EU election campaign in Sweden

Nine months ahead of the elections to the European Parliament Sweden's political parties have already launched the election campaign. The Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter hopes that these, the country's fourth EU elections, will finally make the transition from being protest elections to becoming a normal democratic process: "One month after the elections to the European Parliament Sweden takes over the presidency of the EU Council. ... If the Lisbon treaty is ratified it will be Sweden's responsibility to implement it. 'With the Lisbon treaty the [process of] transferring power from a national level to the level of the EU, which will have its own president and EU foreign minister, will move ahead,' write [Green politicians] Maria Wetterstrand and Ulf Holm. But Carl B Hamilton, spokesman for the Liberals on climate and energy policy, made a valid point when he noted in a press release that it would be 'naïve' to believe that EU goals can be reached despite seriously weakened EU cooperation."

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