Brussels

The following articles have been tagged with "Brussels":

Bildt and Miliband chide EU foreign chief

Politics: 4 Mar 10
The foreign ministers of Sweden and Britain joined forces on Thursday in directing a sharp rebuke at Baroness Catherine Ashton over a lack of transparency in the recruitment process for EU diplomats. READ »

Stockholm 'one of Europe's richest regions'

Business & Money: 18 Feb 10
The Stockholm area is one of the ten richest regions in the European Union, according to new figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency. READ »

Sweden's Borg talks tough on Greece debt

Politics: 16 Feb 10
Sweden's finance minister Anders Borg has led the chorus of European partners calling on Greece to "surpass" market expectations in dealing with its debt crisis. READ »

Two year wait for Stockholm flat: report

National: 8 Feb 10
The wait for a rental apartment in Stockholm averages 104 weeks, rising to as much as 20 years for attractive areas. In many comparable EU cities apartments can be found immediately, a new survey shows. READ »

Justice Minister reluctant to store data

National: 4 Feb 10
The European Court of Justice has told Sweden that it must implement a 2006 measure requiring telecom operators to store information about their customers’ phone calls and emails. But Justice Minister Beatrice Ask remains sceptical. READ »

Borg seeks US-inspired European bank tax

Business & Money: 19 Jan 10
Swedish Finance Minster Anders Borg on Tuesday called for a European bank tax similar to a new US scheme, in an attempt to rectify shabby public finances and create a cushion to protect against future financial crises. READ »

Wallström voters' pick for Prime Minister: poll

Politics: 9 Jan 10
Social Democrat Margot Wallström is a more popular choice than Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to lead the country, according to a new poll. The result follows speculation surrounding a secret plan to oust opposition leader Mona Sahlin. READ »

EU pledges climate cash to poor nations: Reinfeldt

Business & Money: 11 Dec 09
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced that the European Union's member states have agreed to give $10.6 billion to help developing nations tackle climate change. READ »

Reinfeldt calls on US to raise climate targets

Politics: 10 Dec 09
Swedish Prime Minster Fredrik Reinfeldt implored the United States on Wednesday to implement more ambitious goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. READ »

Sweden pledges billions in climate aid

Politics: 10 Dec 09
Sweden has agreed to provide the EU with 8 billion kronor ($1.12 billion) to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change, the government announced on Wednesday. READ »

Bildt blasts Belarus over student's expulsion

Politics: 9 Dec 09
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bidlt found himself embroiled in a verbal spat with his counterpart from Belarus on Tuesday over the questionable expulsion of a university student due to "poor attendance". READ »

Letter to the Editor: UK MPs back Sweden over Palestinian capital

Analysis & Opinion: 7 Dec 09
As EU foreign ministers gather in Brussels to debate the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations, a group of British MPs have come out in support of a Swedish proposal to establish East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. READ »

UK MPs back Swedish presidency on Jerusalem

Politics: 7 Dec 09
A group of nearly 50 members of the British parliament have written a letter voicing their support for a controversial Swedish EU presidency proposal to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. READ »

Nobel Week kicks off with feast and fancy

Society: 6 Dec 09
Nobel Week is once again in full swing, with the 12 Nobel laureates and their respective entourages arriving in the Swedish capital over the weekend. The week’s festivities will culminate with the Nobel Ceremony and Banquet on Thursday. READ »

BAIC closer to Saab deal with loan approval

Business & Money: 4 Dec 09
Prospective Saab buyer BAIC has received approval for a loan of 20 billion Yuan, approximately 20 billion Swedish kronor ($2.9 billion), from the Bank of China. READ »

EU closes in on banking oversight deal: Borg

Business & Money: 2 Dec 09
Sweden’s finance minister Anders Borg said on Wednesday that the EU was closer to a agreeing to a new set of measures for policing banks and financial institutions across national borders. READ »

Reinfeldt hails first day of EU's Lisbon Treaty

Politics: 1 Dec 09
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt welcomed “a new era” for the European Union on Tuesday, the first day the changes laid out in the Lisbon Treaty came into force. READ »

Swedish minister's infant daughter steals Brussels spotlight

Society: 1 Dec 09
Swedish migration minister Tobias Billström lightened the mood at an EU meeting about human trafficking on Monday by sneaking his baby daughter into the proceedings. READ »

