Sweden

Political relations

Our bilateral relationship has been strengthened recently and the priorities of the Swedish Government are conducive to them. French President Emmanuel Macron and the Swedish Prime Minister signed a strategic partnership for innovation and green solutions in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, which has helped structure a positive bilateral political agenda. Moreover, the priorities of the Swedish Government remain centred on climate and social issues which are opportunities to deepen our bilateral relationship. Lastly, our partnership is particularly close within the European Union in the following fields: climate change, innovation, environmental standards and migration.

Economic relations

With €11.5 billion of trade in goods in 2018 (up 6% in one year), including 5 billion in exports and 6.5 billion in imports, Sweden is our 16th-largest trading partner, while France is ranked 10th among its partners. Our market share has fallen however, and we are behind Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, Sweden’s three leading suppliers.

The structural deficit in our trade in goods has grown in the last four years. In 2018, it stood at €1.3 billion, due to the strength of Swedish exports to France (particularly pharmaceuticals and chemicals). France does, however, post a surplus when it comes to services (€432 million in 2017).

Most of our trade centres around the automobile sector, particularly automobile manufacture products which are our leading export (10.2%) and import (18%). Chemicals are our second-largest trading product (one tenth of our imports and exports). While major consumer brands like Ikea and H&M have a major role in terms of jobs and investment, they contribute only marginally to trade flows.
France was the eleventh-largest foreign investor in the country in 2017. It had a stock of €7.4 million in 2018 (up 129% on 2013), while France is the 14th-largest destination for Swedish investment (stock of €5.3 billion in 2018). The country is one of France’s 40 priority destinations for investment. France is the leading destination for Swedish investment in Europe, and Swedish companies, including Volvo, Alfa Laval, AstraZeneca and Ericsson, are very present. Some 470 were present in France in 2018, representing more than 95,000 jobs.

Green growth and information technologies are a key focus of our cooperation, following the signature of the strategic partnership for innovation and green solutions in November 2017, as are sustainable transport, clean energy and smart cities, green finance, the digital transformation, smart industry and start-ups, as well as health and life sciences innovation.

In 2020, Sweden will take part in the Young Enterprise Initiative “Start in France” programme for the first time. Three laureates will spend a week in immersion in France in March 2020, with the support of the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova.