Politicians and public officials are not the only people involved in the EU presidency. Many Swedes outside the Government Offices and conference chambers will also be drawn into the organisational process.

 “The presidency will be quite a challenge, but represents a golden opportunity, too,“ says Maria Johansson, director of local development at the Kiruna municipal offices. She has been busy since November coordinating the four meetings held in the region, and also issuing information about them. She herself has no previous experience of EU activities, but is not worried about what lies ahead.
“No, I’m not, we’re used to having tourists and visitors from abroad here,” she says. “For our municipality, of course, it’s important to build up contacts and show what we can do, based on the programme contents.
“Quite simply, it involves marketing the special skills and conditions that Kiruna has to offer, especially in the environment and research fields.”

Someone who is also looking forward to it all is Putte Eby, site manager at the Abisko tourist station, where some 100 visitors are expected in October for the scheduled meeting of the EU’s nature directors. The Swedish mountain region is beautiful but little exploited, which means the five-star hotels of urban civilisation are conspicuous by their absence.
At the Abisko tourist station, however, no-one’s expecting wrinkled brows. Putte Eby is confident the guests will settle in well.
“For us, this is a fantastic chance to show people our part of the world. Abisko is a national park, and one of the world’s oldest, too – this is its centenary year. Also, there’ll be nothing to distract our guests. We’d never have managed to cope with such a large group in the summer, during the peak season. In October, though, there’s almost no-one here. It’s hard to imagine an easier place for the police to guard. There’s nowhere here to hide.”

The city of Göteborg is definitely more densely populated than Abisko and Kiruna. But it is not – as Mayor Anneli Hulthén points out – a city that most Europeans can point to on a map. She therefore welcomes the fact that three informal ministerial meetings will be held in the city, seeing this as a chance to make the pride of Western Sweden better known to the rest of Europe.
“We’ve had experience of really big international events, such as the World Athletics Championships, for instance,” she says. “But this, of course, is a good opportunity for putting Göteborg on the map.”

Author: Mats Wiklund