Response to interpellation 2022/23:114 on strengthening the EU's competitiveness during the EU presidency
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 KD argues that the government prioritizes the business sector's competitiveness and that the green transition is crucial for both climate and competitiveness 1. KD wants to create a unified competitiveness strategy, promote electrification as well as new nuclear power 1. KD emphasizes that the climate goals are fixed and that economic growth can go hand in hand with the green transition 2. KD considers that the solutions for the climate can vary but that the goals are common 3 2. KD looks forward to moving several important files forward at the EU level 2. KD considers it right to lower the requirement for the reduction obligation since high prices risk that Swedish companies and farmers decrease in competitiveness 4. 5 MP considers that the government does not prioritize climate work sufficiently and that current policy increases emissions 5 6. MP argues that the government undermines renewable electricity production and that the coalition partners lack a coherent climate policy 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! Elin Söderberg has asked me how I intend to act in order to credibly strengthen the EU's competitiveness during the EU presidency.
Parallel to handling acute crises for security, energy supply, and corporate survival in Europe, it is absolutely necessary to use the crisis as leverage to meet our long-term challenges. The Government has clearly prioritized the business sector's competitiveness in both Sweden and the EU. In the Government Bill, a new productivity commission was announced for a collective analysis of the Swedish economy's competitiveness.
Competitiveness is also one of the government's four priorities in the EU presidency. A strong and innovative economy is crucial for the EU's global position, but the EU has fallen behind. The EU countries' share of the global gross national product has fallen considerably over the last 30 years.
The government will therefore, during the Swedish presidency, act to ensure that a unified competitiveness strategy is placed at the top of the political agenda for the EU. The work has already yielded results by the European Council urging the European Commission in December 2022 to present such a strategy at the beginning of 2023. A natural starting point is the observation that the internal market was launched 30 years ago. The presidency will highlight the need for a new, long-term plan and vision for how the internal market can be a strong and sustainable engine for employment, entrepreneurship, and sustainable growth even during the next 30 years.
The green transition is important for both the climate and competitiveness. It is largely the companies that will carry out the green transition and develop solutions that contribute to the EU reaching climate neutrality by 2050. The climate transition of companies is a necessary global development, where EU companies have and should continue to have a leading position. A long-term sustainable competitiveness for the EU must stem from the EU's ambitious climate goals. The Government will therefore, during the presidency, also prioritize the work of phasing out the EU's dependence on fossil fuels and accelerating electrification. The EU countries that themselves wish to do so shall be able to continue taking responsibility by building new nuclear power.
It is crucial to have transparent, long-term, and predictable regulatory frameworks to create good trading conditions for companies. This requires an ambitious open trade policy that ensures fair competition and mutual benefits within and outside the internal market. Therefore, it is more important than ever to stand up for the multilateral rules-based trading system, with the WTO at its center. Not least Russia's aggression against Ukraine underscores the importance of strengthening resilience, diversifying supply chains, and guarding mutually deepened trade with other countries. Facilitating digital services in new trade agreements, as well as in the internal market, is an important task for the Swedish presidency. We also need to strengthen European production to secure supply chains in strategically important areas, not least so that technology companies within the green transition can locate and expand their operations within the European Union.
A whole like this is necessary to strengthen the EU's competitiveness in a credible way in a very restless time.
Elin Söderberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Ebba Busch very much for this answer. She mentions, among other things, that the crises currently being managed in the EU should be used as leverage to meet the long-term challenges, that "a strong and innovative economy is crucial for the EU's global standing" and that "the green transition is important for both the climate and competitiveness." I fully agree with this. Major investments are required to both halt the serious loss of biodiversity and halt the climate crisis to avoid serious consequences in the future. At the same time, we see that the climate transition offers fantastic opportunities for innovation, technological development, and community building, both here in Sweden and throughout the EU.
Madam Speaker! I do not, however, see that these issues are being prioritized by the government, neither in the joint work in the EU nor nationally at home. Consequently, I also see risks for Swedish and European competitiveness with a climate effort that is too small and too late.
Madam Speaker! The key to future competitiveness lies in the climate transition. Therefore, the government's credibility in business policy is also determined by its credibility in climate policy. Sweden has a strong business sector and an industry that has begun a fantastic climate transition and social development across the entire country through the green industrial revolution.
During the Green Party's time in government, we worked actively to create the best conditions for rapid climate transition, business development, innovation, and competitiveness that can make Sweden a global showcase for new technology and sustainable societal construction. It has yielded results. Swedish companies are world leaders, and thanks to this being prioritized when we were in government, we have also actively pushed the EU in these matters. Now we see supply chains within, among others, the steel, battery, and automotive industries across the entire EU taking large steps forward.
