The biggest economic crisis since the 1930s and the climate summit in Copenhagen in December are among the challenges for Sweden during its EU presidency. According to the Brussels based EU blogger Tobias Gräs, expectations are high that the Swedish can add stability and efficiency to the Union. Both values are in demand and needed to successfully steer through one of the most loaded and decisive political periods the Union has seen for a long time.

The Czech presidency was marked by government crisis and the curious fact that the president of the presidency country is the most EU sceptical EU head of state. Inside the EU’s institutions, expectations are high that the Swedish presidency brings Scandinavian IKEA functionalism to Brussels, estimates euobserver.com blogger Tobias Gräs. He underlines that stable and competent leadership is needed at a time when a newly elected European Parliament and a new Commission are to settle in, whilst the question about the Lisbon treaty remains open.

“The EU is in a situation where all are waiting to see if Ireland accepts or rejects the Lisbon treaty. Such a situation makes it difficult for Sweden to move the EU out of this waiting position, until the treaty question will hopefully be resolved by October. At the same time, one has to remember that a new Commission does not only mean the designation of a Commission President and Commissioners from the Member States. It might also very well lead to a restructuring of Commission services, which in turn might also limit the speed of the EU and provide challenges for the Swedish presidency”, says Tobias Gräs.

In spite of the many institutional changes and the risk for a treaty meltdown in the event of an Irish no vote in October, Gräs estimates that Sweden stands a good chance to succeed with the presidency. Since the stated top priority for Sweden during the presidency is to reach an agreement at the Copenhagen climate summit in December, which the EU system is well prepared for. Also, the climate topic is directly linked with the other major challenge for the Swedish presidency, which is the continued handling of the economic crisis.

“It is true that the crisis has led to a rhetorical shift, with crisis and not climate being most widely referred to, also here in Brussels. However, when one takes a closer look at the initiatives that are underway in the EU system, it is striking that they have a whole lot to do with climate, and it is equally important that the economic crisis has not been used as a pretext to extend environmental deadlines or for downgrading climate priorities in other ways. Indeed the fact that the EU has held on to clear climate priorities gives Sweden a good starting point for the December summit.

Gräs also underlines that the EU needs to keep its climate priorities, since neither politically nor economically can the Union afford to downgrade in this field. The EU has a stated ambition to use the fight against climate change to create new green jobs.

“The West – in particular but unfortunately not only the US – is highly indebted and risks not being able to afford investments in the jobs of the future. Therefore the EU needs successful initiatives aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change as a means to secure further investments in research and development. Such investments in innovation and new technologies are needed in the medium term to bring the European economy forward, and in this respect Swedish achievements in the coming months and a positive outcome of COP 15 are important. In particular, a global climate agreement might serve as a means to secure that money are allocated for enhanced research and development in the next financial perspective 2014 – 2020, says Gräs.

Hence there is a hope in Brussels that the Swedish EU presidency may end like a true IKEA fairy tale in which functionality and good ideas create a simple yet previously unseen success. When Sweden hands over the presidency on 1 January 2010 a new EU treaty might be in place, together with a new Commission, and the EU may have been a driving force behind a global climate deal in Copenhagen. It might also prove to be impossible to deal with all these challenges, and experience shows that the EU is subject to pressure both from the outside and from within. However, as Gräs points out the EU needs success. So maybe there is a chance that all the screws are actually in the pack when the Swedes take on the assembling of their IKEA presidency.