About the conferences
Sweden held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2023. During the Presidency, the Riksdag organised eight conferences.
It is the Government that is responsible for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. However, the Riksdag is responsible for the parliamentary part of Sweden's Presidency - the "parliamentary dimension". The Riksdag therefore organised eight EU conferences during the spring of 2023. Seven of the conferences took place at the Riksdag, and one in Brussels in collaboration with the European Parliament.
Meeting places to encourage political debate
The task of the national parliaments during an EU Presidency is to create meeting places where parliamentarians from the various member states and the European Parliament can meet to discuss current issues. The purpose is to develop political debate within areas that are important from a common European and parliamentary perspective.
The participants in the conferences are primarily members of parliament from the EU member states and the European Parliament who work with the subject areas on the agendas of the conferences.
There are conferences that are held on a regular basis, as well as individual conferences on current issues chosen by the host parliament. The European Parliament's committees may also arrange interparliamentary meetings on current issues, to which members from the national parliaments' committees are invited.
Five fixed conferences
Five of the meetings organised by the Riksdag during Sweden's EU Presidency were recurring meetings that are held every year as part of established cooperation between the national parliaments and the European Parliament – interparliamentary cooperation in the EU.
During the spring of 2023, the Riksdag organised the following conferences:
- The COSAC Chairpersons' meeting
- SECG – the Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the EU
- CFSP/CSDP – the Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy
- JPSG-Europol – the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol
- The COSAC Plenary Meeting
The SECG Conference was held in Brussels in collaboration with the European Parliament, while the other meetings took place in Stockholm.
Interparliamentary cooperation in the EU on the Riksdag website
Three thematic conferences
The Riksdag also organised three EU conferences at which it was able to decide the structure and themes itself. It is the Speaker of the Riksdag, together with the party group leaders, who determined what these three thematic conferences would deal with, based on proposals from the Riksdag committees. The three conferences were as follows:
- Conference on circular bioeconomy: The pathway to an innovative, resource efficient and competitive Europe
- Challenges and opportunities for the EU's future energy supply
- Democracy in Europe
The conference on circular bioeconomy was held digitally, while the other two meetings were held in Stockholm.
Between 45 and 140 parliamentarians participated in the conferences
The number of parliamentarians participating in each conference varied. Up to 45 members participated in the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC, while the plenary COSAC meeting and the CFSP/CSDP Conference gathered up to 135 parliamentarians each. Between 50 and 75 members of the various parliaments participated in each of the thematic conferences. However, the total number of participants in the conferences was higher as officials from the various parliamentary administrations were also in attendance in order to support the parliamentarians.