English - engelska

Member States

The member states joined the EU at different times:

1952 Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands

1973 Denmark, Ireland

1981 Greece

1986 Portugal, Spain

1995 Austria, Finland, Sweden

2004 Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia

2007 Bulgaria, Romania

2013 Croatia

What does the EU actually deal with?

The EU deals with many areas. Here are some examples:

Environmental issues. The EU has set goals for how member states should reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, for example.

Fishing. The EU decides how much fish may be fished in EU waters, which includes, for example, cod in the Baltic.

Police cooperation. The police forces and prosecutors in the EU member states have the right to cooperate with each other to combat serious cross-border crime, such as drug smuggling, for example.

Regional support. EU member states want to reduce economic and social differences between countries and regions in the EU. For this reason, a large amount of EU money is devoted to regional support.

Refugee policy. The EU has a number of common rules concerning asylum for refugees including, for example, which country should deal with a particular asylum application.

The EU member states also cooperate for example on development assistance policy, trade with countries outside the EU, support to agriculture and food-related issues.

This is what the EU doesn't do

The member states themselves are responsible for a large number of issues. Examples of such issues are income taxes, medical care, schools, pensions and child support.

All member states pay a contribution to the EU every year. The size of the contribution is based on a number of factors including developments in the economy of the member state in question. This means that the contribution often varies.

Between 2016 and 2020, Sweden paid a contribution of between SEK 24 and 47 billion per year to the EU, and received between SEK 10 and 14 billion in return via the central government budget. In addition to this funding, EU support is also paid directly by the European Commission, for example, to public authorities, universities and other higher education institutions.

In total, the EU member states pay approx. SEK 1,550 billion per year into the EU budget. About 90 per cent of the money is returned to the EU member states in the form of EU support. Most of this is used to develop regions in EU member states, for example to support research and education and to improve roads, and to support agriculture, rural areas and fishing. But money also goes for example to development assistance, culture, and police cooperation. Sweden benefits from most of these forms of support.

The European Council – summit between EU leaders

The European Council draws up guidelines for EU activities in the long term, but does not make any decisions regarding EU rules. The summit meetings take place four times a year. If necessary, extra summit meetings can be arranged.

The European Council consists of a President, the heads of state and government of the member states, and the President of the European Commission. The European Council elects its President for a two-and-a-half-year term.

How does EU decision-making work?

Sweden and the other member states decide on new EU rules together. This means that Sweden can influence EU decisions, but in certain cases Sweden also has to observe EU decisions that it opposes.

This is how it works when Sweden and the other member states agree on new EU rules:

1. The European Commission proposes a new law

The European Commission is charged with the task of proposing new laws. All the member states each have one Commissioner. The Commissioners' role is to promote the best interests of the EU as a whole, rather than representing their own particular countries.

2. The Government and the Swedish Parliament - the Riksdag - adopt a position

The European Commission sends its proposals to all the member states. In Sweden, they are submitted to the Government and the Riksdag. The Government informs the Riksdag of its view of the proposals and collects comments from the Riksdag. It is the Government that presents Sweden's views.

3. The European Parliament decides

The European Parliament participates in deciding on the EU's new laws. The MEPs are elected in general elections, and 21 of them are elected in Sweden.

In the case of most issues, the European Parliament decides together with the Council of Ministers. For certain issues, the European Parliament does not make the decisions. These include EU foreign and security policy.

4. The Council of Ministers decides

The Swedish Government and all the other governments of the EU member states each participate in the EU Council of Ministers with one minister. The Council of Ministers decides on new EU legislation.

The Swedish Government will have discussed the proposals with the Riksdag in advance.

5. Sweden implements the legislation

Once the Council of Ministers has decided on a new law, Sweden and the other member states will introduce the law. Sometimes the Riksdag may need to make amendments to Swedish laws to make them agree with the EU's new laws. In other cases, the EU's laws take immediate effect.

Scrutiny by the Riksdag

In addition to scrutinising and giving its views to the Government, the Swedish Parliament – the Riksdag – also has another task in common with the other national parliaments in the EU. When the EU proposes new laws in certain areas, the parliaments in the member states must first examine whether the rules are needed at EU level or whether it is better that each member state decides on the rules individually. This examination may result in the Commission having to reconsider its proposal.

What happens if Sweden does not follow EU rules?

The European Commission checks that member states follow the laws that the EU has decided upon. If the Commission considers that Sweden is not doing this, it may sue Sweden in the EU Court of Justice.

The task of the EU Court is then to decide on whether Sweden has violated EU rules. Swedish courts may also turn to the EU Court of Justice with questions on how EU rules should be interpreted.

If you consider that Sweden or any other member state is not following EU rules, you can report this yourself to the European Commission.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). There are a number of Swedish MEPs who participate in and influence EU decision-making. Contact information to MEPs is available on www.europaparlamentet.se.

