Yearbook 2007
European Union. Here are some of the events and decisions
within the EU that were noted in 2007. During the year, the
EU expanded from 25 to 27 nations.
Acrylamide. The EU's three-year acrylamide
project HEATOX (Heat-induced food toxicants), led by Lund
University, was completed in November. The project involved
24 organizations from 14 countries, and the aim was to
develop knowledge on a broad front to solve or reduce the
problems with acrylamide. Among other things, Sweden's five
participating organizations have developed a safe method of
analysis for the determination of acrylamide levels in
foods, shown on methods that can reduce acrylamide formation
in potato products and breads, and have shown that blood
tests are better than dietary surveys in epidemiological
studies to estimate cancer risk. The origin of the project
was research results from 2001 and 2002 which showed that
the poison acrylamide arose in the production and
preparation of certain foods.
Alcohol. In December, the Council of Ministers
adopted a new EU regulation on definitions and labeling of
spirits. The purpose is to make it clear to consumers which
goods it is about and to facilitate trade between the
countries. The greatest attention in Sweden got the
discussions about the definition of vodka. According to the
regulation, vodka can be produced from any agricultural raw
material, such as molasses, grapes or apples. However, if
the vodka is made from raw materials other than potatoes or
cereals, this must be clearly stated on the label. The
"Vodka countries" (Sweden, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania) wanted a more strict definition of vodka (=
spirits made from cereals and potatoes). Another effect of
the labeling rules is that all liquor bottles must be
labeled on the back with the word spirits, as information
for those who wonder what the drink is.
The Swedish ban on private imports of alcoholic beverages
alongside Systembolaget, e.g. via the Internet, violates EU
rules on free movement, according to an EC ruling during the
summer. The target is also called the "Rosengren goal" after
Klas Rosengren, one of the wine importers. The outcome was
unexpected, since the preliminary opinion of, among other
things, Advocate General of the Court of Justice, going in
the opposite direction. The Swedish Supreme Court had
requested guidance from the European Court of Justice before
forthcoming judgments. This was particularly the case where,
in 2004, private persons ordered Spanish wine seized by the
customs via the Internet. The private individuals have since
appealed the seizure and in court filed cases against the
Customs Administration and the Swedish state to get their
goods back.
The EC judgment, which is indicative of Swedish courts,
was seen as a victory for private importers of alcohol from
other EU countries. Following the EC ruling, the Customs
released seized alcoholic products to 7,300 people. Private
imports are not expected to give any particularly
significant economic advantage, since the imported alcohol
is taxed in the recipient country. The Customs
Administration and the Swedish Tax Agency have the task of
ensuring that Swedish alcohol tax is paid and that the age
limit of 20 years for the buyers is maintained.
EU Treaty, The Lisbon Treaty. After years of
negotiations, long-delays and compromises, the member
states' heads of state and government signed a new treaty
with the EU's basic rules at the Lisbon summit on 13
December. The Lisbon Treaty is a reform treaty with
amendments to previous treaties. The first EC Treaty, the
Rome Treaty, came into force in 1958, the first EU Treaty,
the Maastricht Treaty, entered into force in 1993, the
Amsterdam Treaty in 1999 and the Treaty of Nice in 2003.
that the cooperation of the Heads of State or Government in
the European Council, the EU's highest body, should be led
by an elected President, called President. The EU's foreign
policy role must be sharpened, and a foreign minister
appointed. Under the Treaty, the European Parliament should
be given more powers in the field of legislation; at the
same time as national parliaments have more to say when EU
decisions are made. The Lisbon Treaty also means that a
specific Charter of Fundamental Rights of European citizens
(which was also signed in December) may begin to apply.
However, the Lisbon Treaty is not yet final in port. In
order to enter into force before the June 2009 European
elections, it must first be ratified, approved, in its
entirety by all 27 member states' parliaments. In addition,
some countries will hold a referendum on the treaty.