Trustor 'mastermind' questioned by Swedish police in Brussels

Business & Money: 26 Nov 09
Joachim Posener, accused of being the brains behind the Trustor investment scandal, has been questioned by Swedish authorities after more than a decade on the run. READ »

Sweden reaches deal over top EU positions

Politics: 20 Nov 09
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced that Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy will be the first permanent President of the European Council following negotiations in Brussels on Thursday evening. READ »

Bildt fears insipid EU top job compromise

Politics: 19 Nov 09
Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt has given voice to apprehensions that the EU may settle on an uninspiring compromise candidate for the new post of president when the union's leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday. READ »

Reinfeldt pushes for consensus on EU leader

Politics: 19 Nov 09
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt made a last ditch effort on Wednesday night to get EU leaders to agree on a candidate to become the European Union’s first president. READ »

Too early to recognize Palestinian state: Bildt

Politics: 17 Nov 09
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, has said it is "premature" to recognize a Palestinian state. READ »

Sweden hopes gas talks don't turn poisonous at EU-Russia summit

Analysis & Opinion: 16 Nov 09
EU and Russian leaders will open summit talks in Sweden on Wednesday in an atmosphere clouded by uneasy relations between Moscow and Stockholm over human rights and last's year's war in Georgia. READ »

Swedes cast about for EU job candidates

Politics: 16 Nov 09
Sweden, the current head of the EU's rotating presidency, is ratcheting up its hunt for consensus candidates for two new EU top jobs. Stockholm intends to have the positions filled at a summit later this week. READ »

Wallström in running for top UN job

Politics: 14 Nov 09
Outgoing Swedish EU commissioner Margot Wallström has been nominated by the government to fill a top job at the United Nations headquarters in New York when her term of office ends early next year. READ »

Sweden calls summit over EU top jobs

Politics: 11 Nov 09
Sweden, which currently hold the rotating EU presidency, has called an extraordinary meeting in Brussels next week with the aim of presenting candidates for the new positions of president and foreign policy chief. READ »

Questions from Brussels may threaten Saab sale

Business & Money: 4 Nov 09
An emergency loan vital to completing the sale of Saab Automobile has been held up by questions from the European Commission, possibly jeopardizing the proposed deal. READ »

Swedish relief as Czechs sign Lisbon Treaty

Politics: 3 Nov 09
The Swedish EU presidency can begin its hunt for a new EU Council president after Czech President Vaclav Klaus put pen to paper on Tuesday to make his country the last in the union to sign the Lisbon Treaty. READ »

Reinfeldt urges EU unity on climate change aid

Politics: 29 Oct 09
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt pushed European leaders to commit to concrete figures for helping poor countries fight climate change as EU heads gathered for a summit in Brussels on Thursday. READ »

Czechs praise Swedish input on Lisbon treaty

National: 23 Oct 09
Sweden was lauded on Friday by the Czech President Vaclav Klaus for framing a solution to his demands for an opt-out from the bloc's Lisbon Treaty. READ »

Irish 'Yes' paves way for two new Swedish MEPs

National: 4 Oct 09
The Irish "Yes" vote to the Lisbon treaty means that two further Swedes are set to take their place in an expanded EU Parliament - provided that the Irish vote is backed up by the Czechs. READ »

Sweden welcomes Irish 'Yes' to EU Treaty

Politics: 3 Oct 09
The Irish Yes vote for the European Union's Lisbon treaty is "a good day for Europe," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, speaking for the EU's Swedish presidency, said on Saturday. READ »

Cartel probe into division of Sweden's 4G network

Business & Money: 22 Sep 09
Competition authorities are looking into whether the division of the Sweden's new 4G network by the country's five big mobile operators may have been an attempt to exclude other players from entering the market. READ »

Reinfeldt to G20: 'Cap bank bonuses'

Politics: 18 Sep 09
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt succeeded on Thursday in convincing European leaders to agree to push for limits on bonuses for bankers at the upcoming G20 summit. READ »

Afghanistan talks should be held in Kabul: Bildt

Politics: 15 Sep 09
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has said the EU would like to see Kabul host an impending international conference on Afghanistan's future. READ »

Sweden wants EU 'snus' tobacco ban to go up in smoke

Analysis & Opinion: 15 Sep 09
As countries across the EU curb smoking in public, Sweden is fighting to get a European-wide ban lifted moist tobacco, AFP's Marc Preel reports. READ »

