The financial and economic crisis, the constitutional and institutional uncertainties and the climate change issue will dominate the Swedish EU Presidency. This European Policy Analysis outlines, in turn, the European and global context; the tasks and roles of the presidency; and the priorities of the Swedish government for its stint at the helm of the European Union.

The latest poll of the Swedish public opinion regarding the EU shows that the levels of support are at an all-time high since the membership in 1995. There is now almost a majority supporting the EU.

The French Presidency selected four priorities – immigration, defence, climate change and energy, agriculture – in line with the European agenda but also with national interests. The Union for the Mediterraneanwas later added to this list.

Slovenia, Germany and Portugal have agreed on a common 18-month programme of the first presiding "trio". As the last presiding country within the trio, Slovenia mainly took on the fairly "traditional role" of a small country holding the EU presidency - managing "a good presidency" for the EU.

The Swedish EU Presidency during the second half of 2009 will be constrained by a number of external factors such as the investiture of a new Commission, a newly elected European Parliament and it will probably be held under constitutional uncertainty. Nonetheless, the Swedish Government will want to make a mark on the priorities of the European Union during the Presidency.

The support for the EU continues to increase in the Swedish public opinion. The latest measurements from the SOM-Institute shows that the support is now stronger than in any previous measurement.

This Report gives a detailed insight into the organisational structures of the German Presidency. It starts with a general part describing German motivation for European integration, the developments since the German unification, public opinion on European integration and the positions of important political players in Germany.

Austria joined the EU in January 1995. It had been a long road to membership.

This study investigates the nature of the relationship between small states and the European Commission, posing the question whether the Commission is a small state's "best friend". Focusing in particular on the Belgian, Greek, Finnish and Hungarian experience, the key findings indicate that the small state-Commission relationship is not as straightforward as the "best friend" analogy may suggest.

This paper looks at the evolution of Britain’s role in Europe in the light of the issues facing the UK Presidency in the second half of 2005 The report was presented at the seminar The UK 2005 Presidency: Beyond the British Question? and is a part of the research project The EU Presidencies.  2005:2op The UK 2005 Presidency: Beyond the British Question? (168.