POLITICS WEEKLY NO. 77 WEEK OF JUNE 1, 2015 Politics Weekly by Mundus International The week ahead

✦ The Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven (S), receives the Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, for bilateral talks today. Nordic cooperation is on the agenda. ✦ The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, will pay a State Visit to CALENDAR from 31 May to 2 June at the invitation of His Majesty the King. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will meet the President at Rosenbad today. NATIONAL ✦ Phidias Pilides, the President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce, and Fikri • 31st-2nd: State visit from India Toros, the Chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, participate in a seminar entitled ‘The Business Case for Peace in Cyprus’, which is held today at the • 1st-2nd: EAT food forum Stockholm School of Economics. ✦ The House of Europe holds a seminar on entitled ”On the Road to Paris: • 2nd: The Committee on the Climate Change Challenges – Polish and Swedish Policy Responses” today. Speakers Constitution presents result of annual scrutiny include the Polish Minister of the Environment, Maciej H. Grabowski, Jacques Lapouge, Ambassador of France to Sweden, and Hans Bergman, European • 2nd: Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action. Annual Meeting ✦ The Minister for International Development Cooperation, Isabella Lövin (MP), will hold a start-up meeting for the new aid strategy today. Later on in the week, she • 2nd: Uppsala Health Summit 2015: A World is in Africa. On June 2-5, she will participate in the World Economic Forum on Africa Without Antibiotics in Cape Town and on June 6-8, she will visit Mozambique. ✦ On Tuesday, the President of India will deliver a speech at Uppsala University. • 3rd: Statistics Sweden publishes its Party Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margot Preference Survey Wallström, are among those who will be present. ✦ On 2 June, the Riksdag Committee on the Constitution will present the results 3rd: Cabinet meeting, Royal Palace • of its annual scrutiny of the government. There will be a press conference at 2 pm, which can be viewed here. • 3rd: The Riksbank: The Financial Stability Report 2014:1 will be published ✦ On 2 June. the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual meeting. This year's speakers are the Finance Minister, Magdalena Andersson (S), and party leader Anna Kinberg Batra (M). • 4th: The PM’s Q&A session, the Riksdag ✦ A cabinet briefing will be held at the Royal Palace on Wednesday. During the • 6th: Sweden’s National Day briefing, cabinet ministers will inform the King about activities within their ministry. ✦ On Wednesday, the Riksdag will be debate and decide on matters relating to INTERNATIONAL controls on exports of military equipment and on Sweden’s participation in a • 25th May-6th: Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015 military training operation in northern Iraq. (ACE 2015) ✦ On 3 June, a seminar assessing the outcome of the Riga Summit and perspectives of the Eastern Partnership framework will be held at the House of Europe. Speakers • 2nd- 4th: OECD Week 2015, Paris include Ms Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas, Head of the European Commission Representation in Sweden and Mr Gints Jegermanis, Ambassador of Latvia to • 3-5th: World Economic Forum on Africa 2015, Sweden. Cape Town ✦ On Wednesday, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete will arrive in Stockholm for a visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Programme points include an • 3rd: ECB Governing Council meeting, audience with HM The King and talks with the Prime Minister, the Minister for Frankfurt Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Information Technology. 5th: OPEC to meet, Vienna • ✦ Interpellation debates will be held in the Riksdag on Friday. The Minister for Climate and the Environment, Åsa Romson (MP), will answer an interpellation on • 7-8th: G7 summit, Schloss Elmau Sweden’s climate commitments ahead of the climate summit in Paris, the Minister for Finance, Magdalena Andersson (S), will answer a number of questions, including one about Sweden’s bilateral tax agreements. The Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg (S), will answer an interpellation on the significance of TTIP for security policy and one about major events taking place in Sweden. ✦ On 7 June, members of the Riksdag will participate in monitoring the parliamentary elections in Turkey.

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from the Riksdag, the political parties, and the News government and its agencies

SAP congress: decisions in brief Over the weekend, the Social Democratic Party (SAP) held its annual congress in Västerås. The following is a brief summary of the decisions taken at the congress: • The number of people working must increase so that Sweden can reach the target of having the the lowest unemployment in the EU by 2020. • No one under 25 should be without a job or work experience longer than 90 days. • At least 250,000 new homes will be built by 2020. • High-speed tracks, railway linking regions and railway important for the export industry freight are priority infrastructure projects and will be mainly be funded by the state. • Parental insurance must be individualised. • If the proportion of women on boards of listed companies' boards is not at least 40% by 2016, a law stipulating this will be implemented. • Government authorities shall, wherever possible, be located outside of the major cities. • By 2020, half of all 30-34 year olds should have completed a minimum of two years of higher education. • Secondary school (gymnasiet) will become part of the compulsory school. The goal is that everyone should have high school diploma by the age of 25. • Asylum seekers should be able to obtain Swedish language instruction earlier. (Further information and analysis in the upcoming edition of the Monthly Policy Review, published on June 2).