Hungary, which became the first country to ratify the
treaty, approved this December 17, when it was only a few
days old.
On March 23, 2007, it was 50 years since the EC Treaty
was signed in Rome. It was celebrated with pomp and standing
in the capital of the Presidency, Berlin.
European Commission. Meglena Kuneva (born 1957)
and Leonard Orban (born 1961) from the two new EU countries
Bulgaria and Romania respectively were installed as
commissioners on 1 January 2007. Kuneva was given the
responsibility of consumer policy and Orban multilingualism
and cultural diversity. Their term of office extends to
October 31, 2009.
During the year, Commission Vice-President Margot
Wallström was responsible for the special effort to increase
communication with EU citizens.
European Parliament. In January, Hans-Gert
Pöttering (born 1945) was elected from Germany as the new
European Parliament President after the Spanish Josep
Borrell Fontelles. Pöttering received 450 votes out of a
total of 689 votes. Parliament was enlarged by a total of 53
new members from the new EU countries Romania (35 members)
and Bulgaria (18 members). The new Member States held
elections to the European Parliament in November and May,
respectively, before the EU parliamentarians were
temporarily appointed by the respective national
parliaments. Due to the newly arrived countries, the number
of MEPs increased to 785 members in 2007. At the 2009
regular EU elections, the number of parliamentarians again
decreased through a general redistribution.
European Year of Equal Opportunities for All 2007,
EY07. The theme year was announced by the EU to combat
discrimination and promote people's right to equal
treatment. In Sweden, The Human Rights Delegation is a
campaign against discrimination on grounds of gender, race,
ethnic origin, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual
orientation.
Film Prize. The European Parliament's new film
prize Lux was awarded for the first time. The premiere year
went to the German-Turkish film At the Edge of
Heaven, directed by Fatih Akin (born 1973). One of the
protagonists, German Hanna Schygulla, received the award
statue, which symbolizes Babel's tower and linguistic
diversity. The purpose of the film prize is to improve the
spread of European film across national borders and language
barriers. The film is subtitled in the EU's 23 official
languages. In addition, the film is adapted for hearing
impaired and visually impaired persons.
Fishing. The size of the fishing quotas
continued to be debated. Research reports showed the risk of
fishing for cod mainly in the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea.
In late autumn, the Council of Ministers agreed on a
reduction of the 2008 fishing quotas and a reduction in the
number of permitted fishing days. However, the reductions
were not as great as Sweden and the European Commission had
suggested. Extended monitoring and more checks should be
done to stop black fishing, ie. withdrawal of more fish than
the quotas allocated. It is especially Polish fishermen who
together fished more than twice their quotas.
EU auditors presented a report that judged the European
system of control of professional fishermen and their
catches. The auditors pointed to uncertain information
regarding both the availability of fish such as catches,
ineffective inspections and penalties that did not deter
illegal fishing.
Refugees. In November, the Swedish Migration
Board received an EU grant of SEK 32 million to improve the
reception of refugees from Iraq. Almost SEK 70 million went
to the countries with the most asylum seekers: Sweden,
Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain. In 2007, approximately
20,000 Iraqis sought asylum in the West, of which about half
wanted to come to Sweden.
Galileo. The European satellite navigation
project Galileo will continue and be financed with money
from the EU budget, according to a decision in December. The
project has previously been delayed due to the withdrawal of
private financiers. The financing of Galileo is managed by
transferring part of the surplus from the agricultural
subsidy to the satellite project. According to the plan, 30
satellites will be in place in space in 2013. The purpose of
Galileo is, among other things, to reduce the European
dependence on the US GPS navigation system for satellite
navigation.
Health. The EU is intensifying the fight for
healthier living habits and better health, especially for
better eating habits and increased physical activity. Over
the past 30 years, obesity and obesity have increased
dramatically among the EU population. This is expected to
lead to an increase in, among other things, cardiovascular
diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke,
certain cancers, diseases of the organs and mental illness.