However, this is not a development that happens by itself. The business sector is extremely sensitive to political signals before making investments. The clearest example is that Swedish companies, following the change of government, have now stated that they are considering placing their investments in other countries.
Madam Speaker! I wish to ask Minister Ebba Busch what the Minister intends to do to strengthen climate work during the EU Presidency in the EU and in Sweden.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to point out to those listening to this now or who will listen afterwards that it is a strength in Swedish politics that two representatives who represent different parties and have supported different government options stand here and debate without there being any question marks regarding whether we take the climate challenge and the problems we have seriously. It is the solutions that look different, and the focus can lie on sharpening and challenging each other when it comes to the way forward.
I also want to emphasize that our clear priorities have been well-received in the hearings that many representatives of the government have held in various EU contexts at the beginning of the Swedish EU Presidency. Two of the four priorities for the Swedish Presidency are precisely competitiveness and green transition, and we clearly mark that they are linked. If we are to manage the green transition and reach our high-set climate goals, it is unequivocal that much of the transition needs to occur through the business sector and companies. We have as a motto for the Swedish Presidency that we shall work for a European Union that is greener, freer, and safer, and that is not just a slogan.
With that said, we have seen a risk. I truly share much of the ambition for the world exhibition that the Swedish green transition now entails for Sweden. But there has been a risk that it becomes more of a museum exhibition if we land incorrectly. Parts of Swedish entrepreneurship and the business sector could then become an antiquity. If we navigate incorrectly, people will be forced to look for the "Made in Sweden" stamp in the future.
It is important here that we safeguard Swedish competitiveness through cooperation within the European Union. It is with concern that we have observed the messages and the risk of distortion of competition that has bubbled up in the discussion among individual member states in response to the IRA. Inflation Reduction Act is the USA's way to - if one is to interpret it positively - now signal that the way forward is green transition. But there is a very serious risk of a trade war if one does not navigate correctly.
We note that several heavy representatives for the business sector state that this raises questions regarding some of the long-term new investments in Sweden. Therefore, it is also important that the energy advisory group, which I have the privilege of leading, and the competitiveness advisory group are joined together when we respond to this. If we are to succeed in reaching our high-set climate goals and stick to them, a course that is very clear during the Swedish presidency, it is by strengthening competitiveness with green transition. There should be no questions about that. This is the line that we will continue to hold during the spring presidency, and it is also a Swedish position that is well-anchored in the EU committee.
Elin Söderberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Ebba Busch! It is good to hear that we agree on the climate goals and that they are fixed and shall be reached. The Minister says that we have different solutions to this problem. My view, however, is that the measures that have been taken recently by the recently inaugurated government increase emissions here in Sweden, which means that we do not reach the climate goals.
I would very much like to have a debate on how we solve the climate crisis where the government parties can present a proposal that reduces emissions as much as the Miljöpartiet wants to reduce emissions. Then we could debate how and why our different solutions are good. But we do not have a debate on how we solve the climate crisis. As long as we have a government that increases the emissions of the fossil greenhouse gases, we have a debate on whether we will reach the climate goals and whether we will handle the climate crisis.
Madam Speaker! Since Ulf Kristersson took office as Prime Minister, the government has introduced or announced reforms that significantly increase Swedish greenhouse gas emissions, undermine the biorefinery industry, and pull the rug out from under renewable electricity production that could quickly be established and meet the needs that the industry has in its climate transition.
The government refers every climate policy issue to energy policy but simultaneously prioritizes downscaling measures for energy efficiency and complicates investments in wind power. The signals that the government sends to the business sector are that it has climate policy ambitions somewhere between "if we don't reach the goals, we don't reach them" and the Sweden Democrats' statements about scrapping the Swedish climate goals.
The EU, for its part, is conducting active climate work with Fit for 55 and is leading the way by pressing member states to both expand cheap renewable energy production and improve the efficiency of energy use. The EU also constitutes the main market for Swedish companies. Customers of Swedish companies demand sustainability and products with good climate standards.
The government base, however, consists of four parties. None of these parties have presented a climate policy that can come anywhere close to reducing emissions, even to compensate for the measures they have taken that have increased emissions.
The largest party in the government support does not even stand behind the climate goal for 2045 established by the Riksdag. We heard in these days that the goal would not even be mentioned in the government's PowerPoints.
The Sweden Democrats are also clear that they will oppose climate policy in both the Swedish government and the EU. What risks global warming poses for our population does not seem to be recognized by the Sweden Democrats.