EU to offer billions in climate aid to poor nations: Reinfeldt

Politics: 10 Sep 09
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Wednesday announced plans for the European Union to offer developing countries €15 billion ($22 billion) a year to help combat climate change. READ »

Reinfeldt calls September EU summit

Politics: 4 Sep 09
Sweden's prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has called a an extraordinary EU summit on September 17th to prepare for the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh, the Swedish EU presidency announced in a statement on Friday. READ »

Sweden navigates complex waters of EU foreign policy

Analysis & Opinion: 3 Sep 09
With an important meeting of EU's foreign ministers taking place in Stockholm this weekend, David Stavrou examines the changing roles of Sweden and the EU in world affairs. READ »

Bank bonus culture must end: Borg

Business & Money: 2 Sep 09
Finance Minister, Anders Borg, will tell EU finance ministers today that the culture of high bonuses that exists in the banking sector must end. READ »

Sweden mulls EU summit to discuss crisis

Politics: 26 Aug 09
The Swedish EU presidency is considering calling an extraordinary EU summit in September to find common ground ahead of a G20 meeting about the global economic crisis in Pittsburgh. READ »

Sweden announces EU immigration reform plans

Politics: 25 Aug 09
The Swedish EU presidency announced on Monday that proposals to reform immigration policy will be presented in September. READ »

'Drinking while pregnant harms the child': study

Society: 10 Aug 09
Even moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant can have detrimental effects on the health of the child, a new report from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health has advised. READ »

Developing world to wait for climate change cash

Politics: 26 Jul 09
Developing countries may have to wait until December UN climate talks before being told how much EU money will be available to help fight the effects of global warming, the Swedish EU presidency said on Saturday. READ »

Ministers meet in Sweden to spar over EU energy targets

Analysis & Opinion: 24 Jul 09
The energy and environment ministers of the European Union are meeting this week in the Swedish resort town of Åre to debate how to reduce the EU's energy consumption, report the AFP’s Catherine Marciano and James Franey. READ »

Bildt: Iranian government facing 'legitimacy' issues

Politics: 22 Jul 09
Speaking for the EU Presidency, Sweden's Carl Bildt reiterated on Tuesday that the government of Iran was dealing with questions about its legitimacy in the eyes of its voters. READ »

EU mulls visas for Canadian tourists

Politics: 15 Jul 09
Speaking for the European Union presidency, Swedish migration minister Tobias Billström said on Wednesday that the EU supported requiring visas for Canadians travelling to the EU in the wake of a Czech-Canada visa spat. READ »

'EU Big Brother planning to watch you more closely'

Analysis & Opinion: 15 Jul 09
The European Union's wide-ranging Stockholm Programme risks further damaging citizens' hard earned privacy rights, argues Pirate Party member and libertarian commentator Henrik Alexandersson. READ »

Bildt set to meet Karadzic lawyer

Politics: 15 Jul 09
Sweden’s foreign minister and former Balkans peace envoy Carl Bildt is set to meet the lawyer of Bosnian war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic next week in Brussels, the lawyer said Tuesday. READ »

Sweden seeks EU-South Korea trade deal by 2010

Politics: 14 Jul 09
Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Monday that the European Union and South Korea could conclude a free-trade agreement (FTA) by year’s end. READ »

Spies, lies and Swedish ties

Lifestyle: 13 Jul 09
The Local's Laura Xiao meets Stockholm-based novelist Jeremy Duns to catch up on the recent publication of the first part of a thrilling new Cold War trilogy. READ »

Russia snubs Sweden summit plans

Politics: 1 Jul 09
Sweden's fraught relationship with Moscow has come to the fore on the first day of the Swedish EU presidency as Russia objects to plans to hold a major summit in Stockholm. READ »

European leaders impatient for Swedish EU presidency

National: 28 Jun 09
European leaders have expressed impatience for the Swedish EU presidency to start after a troubled six months under the Czechs. READ »

Sweden braces for 'trying' EU presidency

Politics: 23 Jun 09
Financial crisis, climate change and the possibility of a fast-tracked Icelandic membership are at the top of Sweden's agenda when it takes over the EU Presidency in July. READ »

Bildt pushes Iran to allow peaceful protests

Politics: 22 Jun 09
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt on Monday urged Iran to permit peaceful demonstrations against the results of the country’s recent presidential elections. READ »

Bildt urges 'time out' over Balkan border dispute

Politics: 22 Jun 09
On the eve of Sweden’s taking over of the European Union presidency, foreign minister Carl Bildt encouraged Croatia and Slovenia to reflect on the border dispute which has halted Croatia's EU accession negotiations. READ »