NIER: “Signals of strong growth” The Swedish economy is improving, according to the so-called Economic Tendency Indicator by the National Institute of Economic Research (Konjunkturinstitutet). In May, the Indicator rose to 101.4 from 99.2 the month before. This points to stronger economic growth than normal, according to NIER. The retail indicator is above 110, implying a very strong situation. Over the past three months, sales have continued to grow relatively quickly and expectations for the months ahead are more optimistic than normal. While the indicator fell for the private service sector and the construction sector, these categories are still at a level that is stronger than normal with the private sector firms reporting stronger demand growth than normal over the past three months. The consumer confidence indicator rose by 1.9 points to 98.8, with the increase mainly due to consumers being increasingly positive about their personal finances. Meanwhile, new analysis from Statistics Sweden (Statistiska Centralbyrån) shows that Sweden’s GDP rose 0.4% in first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. GDP increased 2.5% compared to the first quarter of 2014.

Government to develop new aid strategy The government announced on 28 May that it will remove the controversial aid platform, which determines the principles of Swedish development assistance and was implemented under the former Reinfeldt government. The government will take decide on the new aid strategy at the end of the year. Read more here.

Record few sent to prison Fewer people are sent to prison in Sweden, according to a newly published report by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården). In 2014, 8,943 people were jailed, which is the lowest number since the 1950s. In 1989, more than 15,000 people were sent to prison, but since then, the numbers have been steadily declining. Since 1989, the number of new admissions into Swedish prisons has decreased by 42%. The decrease is most evident in drunken and violent crime. Drug offense / smuggling was the most common major crime among the new admissions to prison in 2014. The number of people put on probation has also declined. In 2014, 6,405 criminals received a probation order, the lowest number since 2001.

Exports and imports up 5% in Q1 Last week, Statistics Sweden released new data showing that Swedish exports and imports increased 5% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2014. The value of Swedish exports of goods amounted to SEK 290 billion and imports of goods to SEK 280 billion. During the January-March period, both Sweden's exports to and imports from the EU-28 increased by 5% compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports increased to Germany by 8% and to the UK by 9%. Imports from Germany increased by 7% while imports from the UK decreased 8%. Exports to Russia decreased 29% and imports 26%. Exports to Asia increased 7% and imports from there 19%. Exports to China increased 9% and imports 32%. Exports to the US increased 15% and imports from there by 4%. Exports of machinery and transport equipment increased 8%. Exports of minerals decreased 1% (iron ore and concentrates decreased 40%). Exports of wood and paper products increased by 5% and chemicals and rubber products by 14%. Exports of mineral fuels and electric current decreased by 20%.

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PEOPLE WATCH

Jan Moström will take over as CEO of LKAB after the current CEO, Lars-Eric Aaro. Mr Moström is currently a director at Boliden, responsible for the company’s mining activities.

Lars Danielsson will be Sweden's new ambassador in Germany. He is currently Sweden’s Ambassador in South Korea. Mr Danielsson has previously served as foreign policy adviser and State Secretary under the former Prime Minister, Göran Persson (S). In 2008, he was appointed Sweden's Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau.

Johanna Elgenius has been elected deputy Party Secretary for the Liberal Party. She will work on policy development, strategy and communication. Ms Elgenius has worked as a speechwriter for the former leader of the Liberal Party, Lars Leijonborg. Over the last 10 years, she has worked as a communication consultant at Springtime and Prime.

Göran Persson The former Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Göran Persson, will leave his appointment as Chairman of Sveaskog, Sweden’s largest forest company after seven years. Helene Biström has been named a possible successor.

Sarah McPhee has been elected Chairman of SNS, the Centre for Business and Policy Studies. She serves as CEO of SPP and Managing Director of Storebrand.

Veronika Bard Bringéus The government has appointed Veronika Bard Bringéus the new Ambassador of Sweden's Representation to the International Organisations in Geneva. She currently serves as Ambassador to Moscow. She has previously served as Ambassador at the Swedish Delegation to the OSCE in Vienna and as Minister at the Swedish Embassy in Vienna.

Anders Lindström has resigned from his role as CEO of SL ( Länstrafik) shortly after being stripped of all directorships after he was found guilty of shoplifting at an airport in Hong Kong.

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