The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union has invited EU finance ministers to an informal working lunch on 2 September in Brussels. The aim is to prepare a common EU position prior to the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in London on 4-5 September.
Minister for Finance Anders Borg and Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets Mats Odell presented the Swedish Presidency’s priorities at the meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
The EU’s agriculture and fisheries ministers will meet in Brussels on 7 September. Minister for Agriculture Eskil Erlandsson will chair the meeting. Top of the agenda is the situation on the European milk market in the light of the Commission’s report on and analysis of the dairy market. The Agriculture Council meeting has been brought forward from 29 September specifically in response to the Commission’s report.
To coordinate EU’s position in view of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Swedish Prime Minister and European Council President Fredrik Reinfeldt today called for an extra informal European Council meeting to take place in Brussels on Thursday the 17th of September.
Anna Halvarsson works with transport issues at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels. This autumn she is chairing two working parties within the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council. Their focus is primarily on shaping the transport of the future.
Pavan Sukhdev, economist and study leader for TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) is now in Strömstad, Sweden as a key speaker at the high-level conference “Visions for Biodiversity beyond 2010 – People, Ecosystem Services and the Climate Crisis”. Biodiversity is closely linked to the climate issue, which is also the message from the latest TEEB results Climate Issues Update. The meeting in Strömstad is therefore important in the preparations for the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December.
The link between climate policy and measures for biodiversity must be strengthened. A clear vision for the future is necessary. To put a price on services provided by nature is a way of clarifying what is required to preserve biodiversity.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) is meeting in Brussels on 14–15 September. Preparations ahead of the upcoming EU summit on 29–30 October, the situation in Afghanistan following the elections, the EU’s approach towards Iran and the EU’s relations with the Southern Caucasus are important issues on the agenda. Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmström and Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt will chair the Council meetings.
