Ylva Johansson Archives • SwedeInternational

EU summit and budget coming right up

many factors at play between Sweden and the EU budget
pic: wired.com

The EU’s Corona crisis support package/recovery plan/budget is still being negotiated, and quite rightfully so. It’s a huge number that is being thrown around – 1.85 billion euro, or 2000 million dollars. (The United State’s bailout package is way more – 2 trillion dollars aka two million million dollars.)

Sweden has been one of the “frugal four” – countries that want the aid package to countries who have been hardest hit by covid to be in the form of a loan instead of a gift, but it looks like that position is weakening.

Sweden’s EU commissioner Ylva Johansson says that Sweden’s position is short-sighted. “The lessons learned from the finance crisis [in 2008/9] is that we acted way too slowly” Johansson said in Sweden’s Radio Saturday interview program: “If we don’t implement a big recovery, we’re going to have the worst crisis that the EU has ever experienced. Way, way worse than than the finance crisis.”

However, the package’s main financing comes from loaning money with all of the EU countries as guarantors. This would be a first, and is likely also precedent-setting, and allows the EU to act – even more – as a single, overarching government sitting far away from Sweden. The Swedish government’s critique of the plan, Sweden’s radio reports in another article, is that the budget is too big, there is too much money in the fund, the funds should be loaned out and not given out, and it should be a fairly short term loan at that. The way in which the money is spread out is not popular in Sweden either: “A lot of money goes to countries that aren’t even hard hit by corona” remarked Minister for Finance Magdalena Andersson, “and that seems a little strange.”

The Left party, never a fan of EU in the first place, is more virulently opposed to the plan. In a debate article in Aftonbladet a few days ago, party leader Jonas Sjöstedt and EU parliamentarian Malin Björk write that the recovery fund increases EU’s power over Sweden dramatically. Money that could have gone to climate investments and welfare in Sweden now goes to “Orbán’s oligarchies and Brussels’ bureaucrats.”

On the other side of the equation is the Liberal party who have always been very EU-friendly. Both of them, officially or unofficially, are supporting parties for the reigning Social Democrats. The Left party has way more votes and is an ally of old, while the Liberal party has always been on the right, before former party leader Björklund’s children pushed them into the center-left camp. The Social Democrats are getting it from both sides, and the EU is pushing as well, in the form of EU commissioner Johansson.

The next EU summit (via video this year) is – per usual – during Midsommar. Sweden was never able to persuade the EU to change the date, even by a day, to accommodate the single biggest holiday in Sweden, so it’s kind of unlikely (sadly) Sweden will have a deciding voice in the EU budget.

28 Nov. – Johansson at the gate

Ylva Johansson finally on the job
pic: epthinktank.eu

The European Union’s Commision is finally fully staffed, approved, and ready to get to work. With a vote of 461 for, and 246 against, the commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen was approved by the EU parliament yesterday after an occasionally bruising interview process.

Sweden’s own Ylva Johansson (see this post) officially begins her stint as Commissioner for Employment and Integration – in other words, Migration – one of the most visible and controversial posts in the EU (see this post). She is starting off with getting her boots on the ground in Greece, where she will speak to Greek representatives and NGOs to discuss how they can move forward.

The Greek refugee camp at Moria has been regularly labelled a human rights disaster for its wretched conditions, most recently in a report from EU’s auditors (you can read it for yourself here) describing situations of 16 boys sleeping in a container built for max 10, people and families living in tents in the bush, and more. Although the initial contact regarding asylum is supposed to take place only a few days after arrival, the average time is 218 days for a decision at the first level. Asylum seekers who arrived in 2018 have appointments for 2023.

Greek officials are in the process of closing the camp, and transferring the refugees inland, but nothing is expected to essentially change just because of a new location.

One of the suggestions for an EU-wide migration policy is that countries would pay to not take refugees – in which case a price would be attached to each migrant.

“Not a suggestion I would choose at first go” said Johansson. “What’s been discussed between member countries, that I’ve heard, is that they could contribute in a practical way with personnel or other efforts. That’s perhaps a better track to start discussions on.”

Von der Leyen has gone on record to say that “Migration is a phenomenon that is not going to disappear. Our job in the EU is to develop an overall migration model that is humane and effective. A model that can make us an example for the rest of the world in how migration can be handled” (DN.se/UvdL).

No pressure for Johansson, in other words.

8 Oct. – Johansson: the verdict, later today

commissioner-to-be? Ylva Johansson
pic: europeaninterest.eu

Ylva Johansson, Sweden’s candidate to the European Commission, will find out today if she has to return to sit before the EU parliament for further questioning, or whether her written answers were good enough. Johansson is up for the position of Commissioner for Employment and Integration, a posting that has got to be one of the most difficult and visible positions in the commission.

