Press release 09 January 2008
Prime Minister's Office

Meetings of the Council of Ministers in Sweden during the Swedish Presidency of the EU in autumn 2009

"In autumn 2009, Sweden will hold the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers. This means that for six months Sweden will lead the work of moving the common EU agenda forward. The Presidency will also be an opportunity to highlight Sweden and Swedish culture, traditions and know-how." This was the comment of Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmström, who is is charge of preparations for the Swedish Presidency.

The majority of the thousands of meetings that will be held during the Swedish Presidency will take place in Brussels and Luxembourg, but a small number will be held in the country holding the Presidency.

The following ministerial meetings will be held in Sweden in the second half of 2009:

Informal meeting of social policy ministers, 3-5 July in Jönköping,
Informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers, 15-17 July in Stockholm,
Informal meeting of environment ministers, 24-25 July in Åre,
Informal meeting of energy ministers, 26-27 July in Åre,
Informal meeting of foreign ministers, 4-5 September in Stockholm,
Informal meeting of finance ministers, 25-26 September in Göteborg,
Informal meeting of defence ministers, 28-29 September in Göteborg,
Informal meeting of education ministers, preliminary date 1-2 October in Göteborg,
Informal meeting of competitiveness ministers, 15-16 October in Umeå,
Informal meeting of e-administration ministers and e-administration conference, 19-20 November in Malmö, and
Meeting of foreign affairs ministers on following up the Barcelona Process, 3-4 December in Stockholm.
An informal meeting of agriculture and fisheries ministers will also be held. The location of the meeting has not been decided as yet.

An informal EU summit is also being considered and if held it will be in Stockholm.

Many considerations lie behind the choices of location for the meetings. Exacting demands must be met as regards the venue, hotels, airports, security etc for these meetings.

The number of delegates is considerably greater now, after the enlargement of the EU, compared with the previous Swedish Presidency in 2001. Another important aspect is the stricter demands regarding security arrangements. The Government's ambition is to find a good balance between security requirements and openness in dialogue with places hosting the meetings.

Effectiveness and cost have also been taken into account. When possible, certain meetings will be arranged back to back. For example energy ministers will meet directly after the environment ministers in Åre. In Göteborg a week of meetings will start with the finance ministers, followed by the defence ministers and finally the education ministers. In that way we can benefit from the infrastructure built up for each meeting on more than one occasion.

Meetings at the level of heads of state and government between the EU and third countries will take place. One or two of these may be held in Sweden.

The work of planning the calendar of other meetings in Sweden is under way and is expected to be finished in spring 2008.