Speech by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to the Crown Princess and Mr Daniel Westling Check Against Delivery
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2010 Speech Skeppsholmen, Eric Ericsson hall 18 June 2010 Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister Speech by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to the Crown Princess and Mr Daniel Westling Check against delivery Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Stockholm, our beautiful capital. Welcome to the Government's official dinner in honour of the marriage between Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling. To all our foreign guests: I ask you to forgive me for making the following remarks in Swedish. Crown Princess Victoria. Mr Daniel Westling. You have known one another for many years now. It shows. Everyone who has seen you together knows that you radiate that sense of ease and assurance that people only feel when they know one another well. The sort of love a person only feels when they know they have found their companion for life. Those of us who have met the love of our life know that when you are newly in love, you want to tell everyone about it. You want to shout your happiness to the world. You want to show off your love. After eight years together, at last you can show your love openly. No wonder you look so newly in love. Daniel. At last the people of Sweden have had a chance to meet you. At last we too have had a chance to get to know the person the Crown Princess has now chosen to be her husband, her companion for life - and her prince. We have seen that you are an assured and level-headed person. With your feet on the ground and the drive it takes to start your own business and charm a Crown Princess. The way you look at the Crown Princess has already made the people of Sweden take you to their heart. I am convinced that you will take your responsibility as a husband, as a companion for life and as a prince with the same warmth, humility and respect. Crown Princess Victoria. From the autumn christening in the Royal Chapel on, we have been able to watch the Crown Princess through childhood and into adult life. Christmas television broadcasts, birthday celebrations at the summer palace of Solliden and official duties - I really believe we all think we know our Crown Princess rather well. We know the Crown Princess as a natural, unaffected person. Warm and generous. Courageous and honest. With that special twinkle in her eye and always close to laughter. Now the Crown Princess is following her heart and marrying her true love. And I believe I speak for the whole of the Swedish people when I say this: we have never seen the Crown Princess as happy as she is now. Crown Princess Victoria. Mr Daniel Westling. Two hundred years ago, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was chosen by the Swedish Riksdag to be Crown Prince of Sweden. One hundred and seventy- seven years ago, the first Bernadotte wedding in Sweden took place. Tomorrow you will carry on this tradition. I am convinced that the two of you together will succeed in carrying our ancient traditions and values forward and unifying them with our modern present day Sweden. In the time since your engagement was announced, we have all seen the intensity of your love and the strength of your relationship. We can see how close you are. We can see that you are ready to tackle the future together. And when the day comes, I am convinced that the Crown Princess, with Daniel at her side, will shoulder her responsibility as sovereign in a way that will make all of Sweden proud. Tomorrow is your wedding day. On behalf of the entire Swedish people, I would like to congratulate you and wish you every happiness, tomorrow and in the future. Let me propose that we now all rise and join in a toast to Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling. 2009 Speech Plenary at the COP15 climate change conference, Copenhagen 18 December 2009 Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister Speech by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at COP15 in Copenhagen CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Ladies and gentlemen, Related First of all - let me remind you why we are here. It's to reach an agreement that meets the two degree target. Press release: Fredrik Reinfeldt to lead EU An agreement that points out how to meet it. And that is fair and just. during climate change conference A global threat needs a global response. The importance of this Conference cannot be emphasized enough. External links This is a decisive meeting. Not only for Sweden. Not only for Europe. But for the world as a whole. United Nations Climate Ultimately - this meeting is about taking responsibility. Change Conference, COP 15, on the the website for For the climate. For our earth. And for our future. the Swedish presidency of the EU Ladies and gentlemen, Climate change has been on top of the European Union's agenda for a long time. At the start we all had different ideas. We all had different objectives. With twenty seven Member States - twenty seven interests - we had to discuss, argue and negotiate to find common grounds. It was never easy. We all had to compromise. We all had to give and take. But in the end we were able to agree. We agreed on a strong EU mandate to take a leading role in these negotiations. We know that when countries unite they can make a difference. A difference in negotiations. A difference for the climate. * * * Ladies and Gentlemen, The European Union has made the most ambitious commitments to fight climate change. We have decided to cut emissions by 20 per cent in legally binding targets. Regardless of what happens here in Copenhagen. We are ready to increase this number to 30 percent. We want to be able to move to 30 percent, if other developed countries do comparable efforts. We need to achieve the two degree target together. And we still hope and expect that other parties will show that kind of leadership here and now. To show our commitment, the European Union has also put real money on the table. Money for fast start financing in developing countries. In the next three years, we will contribute with 2.4 billion euros annually. And we will take on a fair share of the medium term financing, where the global need will be around 100 billion euros by 2020. The European Union is serious. We do not want to talk only about process and procedures. With our offer, the European Union has delivered on the two most crucial issues in these negotiations. The time has come also for others to deliver. * * * Ladies and gentlemen, If we are serious about getting an agreement here in Copenhagen, both Annex 1-countries and non Annex 1- countries must make more ambitious mitigation commitments. And when we say non Annex 1-countries we mean the more advanced developing countries. The US and China account for almost half of the worlds emission. They simply must do their part. If they don't, we will not be able to meet the two degree target. Now - I look at the time and I realise that we have only hours left to take responsibility. Let's get back to work. Contact Roberta Alenius +46 8 405 10 00 Speech Business Summit, Grand Hotel, Stockholm 06 October 2009 Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister Speech by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at Business Summit President Lula, President Barroso, Excellencies, Related Ladies and gentlemen, Press release: Reinfeldt to receive Lula da Silva for Welcome to Sweden and this Business Summit. As President of the European Council and host of the third EU- EU-Brazil Summit Brazil Summit, I am pleased to address you here today. Sweden and the EU attaches high importance to the dialogue at this Business Forum. External links Today, together with President Lula and European Commission President Barroso, I have concluded the EU- A summit within the Brazil Summit. summit on the website for I can tell you we have had fruitful discussions on the global challenges we - as world leaders - face today: How the Swedish Presidency of the EU the EU and Brazil can take the lead and act responsibly. Regarding climate change and regarding the global economy. I know these are the same issues you have discussed here at the Business Summit. We have also assessed the strategic partnership and the implementation so far of the Joint Action Plan that was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in December. And earlier today we received the recommendations of the first EU- Brazil Civil Society Round Table. Ladies and gentlemen, This Business Forum, with its recommendations to the EU-Brazil Summit, makes an important contribution to the strategic partnership between the European Union and Brazil. We take your recommendations seriously. You - representing and knowing the conditions under which business operate - have an important role to play in shaping the best solutions for the future: How to boost investments. How to foster trade. How to combat protectionism. All of this is of particular importance today - when the world is experiencing the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, with severe impact on employment and on world trade. Today, when we see how world trade is expected to fall by ten percent in 2009: By up to fourteen per cent in developed countries. And when we see how protectionist pressure, as a consequence of the economic downturn, has been rising in the world. These are worrying signs. As you might know, Sweden is an open trade-oriented country.