Sweden’s accession to the European Union has had a stimulating effect on Franco-Swedish relations. The succession of the French and Swedish presidencies of the European Union in 2001 also encouraged the two countries to work together, emphasizing common approaches to many issues (the environment, employment and development aid, etc.).

Our partnership is especially close in the following fields: climate change (shared desire to integrate the climate dimension into development assistance programmes), environmental technologies and standards, competitive clusters.

The Swedish presidency of the EU Council (1 July / 31 December 2009) completed the trio of successive presidencies opened by France and continued by the Czech Republic.

There are many contacts between French and Swedish members of parliament, testifying in particular to the interest in the Swedish model on issues as diverse as civil service, telecommuting, alternate sources of energy, the finance act, and social issues.

Updated on 18.05.11