Speech
Eurobarometer Conference, Gothenburg 28 September 2009
Cecilia Malmström, Minister for EU Affairs
Speech at the Eurobarometer Conference i Gothenburg
Commissioner,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to Göteborg! This is my home city and the University is my Alma Mater.
Let me begin by thanking you for the kind invitation to this year's Eurobarometer Conference. I see from the programme that you have a couple of very interesting days ahead of you.
It goes without saying that it makes me proud that this event is organised in cooperation with the University of Gothenburg, considering its excellence in the field of opinion research.
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Who is he? The man with the most positive attitude towards Swedish EU membership? Yes, he does indeed exist, and statistically he is a middle-aged, well-educated man living in a large town in southern Sweden.
And who is she - the woman who has never thought that joining the EU was ever such a good idea?
Well, she is a woman: young, with a lower level of education, a blue-collar worker from the north of Sweden, if we were to draw a caricature of a euro-sceptic based on statistics.
And this has been the case in Sweden for many years, in fact. With the exception of the positive attitude of elderly people - which is a peculiarly Swedish feature - this picture applies broadly to the whole of Europe.
It's still the same groups in society that take the most positive and negative views of the EU. This polarisation may seem to give a rather dismal outlook.
But looking at the excellent surveys undertaken by the SOM Institute here at the University of Gothenburg, and parting from my own experience over the last 15 years ,I can nonetheless say: the wind is blowing in a pro-European direction in Sweden.
In the most recent SOM Institute polls from last autumn, 48 per cent of those asked say that they are in favour of Sweden being a member of the European Union. This is a record high.
Statistics Sweden and the Eurobarometer have also observed record levels of support for EU membership in their studies during the same period.
This level of support is confirmed by several successive Eurobarometers, where currently 54 per cent of Swedes consider EU membership to be "a good thing".
This figure is up from only 32 per cent in 1996, a year after Sweden joined the Union. For the EU as a whole this figure has declined in the last couple of years and now stabilised at an average of 53 per cent.
In the case of Sweden, it's not just the overall support for the EU that is on the rise; we are also seeing a slight shift with regard to gender and age, with the gap between pro-European older men and euro-sceptic younger women showing a tendency to narrow.
Another poll undertaken by Synovate in December last year shows that 77 per cent of Swedes fully or partly agree that EU membership is a "natural thing". 15 years of membership has shown that it's simply not that dramatic anymore.
I believe this shift in Swedish public opinion as regards Europe was also reflected in the turnout in the European elections in June. Whereas the average turnout in Europe dropped to only 43 per cent, turnout in this country jumped by more than seven points and passed the Union's average. Anti-European parties in this country lost seats to the benefit of pro-European forces.
This is good news, but I' still far from satisfied as more than half of the population in Sweden, as well as in most other Member States, actually abstained from voting.
I guess, and hope, that researchers across Europe are already busy studying voting patterns and seeking explanations to the low election turnout. These findings are crucial for those of us who seek ways to fuel the public interest in European politics.
There is of course a number of reasons behind the shift in Swedish public opinion. One of them could be that the current government has a truly positive attitude towards European cooperation. It is important how the political leaders view upon European cooperation and how we communicate it to the citizens.
A crucial part of the policy to bring Sweden to the heart of Europe is to stand up and defend the Union back home. Policies that annoy citizens cannot simply be 'blamed on Brussels'. Our Ministers and MEP's were part of making the decisions!
Also, Swedes are pragmatic people. We identify a couple of big problems and see that the EU is part of the solution.
It's quite obvious that rising support for the European Union at home makes it easier to work constructively in leading the European Union, and thus serves as an basis for a successful presidency.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Swedish Presidency comes in a time of major challenges, a time in which the citizens rightly expect Europe to deliver.
The fight against climate change is indeed the greatest challenge of this generation. In just a few weeks, we will enter into decisive international negotiations running up to the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.
Ensuring success here is the absolute top priority for the Swedish Presidency. Our goal is that large parts of the world will back an ambitious agreement limiting the increase in mean temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.