After the initial 3-hour long interview a week ago, there were several disgruntled listeners. Johansson was accused of being unclear on several points, from asylum and migration goals to human rights and security issues. Only the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats party (S&D – in which group Sweden’s Social Democratic party belongs) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) gave her the thumbs up right away. After the interview, she was given a list of questions to answer in written form, and 48 hours in which to answer them. These answers were sent to the committees for each EU party (who are different than Sweden’s party constellation) for their consideration.

We’ll find out later today if her answers are sufficient.

Update: her answers were sufficient, so Johansson wasn’t asked to come back for a second round of grilling. This means that she is on track for approval, when, on October 23, the EU parliament votes thumbs up or down on Ursula von der Leyen’s entire slate of commissioners.

10 sep. – new appointments

Two new ministers, an ex-minister gets the EU’s migration portfolio and and an ex-party leader goes back into uniform. Where to start?

When Margot Wallström said buh-bye to the Foreign Minister job there weren’t really a lot of candidates to replace her. It had to be a woman, so that narrowed it right down too. Today, we got the formal word that the new Minister for Foreign Affairs will be Ann Linde, previously Minister for Foreign Trade, with responsibility for Nordic affairs.

This is not particularly surprising, and she’ll likely continue with a feminist foreign policy (but without the fanfare). However, her appointment is far from unquestioned: Linde showed incredibly poor judgement when she heard about the data leaks at the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) – and didn’t do anything. Let’s hope she’s learned something, or Sweden’s security is in shaky hands. A minor, but likely painful, problem will be all the coming meetings with foreign representatives who will no doubt think, however briefly, of Anna Lindh, the well known and popular Foreign Minister who met a tragic end in 2003.

The new Minister for Employment, Eva Nordmark, will also have to fill large shoes. Nordmark comes from TCO, The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees where she has been chair. TCO is an umbrella organization for 13 different white-collar unions and as far as anyone knows, is skeleton free. The Ministry for Employment is responsible for “the labour market, the work environment, gender equality, human rights at national level, children’s rights and the introduction of newly arrived immigrants,” so not so piddly.

Meanwhile, the previous Minister for Employment, Ylva Johansson, is in Brussels and looks to be getting the dubious honor, but important position, of heading up EU’s Home Affairs office. The EU commission is the executive branch of the EU, proposing legislation and implementing decisions (nod here to Wikipedia) – at Home Affairs, Johansson will be working on easy stuff like migration issues and security. EU commissioner von der Leyen described Johansson as “hands-on. If you want something to be done, ask her”(t.sr.se/SRJohansson).

There’s going to be a lot of asks, as there is a lot that people want done. Or not. Some people want their own migration policy and not EU deciding it for them. Getting 28 countries to agree on a migration policy is, well, as the Chinese have it “when the sun rises in the west.”

Finally, Major Jan Björklund is back on the job. This time, not as Liberal Party leader but as acting operations leader in Middle Military Region’s command staff (). Though he couldn’t introduce discipline in schools, it seems like he’s giving it another try in the trenches.

Thurs. 8/8 – Commissioner Johansson

The Löfven government today nominated current Minister for Employment, and Integration, and long time Social Democratic party member Ylva Johansson to be Sweden’s next EU commissioner.

In case you’re not 200% on the topic, the EU has 28 commissioners, one from each member country. After being nominated, they are questioned by the EU Parliament regarding their general suitability, and if that goes well, they form the EU President’s cabal. Team. Once there, they are allotted their own portfolio to manage, with the expectation they will act in the EU’s interests, not in their country’s interests.

Since 2010, Sweden’s EU Commissioner has been Cecilia Malmström from the Liberal Party. She has held the Home Affairs portfolio, and for the last five years, the Trade portfolio. With Trump alternately slapping on tariffs or threatening to slap on tariffs, she has had her hands full, and has arguably done a great job parrying, yet not quite antagonizing, the Trump administration. Trade is a high level portfolio and it’s been nice for Sweden to hold it.

Ylva Johansson began her political career as a member of the Left Party Communists (Vänsterpartiet Kommunisterna) back in 1988. (In 1990, the party changed its name to the Left Party after the collapse of the Soviet Union.) Johannson become Minister for Schools for the Social Democratic party in 1994. (Wikipedia doesn’t say why she changed parties, but it was definitely a good career move.) She has also served as Minister of Health and Social Affairs. Johansson represents north and east Skåne in Parliament.

Since the nomination is always worked out with the EU President in advance (the newly appointed Ursula von der Leyen from Germany – see earlier post), Johansson’s nomination is basically secured. von der Leyen has also gone on record for being in favor of a gender-equal commission (it’s currently – and always has been – very unequal) so that works for Johansson as well.