You can also contact the Information Office of the European Parliament in Sweden, tel. +46 8 562 444 55, e-mail epstockholm@ep.europa.eu.

Members of the Riksdag (MPs). The members of the Swedish Parliament make the laws in Sweden and submit points of view to the Government before decisions are taken in the Council of Ministers. Addresses to all of the 349 members of the Riksdag and to the political parties represented in the Riksdag are available at www.riksdagen.se.

Government ministers. Swedish ministers participate in the meetings of the Council of Ministers where they decide on new EU rules. Contact information to all Government ministers is available at http://www.government.se/.

The European Commission. The European Commission often invites points of view on draft laws. A million EU citizens may also urge the Commission to submit a proposed piece of legislation in a citizens' initiative. Contact the Office of the European Commission in Sweden, tel. +46 8 562 444 11, e-mail comm-rep-se@ec.europa.eu. Their web address is ec.europa.eu/sweden/about-us/contact_sv 

Organisations. Many organisations cooperate at the European level to influence the EU.

It all started with six countries...

The EU today consists of 27 countries with an approximate total population of 447 million. More countries would like to join, for example Serbia and Turkey.

Why did countries in Europe start working together in the first place? Straight after the Second World War, several countries wanted to prevent new wars. For this reason, six of these countries formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952. They decided to share responsibility for the production of coal and steel, which were important raw materials in the war industry. In this way, they would avoid a situation in which any individual country could begin to re-arm. This was the first step in the creation of the EU.

In 1958, this form of cooperation was extended to include other products, services and capital. A few years later, the whole project came to be known as the EC, the European Communities. Over time such areas as the environment, agriculture and transport also became responsibilities for the EC. In 1993, the EC became the EU – the European Union. This meant that it was now possible for member states to act together in matters such as foreign policy. Since then, another 16 countries have become members of the EU, which also affects the forms of cooperation between member states. 

The EU has reached a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of its future cooperation with the European Union. The new agreement started to apply 1 January 2021.

The Embassy of Sweden in the UK has information for anyone wanting to know more about, for example, the rules that apply to residing and living in the UK after Brexit and the transition period.

• About Brexit on the Swedish Government website (in English)
• The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the European Commission website (in English)
• Living in or moving to the UK on the website of the Embassy of Sweden in the UK (in English)

Four prioritised areas

The ministers and heads of state and government of the EU member states have regular digital meetings to enable them to take joint decisions and to alleviate the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU efforts are organised within four prioritised areas. They aim to limit the spread of the coronavirus, ensure access to medical equipment, promote research on treatment and vaccine and support employment, companies and the economy.

Examples of measures

Here are some examples of what the EU member states have agreed to do and what the EU institutions have already done in connection with the corona crisis:

• The European Commission has coordinated efforts to ensure access to vaccine from various pharmaceutical companies which all EU member states may purchase.
• The EU member states can be given assistance with medical equipment from the EU’s emergency stocks.
• The European Commission has completed procurements to enable member states to jointly purchase medical equipment and corona tests.
• The EU has given money to research aimed at finding a vaccine and treatments to combat COVID-19.
• The EU has approved new rules making it possible for member states to request money from the EU Solidarity Fund to cover health risks.
• The EU has presented various financial support packages to deal with the corona crisis and support companies and employees.
• The EU has changed the rules for the EU’s structural funds so that they can be used for crisis-related initiatives.
• Part of the EU’s new long-term budget for 2021–2027 has been earmarked to assisting in economic recovery after the pandemic.
• The EU has negotiated a special recovery fund called New Generation EU to deal with the consequences of the corona crisis.

The decision concerning the recovery fund has been ratified – approved – by all the national parliaments in the EU.

Further information from the EU institutions

Some of the proposals from the Commission must be approved by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament before they can start to apply. The websites of the EU institutions provide updated information about the situation.

The European Commission presents proposals and follows up compliance of the EU's rules by member states:
Coronavirus response on the European Commission's website

The Council takes decisions regarding EU legislation together with the European Parliament:
About the coronavirus on the Council of Ministers and European Council website

The European Parliament takes decisions together with the Council of Ministers:
About the EU's response to the coronavirus on the European Parliament website

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, compiles data from the member states and provides them with advice on infectious diseases, epidemics and threats to public health:
ECDC – European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

The Government has the overall responsibility in Sweden

In Sweden, it is the Government that has the overall responsibility for EU work and coordination of measures in response to the coronavirus:
The Government's work in response to the virus responsible for COVID-19

Before certain measures can be implemented in Sweden, legislative amendments need to be adopted by the Riksdag:
The Riksdag’s work in connection with the coronavirus

The police have information about travel to and from Sweden during the corona pandemic.
Travel to Sweden during the corona pandemic