A midsummer fairy tale...

Once upon a time there was a Swedish pro-euro campaign... Well, actually they were promoting something called the EMU, but they really weren't all that keen on making that distinction.

This Yes-campaign had a number of arguments. Sort of. Not very good arguments as arguments go - but the first rule of politics is that if you don't have anything sensible to say you had better make something up. And this they did.

They said that Germany and France might start warring each other again, unless Sweden joined the Euro... People laughed.

They said that the euro would create more trade, which would create more jobs, which would create more growth, which would make everybody very, very rich. They even had some figures, to prove that the Swedish GDP would increase by 50%, or perhaps 52%, or maybe over 200%, I kid you not, just by simply joining the Euro... People scratched their heads. And laughed again.

So the ardent followers of the Nickel Calf were left with the interest rate. They told us many a tale of how terrible the interest rate had been in olden days. They even mentioned the 500% that it had been in those desperate days in the early nineties right before the Government realised that ERM, all things considered, really wasn't such a great idea anyway.

So the Yes-campaigners always talked about the interest rates. They promised us that the rates would go down, but only if we joined the Euro. Time and again they reminded us that the interest rates had been higher in the past, and they never tired of threatening that we had to join the Euro, lest interest rates increase.

This time the people didn't laugh. But they didn't believe it either. So the Yes-camp kept talking about the interest rates. Until even they themselves were bored.

And in that small and peculiar little country in the North, the day came when the No-campaign won the greatest victory that until then had ever been won by eurosceptics.

And, I am told, the sun still rose on the morning the next day; and the bad things did not come to pass; and everybody lived happily ever after...

Well, not quite.

In June two years later the economists revised their projections on economic growth, and found that the successfull Swedish economy could do with a little stimulation for a while. And since Sweden, unlike such countries as Germany, has kept control of its monetary policy the Riksbanken decided to decrease the interest rate to 1,50%, which is even lower than the 2% of Euroland. Switzerland still holds prime of place, but the Swedish interest rate is now the second lowest in Europe.

This time, those Swedish eurosceptics who are considering buying an apartment or a house will be laughing again; all the way to the bank.

It's in the freezer!

Prime Minister Göran Persson has announced from Brussels that Sweden is not going to ratify the EU-constitution this autumn as planned. It is extremely unlikely to be ratified before the September 2006 elections. But it's not consigned to the thrash-can just yet.

Göran Persson would still like to ratify it sometime in the future. He said about the EU-leaders:

"Most of us are agreed that the Constitutional Treaty is something we want to stand for."

Well, they could always start by reading it. But for the moment, the Constitution is in the freezer.

Latest SCB poll

Sweden's national bureau of statistics, SCB, or Statistics Sweden as it wants to be known in English, has released its new national party political poll. This is done twice yearly, more than 9000 people are queried, and it is considered the most reliable poll in Sweden.

The results confirm that the Social Democrats and its partners are in for some very heavy lifting if we're going to win the elections of September 2006.

For me, one of the few really bright spots of this poll is that the Green Party at 7,9%, is still very strong here in Gothenburg. Although not as high as the fantastic 12,9% we had in the first SCB-poll after the EP-elections, it is still very good! A strong and focused eurosceptic campaign like the one we had in Gothenburg is a real vote-winner.

The new parties are included among the category "others". The Feminist Initiative is at 1,5%, and the eurosceptic June-list is at 1%. This is not a bad result for parties that still haven't declared formally that they are going to take part in the election.

The numbers within the parantheses are the changes since november 2004. Click here for more info about the parties.

Government and its support:
Social Democrats: 34,7% (-3,2)
Left Party (GUE-NGL): 7% (-0.6)
Green Party (V): 4,4% (-0,3)

Oppostition:
Center Party (ELDR): 6,5% (-0,2)
Liberals (ELDR): 11,7% (-0,3)
Christian Democrats (EPP): 4,4% (-1,1)
Moderates (EPP): 27,7% (+4,4)

Others: 3,5% (+1,3)

It has been said that a week is a long time in politics; and 15 months are even longer . This election could still go either way.

Union leader: "I wish we´d leave the EU"

The chairman of Transport, the Swedish transport workers union , Per Winberg was recently interviewed in No to EU's magazine Kritiska EU-Fakta (KEF). The fact that he was interviewed is no sensation in itself, since Transport have been a eurosceptic union for ages. They campaigned against the EMU and right now they are working for a referendum on the Constitution.

But a leader of a major Social-Democratic Union is not supposed to speak of such things as EU-withdrawal. It's just not on.

But things seem to be happening with-in the labour movement. A couple of months ago, the europhile chairman of the Builders Union, Hans Tilly said he was prepared to question the membership of the EU unless the threats against the Swedish collective labour agreements were struck down. This comment probably wasn't all that serious. I consider it more of a cry for help, begging the government to apply pressure in Brussels so that the European Court of Justice won't rule in favour of foreign companies working in Sweden with workers paid less than what is normal in this country. There is a case about that - the Vaxholm-case - coming up soon, and the Swedish labour movement is very worried. As far as I can see, EU-law is quite clearly on the side of the foreign companies, so if the government is going to do something they will have to apply a lot of pressure.

But the interwiev in KEF was different.

KEF: A couple of months ago, the chairman of the Builders Union, Hans Tilly said that he would question the membership of the EU unless the threats against the Swedish collective labour agreements were struck down.

PW: I'm surprised he said that. After all, he was in favour of EMU. But if they're waking up, that's fine. The membership of the EU is a great fiasko, and it's holding the Swedish labour movement back. I can't see that we have done anything through the membership of the EU, from a labour movement perspective, that we couldn't have done by staying out.

KEF: Do you think it is possible to leave EU and regain national independence and democracy?

PW: Yes, I do think so. At present I consider it desirable. Since I can't see that Sweden, and those I represent, and that the Swedish labour movement represent, have gained anything from this. So far, there have been sacrifices, and changes for the worse, so I´m unable to say anything else than that it would be desirable if the co-operation broke down. I have a feeling that time is on our side.

This is not just an angry man who very suddenly have discovered how the EU works. It's the meassured message of a labour leader and long time eurosceptic. And he's not just talking about withdrawal, he is actually saying that it would be better if the EU didn't exist at all.

Of course, Transport is a democratic union (one of the reasons they are eurosceptic) so the word of the leader is not law, but it is still very interesting.

Panic in the Riksdag

In Sweden the pro-EU parties are all arguing against a referendum, saying that the MPs are much more suitable than the ordinary voter to take such a complicated decision. The MPs are so much better informed.

Yesterday, Swedish television aired a programme in which leading journalist Janne Josefsson went into the Riksdag and asked various MPs three quite simple questions about the Constitution.

• How do you reach qualified majority according to the Constitution?
• What is exclusive competence?
• What is a citizens initiative?

It was easy to get the MPs to argue against a referendum, and some MPs even claimed to be well-informed about the constitution, but unfortunately they had serious difficulties in answering the questions. One liberal MP became very irritated and demanded that he'd only be asked questions about views - not about facts! He also wanted to be told which page in the constitution the questions came from, so that he could look it up before answering...

That was before lunch.

Strangely however, after lunch almost every MP knew the answers!

Research revealed that the parties had sent out warnings on the parliamentary e-mail that Josefsson was in the building, and they had given them the correct answers. The liberals where first of the mark at 9:40, and the Social Democrats had taken until 12:07 to warn their MPs. Some of the newly informed politicians tried to pretend that they really knew something about the Constitution, instead of just having read an e-mail during their lunch-break.

Before the alarm 28 MPs had been interviewed. Only three of them knew all the answers (sort of). 19 MPs didn't manage to answer a single question correctly!

This was great television. And the fact that the MPs hardly know anything about the Constitution is now out in the public domain!

But you can hardly blame the MPs. From the perspective of a standard issue europhile MP, what's the point of even opening the Constitution if it's going to be ratified by parliament anyway? The Yes-parties have a majority of more than 80%. The result in the Riksdag would be a foregone conlusion. Why would they bother?

The only way to make the MPs read the Constition is to hold a referendum.

"I heard your Prime Minister is worried about looking like a fool when he goes to see his friends in Brussels..."

See the video of Swedish Left Party MEP Jonas Sjöstedt giving a great speech at the congress of the Dutch Socialist Party last Saturday.

Just listen to the applause... This is what approaching victory sounds like.

RESULTS:
Turnout: 62%, Nee: 63%.