Some progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go. We need ambitious commitments from the world' biggest economies. Developing countries with growing economies will also need to come forward with stronger national efforts as a part of an international agreement.
But Europe must also do its own homework. Our 27 Member States need to stick together. We must honour our commitments to reduce CO2 emissions, while getting ready to pay for climate action in the developing world. This requires political leadership as well as dedicated citizens pushing for change.
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According to the latest Eurobarometer, 50 per cent of Europeans said they view climate change as one of the most serious problems currently facing the world.
This figure is significantly lower than in 2008 and national differences are huge. However, it' interesting to compare this drop with the sharp rise in concern about the economic crisis. 52 per cent consider the global economic downturn to be among the greatest challenges for the world at this time. This is up from 24 per cent last year.
This concern needs to be taken very seriously. A few days ago, one year had passed since the global financial crisis struck Europe with full force.
I am carefully optimistic that the worst is behind us. Now, we see the devastating results in terms of declining growth, bankruptcies and unemployment that will continue to rise during the coming months.
This city, and the surrounding region, is a typical example where thousands of people working in car production have receive notice and risk to lose their jobs.
The good news are that all Member States are working together to find solutions to the crisis. It is through joint action that we have been able to avoid a collapse of the entire financial system.
The Swedish Presidency will continue to work to restore confidence in the financial markets, combat the negative impact of the crisis on growth and employment and pave the way for solutions that benefit sustainable growth, jobs and open markets.
Still, we don' expect to do miracles. Our ambition is to take a few steps on the way towards strengthening European action in a number of key areas.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
The latest Eurobarometer shows that Europeans like Europe. They consider it as a marriage of reason if not of love. A stable majority says that their country has benefited from EU membership.
A large proportion of citizens in a nearly all Member States tends to trust the European Parliament and a broad majority of citizens believe that at least some issues need to be dealt with by Europe.
Still, so few people turn up when it' time to vote. An example from the United Kingdom speaks for itself. A few years ago, there were more citizens televoting in the "Big Brother" TV show than those showing up to elect their favourite MEP's.
What can we do to make the public to feel more comfortable with the European Union, what it does and the way it works. How on earth can this be done?
Sorry to say, I don't have any definite answers, but I would like to share a few thoughts on this issue.
One important element would be to get the Lisbon Treaty in place. It contains reforms that are necessary to make the Union able to deal with a number of important challenges.
But I also dare to call this 300-page book the greatest democratic improvement in the Union's history - so far.
It will make decision-making more effective.
It will bring more transparency to the institutions.
And it will deepen democracy by giving more power to the European Parliament and increasing the influence of national parliaments on the European agenda.
The future of the Treaty is now in the hands of the Irish, who will go to the polls on Friday this week. In case of a yes on the green island - I cross my fingers - the new Treaty may be able to come into force before the end of the year.
Lisbon is a step in the right direction, but it's definitely not a magic wand that makes citizens discuss Europe for breakfast. No, I believe there are other things we need to do.
We need to start discussing concrete issues rather than institutions and technicalities. Issues that can move Europe from Brussels to our kitchen tables.
How Europe can contribute to solving the climate problem, how we can work together for new jobs to emerge or how we want to use the Union to fight organised crime, for instance.
As politicians, we also need to make clear that European politics are domestic and even local, because it has a direct effect on citizens.
Just to draw an example - when the Göteborg city council meets next week, more than 60 per cent of the agenda is likely to be affected by European rules or co-financing from the Union.
Communicating with the public cannot be done in Brussels, or even by the European institutions. This responsibility rests with Member State governments, with politicians on local and regional level and in national parliaments, with media, with political parties and NGO's.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Europe needs to get its act together and deliver on substance in a number of key areas.
To my mind, it's only when this actually happens, and only the day when European issues become part of the day-to-day political debate that interest and affect citizens, that people across the Union will start being anxious about Europe.
The Swedish Presidency will do its best to contribute in this work. And with the research and opinion poll studies that you all do we can have a better base for our decisions.
Thank you very much.
