Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-07-01
CONTENTS
[01] Swedish ambassador outlines Stockholm's EU presidency priorities
[01] Swedish ambassador outlines Stockholm's EU presidency priorities
Economic issues and ways to tackle the international financial crisis
will be the main priorities of the Swedish EU Presidency over the next
six months.
Special attention will be given to the monitoring of the banking sector
and unemployment, a nagging problem across Europe.
Swedish ambassador to Athens Hakan Malmqvist outlined the key-points of
the Swedish EU presidency in a press conference on Wednesday.
He underlined that Sweden is concerned about unemployment, which
currently has risen to 10 and 11 pct, compared to a previous 3-5 pct,
characterising it as a major challenge. Other issues included in the
Swedish EU presidency priorities are the climate change, institutional
issues, Europe's foreign relations and cooperation in the sector of
justice.
The Swedish EU presidency has underlined that the challenges are many,
considering that the EURO of 27 member-states and roughly 500 million
people is very different from the European community that was founded
50 years ago.
The issue of illegal migration will also be discussed in the EU
Ministerial Council meeting chaired by Sweden.
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