In Sweden, knowledge and information about healthier living
habits are disseminated by, for example, the National Food
Agency, the National Public Health Institute and the
National Board of Health and Welfare.
Smoking ban on taverns etc. places have brought major
health benefits that affect human health in the long term,
according to the EU's anti-smoking campaign. In a large
study, including both smokers and non-smokers, the carbon
monoxide content was measured in 111,000 subjects' exhaled
air. Countries with restrictive smoking policies that have
introduced high tobacco prices and smoke-free environments
in restaurants, workplaces and public places have had a
clear effect with lower levels of carbon monoxide in the
exhaled air of non-smokers. Carbon monoxide, which is formed
during all combustion, affects, among other things. the
oxygen-transporting capacity of the blood and in the long
run impair blood circulation. In Sweden, restaurant staff
received a clearly better health after the smoking
cessation, which was introduced in 2005.
Eight out of ten residents in Sweden feel that they are
doing well, according to a Eurobarometer on the state of
health of EU citizens. At the same time, Sweden is the
country with the most allergic inhabitants. More than a
third of Swedes say they have allergic problems, while the
average for the whole EU is 17 percent. The Swedes visit
dentists more often than the EU citizen in common. Nearly
eight out of ten Swedes go to dentists every year, while the
average across the EU is that six out of ten residents open
their mouths to their dentists once a year.
Agriculture. The European Commission demanded
back close to € 4 million, about SEK 34 million, from Sweden
for incorrectly paid agricultural support. Swedish controls
on the area aid were considered to be poor. During the year,
the Commission demanded agricultural money in excess of EUR
145 million from eleven Member States. Italy and France
received the largest recovery of 83 and 50 million euros
respectively. The individual countries are responsible for
the payment and control of the agricultural aid itself. The
Commission then examines compliance with the rules.
Reimbursement requirements are most often due to inadequate
checks or late payments.
Environment. EU heads of state and government
agreed on a new long-term climate and energy policy. The
targets include reduced carbon dioxide emissions, increased
use of biofuels in vehicles, more efficient energy use in
homes and that total energy use by 20 per cent by 2020 is
renewable energy. The current share of renewable energy is 8
percent. Sweden is among the countries with the most
renewable energy, 40 percent, mainly due to a well-developed
hydropower.
The EU participated as an active and leading party in the
international negotiations on a new global climate
agreement. During the ICCP climate meeting in Bali, the EU
criticized the US for not taking enough responsibility to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Emissions trading will, from 2012, include flights within
the EU as well as to and from the Union. This makes aviation
the first type of transport that is part of the emissions
trading. Ninety percent of allowances should be distributed
free of charge, while ten percent will be auctioned.
Mobile telephony. During the summer it became
cheaper to make a call on a mobile phone when traveling
between countries in the Union. Then new EU rules came into
force regulating the prices of international roaming, ie.
technology that makes it possible to switch mobile networks
when moving between different countries. According to the
new Eurotariff, a ceiling price of initially 49 euro cents
per minute excluding VAT for a traveler calling within the
EU is set. The cost of calls received is about half that
price. Some mobile operators have call rates under the
Eurotariff. Previously, roaming charges had varied widely,
and were up to € 12 for a four-minute call. When a person
crosses the border to another EU country, the home country
operator must clearly inform the prices of voice calls, data
traffic, SMS and MMS from and to the new country.
Presidential country. In January, Germany and
Chancellor Angela Merkel took over the EU Presidency from
Finland. At the turn of the year, the Presidency Club was
handed over to Portugal and Prime Minister José Sócrates.
For Portugal, the dominant task was to finalize the
negotiations on the new EU treaty, also called the Reform or
Lisbon Treaty.
