Euro-Site-Manager | Insight Brussels

On July 1st, Sweden took over the Presidency of the EU. The country holding the Presidency leads the Council of the European Union and acts as the driving force behind the EU’s legislative and political work.

The Member State holding the EU Presidency is responsible for brokering compromises between the Member States, and leading meetings of the European Council.

The priority of the Swedish Presidency is to lead the work of the EU towards a new climate agreement in Copenhagen in December http://en.cop15.dk/ .

Biodiversity and the Swedish Presidency

Sweden aims to ensure that the EU has a well-founded conception of an effective strategic plan for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and a long-term vision for continued work on biodiversity. The ambition is for a global policy for biodiversity post-2010 that should be implementable in EU policy and involve individual actors and stakeholders.

Sweden will lead the EU both before and during a conference to be held in October 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to further discuss how the exchange between the scientific and political communities can be improved. Discussions are under way on establishing an International Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in a similar vein to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Sweden is striving to ensure that this is decided before the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2010.

The Swedish Presidency also wishes to highlight the economic significance of biodiversity. A special report, related to the ongoing TEEB report, to be directed at decision-makers will be presented during the Swedish Presidency.

Follow the full Swedish Presidency biodiversity agenda.