Brussels blasts Sweden over excessive press subsidies

Society: 17 Jun 09
Sweden has received a rap on the knuckles from the European Commission for maintaining a system of press subsidies that "distorts competition". READ »

Extra police resources to combat piracy

Science & Technology: 15 Jun 09
Swedish police authorities are ramping up their efforts against file sharers as extra police resources are committed to copyright infringement and file sharing-related crimes. READ »

Reinfeldt pushes for carbon tax in Europe

Politics: 10 Jun 09
Speaking in Brussels in Tuesday, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt urged other countries in Europe to implement a tax on carbon dioxide to help reduce greenhouse gases emissions. READ »

Sweden's political pirates signal internet's election power

Analysis & Opinion: 9 Jun 09
If tech-savvy campaigning helped power Barack Obama to the White House, the election of Sweden's Pirate Party in Europe signals that internet and related privacy issues are political drivers for young voters, writes AFP's Marc Preel READ »

Svensson and Corazza Bildt set to stage election upset

Politics: 8 Jun 09
Alf Svensson, the former leader of the Christian Democrats, and Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, the wife of the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, appear set to claim seats in the EU parliament at the expense of their party colleagues. READ »

'A political sensation': Pirate Party leader

Politics: 8 Jun 09
With more than seven percent of the vote Sweden's Pirate Party became the latest party to rock the political establishment in an EU Parliament election. READ »

Swedish Pirate Party headed for Brussels

Politics: 7 Jun 09
Sweden's pro-file sharing Pirate Party is on its way to Brussels having secured more than 7 percent of the country's votes in the European Parliament elections, according to early exit polls. READ »

Swedish Pirate Ellen Söderberg is EU's youngest candidate

Analysis & Opinion: 29 May 09
Ellen Söderberg hopes she'll soon be walking the corridors of EU power. But for now she's making do with school corridors: "People think I’m more mature, some think I’m crazy, some think I’m the coolest girl in school.” READ »

Sweden sued over EU data directive inaction

Politics: 26 May 09
Sweden’s government is being sued by the European Commission for refusing to implement a 2006 measure requiring telecom operators to store information about their customers’ phone calls and emails. READ »

Alf Svensson's ethical undertaking

Analysis & Opinion: 20 May 09
At 70 years old, there’s no sign of Alf Svensson slowing down, as Lydia Parafianowicz discovers when she speaks to the former Christian Democrat leader currently vying for a seat in the European Parliament. READ »

'Isolationism is passé - Sweden needs to join NATO': Liberals

Analysis & Opinion: 12 May 09
With neutrality outdated and Sweden unable to effectively defend it's borders, the country needs to set aside its hang-ups and start thinking seriously about joining NATO, argues Birgitta Ohlsson, foreign policy spokesperson for the Liberal Party. READ »

Pirate Party Sweden's third-largest ahead of EU vote: study

Politics: 8 May 09
The Pirate Party will likely be the third largest vote-getter among Swedish political parties in upcoming European Parliamentary elections, according to a new forecast. READ »

The Local’s guide to voting in the 2009 EU Parliament elections

Analysis & Opinion: 6 May 09
Welcome to The Local’s Essential Guide to Voting in the 2009 European Parliamentary Elections. READ »

EU commissioner Wallström praises Swedish government

Politics: 4 May 09
The Alliance government is doing a better job in the EU than the previous Social Democratic government headed by Göran Persson, the Swedish EU commissioner and Social Democrat Margot Wallström has said. READ »

Brussels seat in sight for Pirate Party

Politics: 30 Apr 09
A new poll shows the Pirate Party may soon be representing Sweden in the European Parliament, as it rides a wave of popular support in the wake of the guilty verdict in The Pirate Bay trial. READ »

Sweden tops European rape league

National: 27 Apr 09
Sweden has the highest incidence of reported rapes in Europe - twice as many as "runner up" the UK, a new study shows. READ »

Sweden plans for move to heart of Europe

Analysis & Opinion: 14 Apr 09
With just a couple of months remaining until Sweden assumes the reins of the EU presidency, The Local's Thanh Dinh speaks to Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmström about the challenges ahead. READ »

Bildt: Bosnia not ready for EU entry

Politics: 8 Apr 09
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has said Bosnia has a long way to go before joining the European Union. READ »