Schengen. The EU's passport union Schengen was
expanded with nine new countries: Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech
Republic. The Schengen area has already covered the EU's old
member states, but the UK and Ireland have chosen to retain
their border controls. In addition, Norway and Iceland are
included, even though they are not EU countries. The border
checks on land and sea travel between all Schengen countries
expired on December 21, 2007, while passport checks on air
travel continued for a few more months. Although passport
freedom prevails, the countries still have the right, as
part of the police work, to carry out identity checks in
their own territory. The legislation of the countries states
whether you need to bring your identity card or passport.
Enlargement. Romania and Bulgaria became new
member states in the EU on 1 January 2007. This meant the
completion of the fifth enlargement of the EU, which began
in spring 2004. The Community was thus expanded to 27
countries with a total of 492.8 million inhabitants with 23
official languages.
Election observers. Demand from other countries
for election observers and election observers from the EU
increased. During the year, the EU sent out about 1,000
observers, drawn from all Member States, to monitor national
elections in, among other places. Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, East
Timor, Sierra Leone and Kenya. The task of the supervisors
and observers is to verify that elections follow
international requirements for democratic elections. In most
cases, the rules of the game were followed, but the
observers also discovered electoral fraud.
Foreign exchange cooperation. Slovenia changed
currency from tariffs to euros on 1 January 2007, with a
conversion rate of 239 tariffs = 1 euro. Of the ten
countries that joined the EU in 2004, Slovenia was the first
to meet the requirements to join the European Economic and
Monetary Union (EMU). After Slovenia's currency transition,
thirteen EU countries are part of the currency cooperation.
During the year, Cyprus and Malta received approval to
introduce the euro from January 2008.
Coins made from 2007 change the appearance, among other
things the maps, which are embossed on 10-, 20- and 50-cent
coins as well as 1- and 2-euro coins, were updated to show
the whole of Europe, according to
COUNTRYAAH.
In March, a commemorative jubilee coin was issued in
denomination 2 euros in a circulation of 30 million copies
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the 1957
Treaty of Rome. San Marino, Vatican City, Monaco, Portugal,
Germany and Luxembourg. All anniversary coins are legal
currency throughout the euro area.
Vaxholm conflict. The building association's war
measures against a Latvian construction company in Vaxholm
went too far and hindered the free movement of goods and
services. This was evidenced by the ECJ's ruling in the
so-called Vaxholms case between the Swedish Construction
Workers' Union and the Latvian construction company Laval un
Partneri Ltd. The conflict dates back to 2004 when the
Latvian construction company staff was to carry out
remodeling work at a school in Vaxholm. Svenska Byggnads
demanded that the company sign the Swedish collective
agreement and fulfill certain salary conditions. The Latvian
company pointed out that the workers had collective
agreements in their home country and refused to sign Swedish
collective agreements, which led to Byggnads blocking the
company. The company later went bankrupt. The European Court
of Justice finds in its judgment that trade union action is
in itself a fundamental right, but it should not be based on
forcing an agreement with the building contract. The
conflict between the parties to the Vaxholms case had
previously arisen in the Swedish Labor Court, AD, which,
before a final decision, requested an opinion from the
European Court of Justice.
Openness. EU countries must not prevent the EU
institutions from issuing documents submitted by the
countries, according to a judgment of the European Court of
Justice. Sweden had appealed against a previous judgment of
the EU Court of First Instance which approved a decision
taken by the Commission not to disclose documents from
Germany. It was a German nature conservation association
that in vain requested the documents on an industrial
project in a German Natura 2000 area. The Court of Justice
thus went on the line of Sweden and annulled the
Commission's decision not to disclose the documents. The
European Court of Justice clarified that Member States may
continue to request that documents sent to the EU
institutions should not be disclosed. However, this does not
mean that the countries have the right to veto the
extradition.
The EU institutions have long been criticized for lack of
transparency in matters of decision-making and
decision-making, and the EU is working to increase
transparency for the public and interest groups. However, EU
transparency rules do not allow for as much transparency as
the Swedish public principle. |
