Jan Bjornklund: We are not backing populists; cooperation with the EU must be strengthened

Published: 5 March 2018

Updated: 12 March 2018

This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the views expressed in the text, not the Aftonblad.

Unfortunately, several of the other parties have taken a more Eurosceptic stance since Brexit, including the Allies, writes Jan Bjornklund.

DEBATE. There is now a wave of nationalism sweeping the West, including Brexit, steel tariffs and the pessimistic verdict of right-wing extremism. We Liberals want to point out a different direction with more cooperation in Europe.

We are strengthened by the fact that, yesterday in Germany, a new government with a very ambitious agenda for deepening EU cooperation was finalised. President Macron has already presented his plans for deepening.

The major problems of our time: climate change, terrorism, refugee flows and insufficiently stable economic development require more cooperation in Europe, not less. In the process that i s now beginning in Europe, Sweden is faced with an important choice, which will sooner or later become sharp: does Sweden want to be involved in shaping the Europe of the future for real or does Sweden want to sit in the gallery?

Two parliamentary parties, SD and V, want Sweden to leave the EU. The SD and V fundamentally hate the liberal social model on which all EU cooperation is based. They want Sweden to stop and act more nationally, even though the two parties have completely different ideological bases.

Unfortunately, several of the other parties have also taken a more Eurosceptic stance. Following the Brexito vote, the Allies also started talking about the need for more'red cards', for Member States to have a veto on more decisions.

We Liberals, however, draw the opposite conclusion. We want to deepen EU cooperation and Sweden should be active in that development.

Liberals today present an'EU agenda 2022':

Sweden shall adopt the euro no later than 2022

Sweden is a small open economy that depends on our environment. No market is as important for Swedish companies as the European one: almost 75 per cent of all goods exported by Sweden end up here.

No other individual issue determines Sweden's position in European cooperation to such an extent. It is in the euro area that all important economic and political decisions are taken. The main argument of the Euro-opponents is that we will lose the opportunity to pursue an independent monetary and monetary policy if we join the euro cooperation. The objection is correct. It is just that a small country such as Sweden, even outside the euro, has very limited autonomy.

When the euro began, it was fraught with weaknesses. Under strong pressure from the EU, very strong measures have now been taken by those countries that have previously badly mismanaged their economies. In addition, several major reforms have been launched so that it will not happen again. The Europol Pact, the Financial Pact, the banking union are in place and are aimed at ensuring that no country in the euro area is able to mismanage i ts economy, and at ensuring greater stability in the banking system.

Sweden should support the reforms currently under discussion to strengthen euro cooperation.

Sweden shall immediately join the Banking Union

Sweden's presence outside the euro area banking union contributed to the decision to relocate its core business to Finland. The purpose of banking cooperation is to regulate and control the serious operation of large banks which guarantees long-term stability.

Sweden will be part of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the EU must create a European FBI. Serious crime is international. More muscle is needed at European level to combat serious crime.

The climate is common and not national. The Liberals want Sweden to say yes to a European CO2 tax.

Investing more EU resources in research, development and infrastructure. Liberals believe that Sweden should be prepared to increase the EU budget, provided that the funds are used for important future investments in, for example, research. On the other hand, outdated agricultural aid should be abolished.

I am aware that with this programme, the Liberals are sticking their necks out. For us, however, politics is not about sticking a wet finger in the air; i t is about pushing the issues that we think are important.

The EU is founded by states that have chosen the liberal model of society, so that liberal values will stand stronger in our times and for future generations.

Now EU cooperation and thus the liberal model of society are being challenged by both right-wing and left-wing populists. But we will not back down from populism or narrow nationalism. We want Sweden to belong to the heart of the European Union.

Jan Bjornklund, Liberal Party leader

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Published:

Published: 05 March 2018 10.50