POLITICS WEEKLY NO. 80 WEEK OF JUNE 22, 2015 Politics Weekly by Mundus International The week ahead ✦On Monday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström (S), is in CALENDAR Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council. The Council will hold a strategic NATIONAL discussion on Asia and discuss energy diplomacy. Cooperation between the • 22nd: The Riksbank macroprudential EU and UN will be discussed when the the Council meets the UN Secretary conference, Stockholm School of General to discuss topics such as the situation in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Economics migration. Click here for the agenda. ✦The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has convened the • 22-25th: Entrepreneur week, Båstad Euro Summit to discuss the situation of Greece today. Click here for the agenda and briefing. • 23rd: The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) ✦On Monday, the Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S), attends the Nordic Council meeting in Copenhagen. presents annual account of Swedish Tourism 2014 ✦A Riksdag delegation is in Strasbourg this week attending the European Council Parliamentary Assembly session. • 24-27th: Centre Party’s youth league, ✦Gabriel Wikström (S), the Minister for Health Care, Public Health and CUF, holds annual congress, Gideå Sport, is currently in Canada. • 25th: Statistics Sweden present the report ✦On Monday and Tuesday, interpellation debates will be held in the Foreign Controlled Enterprises 2014, Riksdag. Magdalena Andersson (S), the Minister for Finance, and Anders Stockholm Ygeman (S), the Minister for Home Affairs, are among those who will answer questions. 28th June-5th July: Almedalen Week, Visby • ✦The Minister for Upper Secondary School and Adult Education and Training, Aida Hadzialic (S), is visiting Estonia and Lithuania today. INTERNATIONAL • 22nd: Foreign Affairs Council, Brussels ✦The PACE Summer Session is held in Strasbourg this week. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, is one of the speakers. Debates on the • 22nd: Euro Summit, Brussels agenda include consideration of the annulment of the previously ratified credentials of the delegation of the Russian Federation, the functioning of • 22-26th The Nordic Council summer democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, the situation in Hungary, as well as a meetings 2015, Copenhagen current affairs debate on the need for a common European response to migration challenges. 22-26th: PACE Summer Session, • ✦On Tuesday and Wednesday, Göteborg Stad hosts an event under the Strasbourg name ”A winning enterprise”. Organisations, such as NASA, the World Bank and IKEA will share thoughts on on the efficient use of natural resources • 23rd: General Affairs Council, Brussels and sustainable urban development. View the agenda here. • 22-24th: Top meeting USA-China on ✦On Thursday, the Minister for Defence, Peter Hultqvist (S), will attend the economic and strategic issues, USA NATO Defence Minister meeting in Brussels. ✦On Thursday and Friday, the Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven (S), will attend • 23rd: ECB-chefen in Germany the European Council in Brussels. On the agenda are migration and security challenges. EU leaders will also discuss economic issues, concluding the • 24-25th: NATO Defence Ministers 2015 European Semester, taking stock of the state of play concerning the meeting, Brussels Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the European Fund for Strategic Investments. • 25-26th: European Council, Brussels ✦The Almedalen Week begins on 28 June. Click here to read this year’s • 29th: 17th bilateral EU-China summit, schedule and Mundus International’s background notes to the political week. Brussels POLITICS WEEKLY BY MUNDUS INTERNATIONAL WWW.MUNDUS-INTERNATIONAL.COM POLITICS POLITICS WEEKLY WEEKLY NO. NO. 80 1 WEEK OF JUNE 22, JULY 2015 29 from the Riksdag, the political parties, and the News Government and its agencies Swedish economy continuing to recover The Swedish economy will continue to grow during 2015, according the latest forecast but unemployment remains high by the National Institute of Economic Research (Konjunkturinstitutet, NIER). The institute lowered its forecast slightly since its last report. GDP is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2015 and 3.2% in 2016. Downside risks to the global economy continue to dominate, according to NIER. Low global interest rates have increased the risk of price bubbles and in Sweden, the largest domestic risk is a sharp fall in housing prices. Household real disposable income has risen rapidly in recent years due to strong growth in employment and reduced taxes. Real disposable income is expected to climb rapidly this year on the back of rising employment and low inflation. Domestic demand is being helped by household consumption and housing investment. Swedish exports fell in the first quarter, but the strong global recovery, especially in the euro area, and the relatively weak krona are expected to help Swedish export growth