The government's and the coalition partner Sverigedemokraternas position on climate work and the concrete policy being put forward is crucial for both the EU's and Sweden's competitiveness.
I wonder: What climate policy do the coalition parties agree on?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! The position is clear. The government has not submitted any climate goals in either the short or long term. They are fixed. They are also part of the budget that we presented in the autumn.
Then individual parties can think and feel differently about them. But we agree not to change them. There is no such settlement, rather they remain constant. We have negotiated a number of different political measures which we have accounted for both when the Tidö Agreement was presented and in a number of press conferences thereafter. We will return with a roadmap with further specifications for the climate which we look forward to debating with the Riksdag when the opportunity arises.
We had the opportunity to welcome the EU Commission to Kiruna. It was no coincidence that we stuck to the planning that existed. When we welcome the EU's most prominent representatives to Sweden, we shall do so in a place that is truly at the forefront of the green transition. It shows that it is possible to combine ambitious climate goals with economic growth and a strong welfare state. They do not have to be in opposition to each other.
When we have had discussions with other countries that have a different view on the climate issue than ours, we have many times put forward the moral arguments, the conscience arguments, and the stewardship idea. We have received back: That may be true, but we cannot help but make the journey in economic growth that you have made. We cannot withhold the welfare opportunities for our own population that you have created in your country. Here we show that it is possible to go hand in hand. It is possible to take the green transition further steps forward and at the same time enable a strong welfare and economic growth.
It is not for lack of reason that we have chosen to place so many of our solutions for the climate goals in the area of energy policy. If we are to significantly reduce emissions within the transport sector and heavy industry where we have our large emissions and not just put a lot of pressure forward on the individual, the way forward is electrification of the vehicle fleet. The way forward is much more electricity for our heavy industry, which looks to be able to make quite groundbreaking progress in the area. Then there needs to be enough electricity for that.
With that said, the question today has been how we intend to act in a credible manner to strengthen the EU's competitiveness during the EU Presidency. I have tried to account for that in writing and take some follow-up questions on it. It is done credibly by the fact that two of the four priorities are precisely competitiveness and green transition.
Then we have respect for the fact that we choose different tools in certain, especially domestic, policy issues. But at the EU level, we look forward to moving several of the important files and acts forward, and not least Fit for 55.
Elin Söderberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by being extremely clear. There is no business as usual scenario without climate-related consequences. Either we transition and reduce emissions at the rate required to meet the Paris Agreement, while simultaneously adapting to the climate change that is nonetheless occurring within the Paris Agreement. Or we do not transition fast enough, and then we are left with the consequences. The consequences of global warming will eventually spiral beyond human control.
Madam Speaker! I want to devote the last seconds of my speech to speaking a little about the reduction obligation precisely because it links to climate policy and EU policy.
Sweden today has a binding commitment within the EU to reduce our territorial emissions that are not part of the EU's emissions trading. The reduction obligation has been central for us to reach that goal.
The government has announced that it wants to abolish, significantly cut, and reduce the reduction obligation to the EU's minimum level from and including January 1, 2024. This would lead to significantly increased emissions of fossil greenhouse gases and an increased dependence on imports of fossil fuels. Furthermore, it leads to us not reaching our climate goal in the EU.
There are some alternative paths forward here for the government. This could mean large costs for the state treasury, significant effects for the entire forestry industry, or major consequences within the transport sector. I would like the government to account for how they intend to implement something from a holistic perspective before undertaking such a powerful reform.
Therefore, I want to conclude by asking the Minister: How does the government intend to bring the whole together regarding our climate commitment, and which industries risk being affected?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is a difficult balancing act that we are walking now. Time is ticking. There is little time to reach our climate goals in time before we end up in a situation that is beyond control. We are very close to it already now.
At the same time, we have sometimes made decisions at such a pace that things have changed. This applies, for example, to the price of biofuels that have been mixed into diesel. The price development has become such that we have risked a situation where Swedish companies and Swedish agriculture decrease in competitiveness.
It is not just that, they are even shutting down. It risks forcing production out to other countries that have a completely different view on the environment, the climate issue, and emissions. It also increases our import needs and risks contributing to increased emissions along that route.
This, in combination with the fact that it simply has not been a sustainable price picture, has made me think that it is right and proper that we now lower the requirement for the reduction obligation when the price of biofuels is so high. If it develops in a different way, perhaps we can also return to that question. No such position exists now, but it is the price picture we have wished to address.
We are currently preparing the whole of this before we go down to the EU's minimum level on January 1 next year. We will then return collectively with that in one part we risk increasing our emissions - we are aware of that - and what other measures we will take additionally. The objective remains fixed.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.