'You couldn't hope for a better presidency'

Analysis & Opinion: 1 Apr 09
In a time of severe economic crisis, the European Union is fortunate to have Sweden taking up the presidential reins this summer, British Ambassador to Sweden Andrew Mitchell tells The Local's James Savage. READ »

Ryanair forced to pay damages in Sweden

Business & Money: 23 Mar 09
Low-cost airline Ryanair has been ordered by a Swedish court to compensate a couple from Linköping for costs incurred returning home after their flight from Brussels was canceled at the last minute. READ »

Swedish dads could lose out under EU plans

Society: 9 Mar 09
An EU proposal intended to improve rights to maternity leave could lead to Swedish fathers losing out, ministers have said. READ »

Sweden unveils EU presidency logo

Politics: 2 Mar 09
Sweden on Monday released the official logo and website for the government’s upcoming chairmanship of the rotating European Union presidency. READ »

Reinfeldt denounces state auto bailouts

Politics: 2 Mar 09
Fredrik Reinfeldt on Sunday blasted plans by his European counterparts to aid their domestic auto sectors with taxpayer money, calling instead for a cut in capacity. READ »

Sweden won't hasten pipeline approval

Politics: 30 Jan 09
Sweden doesn’t want to be rushed into approving a Russian-German natural gas pipeline project under the Baltic Sea before a careful review of environmental concerns, a minister said Friday. READ »

Reinfeldt: 'US responsible for Guantanamo inmates'

Politics: 24 Jan 09
Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt reiterated Friday his government's reluctance to accept former Guantanamo Bay detainees after US President Barack Obama pledged to close the prison. READ »

Borg sees second financial crisis ahead

Business & Money: 20 Jan 09
Finance Minister Anders Borg warned on Tuesday of the risk for a crisis in the real economy to come back and cause yet another financial crisis. READ »

Sweden seen as land of bribes in EU sculpture

Society: 16 Jan 09
A controversial art installation in Brussels has made a less-than-subtle jab at Sweden’s alleged involvement in attempts to bribe Czech politicians into approving a massive fighter jet order earlier in the decade. READ »

Ukraine gas dispute heads for Stockholm arbitration

Politics: 5 Jan 09
The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine could be considered by an arbitration body in Stockholm, according to reports in German and Russian media. READ »

Swedes: hard workers or hardly working?

Analysis & Opinion: 15 Dec 08
Doug Lansky takes a look at how Swedish tradition, technology, sick leave, vacations, public holidays and a new management style mean many 'full-time' Swedish workers get 130 days off per year. READ »

Borg slams EU over bank aid reviews

Business & Money: 2 Dec 08
Swedish finance minister Anders Borg called the European Commission "bureaucratic” on Tuesday, saying the EU body’s approach to assessing bailouts for troubled banks hasn’t helped frozen credit markets. READ »

Trade minister vows to snuff out EU snus ban

Politics: 28 Nov 08
Swedish trade minister Ewa Björling has called on Brussels to lift the EU ban on exports of Swedish moist snuff, or ‘snus’, calling the prohibition discriminatory. READ »

Broken window forces emergency landing

National: 18 Nov 08
An airplane with 63 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Gothenburg’s Landvetter airport on Tuesday morning because of a cracked cockpit window. READ »

Bildt calls for new EU talks with Russia

Politics: 10 Nov 08
Sweden joined Britain on Monday in urging the EU to resume stalled partnership talks with Russia, saying that any new talks could not be “business as usual” because of Russia's actions in Georgia. READ »

Sweden blasts French financial reform plan

Business & Money: 7 Nov 08
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Friday blasted French proposals for overhauling the global financial system, warning that EU leaders were unlikely to agree on them. READ »

Ryanair on trial in Sweden over couple's cancelled flights

Society: 4 Nov 08
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair went on trial in a Swedish court on Tuesday accused of compensation infringements for cancelled flights, the Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) said. READ »

Sweden contemplates alcohol locks for drunk drivers

Society: 10 Oct 08
A new form of punishment for drunk drivers under consideration in Sweden would allow some offenders to keep their driver’s licences provided they installed an alcohol lock on their vehicles. READ »

Outcry after Sahlin's Left Party snub

Politics: 9 Oct 08
Mona Sahlin has come in for withering criticism from both labour groups and members of her own Social Democratic Party following a decision to embrace the Greens at the expense of further cooperation with Sweden’s Left Party. READ »