Zapatero on visit to Sweden

31 August Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero met in Stockholm. The meeting first and foremost addressed the economic crisis and the autumn’s climate negotiations, but also Spain’s preparations for its EU Presidency, which will follow immediately after the Swedish Presidency.

“We will work closely together to hand over the Presidency to Spain. We are also grateful for the opportunity today to discuss what will be a busy autumn, with the climate negotiations and the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, where we will not only discuss economic issues, but also how to finance the work on climate change”, said Fredrik Reinfeldt at a press conference with Zapatero after their meeting.

Mr Reinfeldt said that they had talked about the importance of European leadership in the work on climate change and how Europe has taken the lead in the division of emissions reductions within the EU. The Prime Minister also said that the EU now had to make an effort to ensure that the rest of the world made greater commitments when it came to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of the climate change conference in December.
“If the two-degree target is to be met, we will require commitments for the year 2020 of double what we have today”, said Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The two-degree target, which the countries in the Major Economies Forum supported at the beginning of July, means that the global temperature may increase by a maximum of two degrees compared with pre-industrial levels.

“We have also discussed the economy and the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, where many financial regulation issues will be on the agenda”, said Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The Prime Minister also said that he and Prime Minister Zapatero had talked about the autumn’s institutional challenges, with a new President for the European Commission and new Commissioners.

Prim Minister Zapatero said at the press conference that he was pleased with the day’s work.

“We have talked a lot about European leadership. It is a leadership that is currently Sweden’s responsibility and will later be Spain’s. I believe that we must work together to meet the challenges; to bring an end to the recession and to renew the economic structures.”