to pick up later this year. Exports are forecast to rise by almost 4% in 2015 and to 5% in 2016, which is in line with the average rate of growth since 1980. Employment rose slightly, and unemployment held at 7.8% during the first quarter of this year. The population and the labour force are growing rapidly due to high immigration. Therefore, despite further strong growth in employment, unemployment will remain high for a long period and will not fall below 7% until 2017. Click here to access the full report. The Riksbank's May Business Survey also shows that economic activity is continuing to strengthen in a stable manner. The krona has weakened over the past year, which has led to increased profitability in the manufacturing industry and higher prices, particularly in the retail sector. The Business Survey showed that although demand for exports does not at present correspond to the industry's expectations, there is an assumption that exports will rise as soon as global economic activity picks up. For importing companies, on the other hand, the weaker krona has entailed increased costs. (The Monthly Policy Review, published on 2 July, will cover the economy more in-depth.) Swedish National Agency for Education: A new report from the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) states that Serious teacher shortage Sweden is facing a serious teacher shortage, which will intensify over the next five years. The agency estimates that 70,000 new full-time jobs will be needed to cover the shortage. In order to meet the demands, twice as many people need to become certified teachers by 2019, compared to today's levels. Click here to download the report. Gender pay gap slowly decreasing The gender wage gap in Sweden is slowly decreasing, according to a study by the Swedish National Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet). The average salary of Swedish women is 86.8% of the average wage of men. The male-female income difference decreased by 0.2% from 2013 to 2014, according to the report. The most important reason behind the wage gap is occupation and the biggest factor in the decrease is the increasing number of females in male-dominated sectors and vice versa. The largest unexplained gap is in white-collar workers in the private sector, while the smallest gap is found in local administrations. The issue of gender wage differences will be hotly debated during this autumn’s collective bargaining agreements, with some unions asking for higher salary rises in female-dominated sectors. The report can be downloaded here. Minutes from the Financial The Financial Stability Council (Stabilitetsrådet) met on 15 June to discuss the general Stability Council meeting now stability situation, risks and possible measures, as well as upcoming efforts to strengthen available financial stability. Participants at the meeting included the Minister for Financial Markets, Per Bolund, the Governor of the Riksbank, Stefan Ingves, Acting Director-General of Finansinspektionen, Martin Noréus, and the Director-General of the Debt Office, Hans Lindblad. The minutes from the Financial Stability Council meeting are now available and can be downloaded here (in Swedish only). VAT on stamps and postal Today, there is a 25% sales tax (VAT) on all postage stamps and postal services in services should be removed Sweden, but according to a verdict by the European Court of Justice, Sweden is no longer entitled to levy VAT on stamps and postal services. The government has now announced that it wants to remove this sales tax starting as on 1 April, 2016. The proposal would cut the cost of a domestic stamp from SEK 7 to SEK 5,60, which would mean the government would lose up to SEK 200 million in taxes each year. Further information on the government website. Click here to access the judgment by the European Court of Justice. POLITICS WEEKLY BY MUNDUS INTERNATIONAL WWW.MUNDUS-INTERNATIONAL.COM POLITICSINVESTERARNYHETSBREV WEEKLY NO. 80 NR 3 WEEK OF JUNE HÖST 22, 20152009 PEOPLE WATCH Leif Pagrotsky The government has appointed Leif Pagrotsky (S) as the new Chairman of Business Sweden. He had various posts in the Göran Persson government 1996 and 2006, including Minister for Industry and Trade. He has been awarded H. M. The King's Medal "for many years of outstanding political achievement”. Mr Pagrotsky has served on a number of boards, including the boards of the European Investment Bank and the Stockholm Stock Exchange. He will take up his new appointment on 1 July. Joakim Stymne The government has appointed Joakim Stymne as Director General of the National Government Employee Pensions Board (SPV). Mr Stymne previously worked as State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and takes up his appointment on 17 August. Robert Rydberg has been appointed Ambassador to Rome. Mr Rydberg currently serves as Director of the Middle East and North Africa Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a former Ambassador in Tel Aviv and Kinshasa, and previously served at the Embassy in Pretoria and at the UN representation in New York.