 
adequately address regional security issues far out-of-area. 
The Swedish officials were receptive to the idea of further 
engagement in the Transatlantic Economic Council but 
indicated that some member states feel a lack of ownership in 
the process. 
 
Expected Surprises 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Swedish interlocutors cautioned that a series of 
externalities and institutional uncertainties will affect the 
degree to which they can carry out their policy platforms. 
MFA Security Director Nils Daag told Lucas that the Swedes, 
in addition, are "expecting the unexpected" to re-order their 
priorities. 
 
-- Lisbon Treaty: The Swedes are planning for a presidency 
under either the Nice or Lisbon Treaty.  Current thinking is 
the EU will present a legally binding declaration to Ireland 
at the June 2009 meeting of the Council of Ministers that 
alleviates Ireland's concerns over the Lisbon Treaty.  If 
this happens, a second Irish referendum likely would take 
place in October during the Swedish presidency, with the 
Lisbon Treaty taking affect during the latter half of the 
presidency or, more likely, on January 1, 2010. 
 
-- Lame Duck Commission:  Under the current Nice Treaty, the 
Commission President will be chosen during the Czech 
presidency, and the Commission itself during the Swedish 
presidency.  Unless other extraordinary arrangements are 
agreed, fewer commissioners than member states would have to 
be elected, potentially causing internal strife.  As the 
Commission cannot propose legislation until it is fully 
operational, the lack of an active Commission would 
compromise Sweden's ability to push through legislation 
related to its presidency objectives, according to Axel 
Wernhoff of the MFA's European Division.  In addition, the 
 
STOCKHOLM 00000857  003 OF 003 
 
 
European Parliament will be in the process of forming itself 
after June 2009 elections and will then turn to reviewing 
nominated Commissioners throughout the summer, said Wernhoff, 
adding to the "institutional vacuum." 
 
Upcoming Meetings 
----------------- 
 
¶6. (U) During the Swedish presidency, there are plans to hold 
EU summits with Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, 
Ukraine, and possibly Pakistan.  The Swedes view the 
traditional September UNGA margins as an opportunity to 
schedule, as appropriate, U.S.-EU meetings at the Summit, 
Ministerial, or other levels.  In addition, PM Reinfeldt 
hopes to travel to Washington early in 2009 to discuss 
Sweden's EU priorities and especially climate change, with 
President Obama and the new Administration. 
 
¶7. (U) Mr. Lucas cleared this cable. 
SILVERMAN