Urban Bäckström goes to bat for business

Election year |  Director General Urban Bäckström is thirsting for a proper debate about conditions for business as the Swedish general election looms. He senses a new attitude among politicians — last year’s smiles and back-slapping have turned to dust.

Jobs a bigger worry than the environment

Comment  |  Public opinion might be shifting; since the turn of the year, worry about the environment has been dropping in Sweden and concern for jobs rising. This is according to a new study by Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Sweden has a vital role in emerging markets

Debate |  An innovation competition, business hothouses, a research centre for innovation and entrepreneurism in new growth markets — this is how Sweden can play a part in helping poor countries develop faster, claim representatives of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are threatened

Comment  |  As unemployment in Sweden nudges double figures, the union confederation, LO, is pushing wage claims of four percent. If the demands are met, something is wrong with the Swedish labour market and how wages are set, writes Urban Bäckström, director general at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Burning garbage helps the climate

Books |  Sweden’s garbage mountain is shrinking. The reason is effective material recuperation and garbage incineration. The result is an improved environment and a better chance at reaching our climate goals, Jonas Frycklund claims in a new book.

Sweden struggles on prosperity ladder

Comment |  Despite good prospects for surviving the finance crisis, Sweden is slipping in the so-called prosperity rankings. One reason is the wrong choice of crisis cure, writes Mr Victor Snellman, economist at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

EU Budget
and Climate Change

Environment |  Long before the Copenhagen Conference begun, it was obvious that climate change has an inevitable price tag to it. Both when it comes to tackling climate change and handling its effects that will strike us in the future. In order to cope with this price tag without increasing the EU budget, spending on agricultural subsidies need to be cut, writes Birgitta Resvik and Helena Strigård.

CAP and the EU Budget
– expectations and reality

Economy |  The debate on how our joint resources are best spent is heating up as EU comes closer to the inevitable moment of truth on the common budget. A line is drawn between those who claim a cut in CAP expenditures will be necessary to cope with modern and urgent challenges, and those who wish to see this policy area preserved for the sake of food security and ensuring descent income for farmers.

Competitiveness a prerequisite
for pulling EU out of recession

Economy |  In little over two weeks time the European Parliament is supposed to vote on the entire new Commission as presented to them by President Barroso. The vote in plenary in Strasbourg will promise to be a tight one with perhaps one or two heads rolling. Two portfolios of major future impact on the EU’s ability to pull itself out of recession will be competition and industry.

Cost shock for base industries

Comment |  Costs will skyrocket for Sweden’s base industries with a new environmental demand on maritime transport. While Finland has chosen not to follow the new regulations, the Swedish government is ducking the issue.

Stop-go energy politics push up prices

Energy |  – Swedish consumers and Swedish industry are paying a high price for stop-go energy policies that have survived for decades. Top priority is to ensure that planned new legislation on nuclear energy gets through and is long-term. That’s Swedish Enterprise Director General Urban Bäckström’s take on the current energy debate.

Electricity of the future spawns businesses

Electricity net |  For power companies moving into renewable electricity, the future is all about smart grids. This brings a raft of opportunities for businesses big and small.

Absence through illness dropping faster for women

Comment |  In Sweden, female employees’ absence through illness has dropped by 900 thousand work hours per week in the last three years. A new study reveals historically low absence figures.

An electricity system for a ‘wolf winter’

Comment |  The price of electricity is rocketing because of the freeze — it’s a ‘wolf winter’ as Swedes say. This indicates the great need of a robust and cost-effective electricity system.

Different wages from similar treatment

Salaries |  How are wages and salaries set? The question might be odd but salary determination is in the process of change, shifting away from central agreements towards individualized salaries tied to personal professional skills. Advocates claim that not until we treat everyone equally can independent and fair salaries be set.

Unions off-target in opposing manpower agencies

Comment  |  A ban on rented labour when others are in line for re-employment would be a blow against jobs. Businesses would be further enticed to operate without their own employed staffs. Manpower agencies would have to cut back on specialists and significant entry points to employment would disappear. This, in a situation where Sweden’s unemployment is over 8 percent, and 25 for youth.

Social Europe
starts with a job

Economy |  Only through policies which promote growth and competitiveness in general will Europe be able to create real economic sustainability and real jobs for the future.

Sweden’s protectionism stunts service-sector growth

Trade |  Sweden’s international image is that of a free-trade-friendly nation. But that openness does not apply to the service sector, according to a scrutiny of the WTO’s latest free trade rounds.

Commission to follow suit on reporting the true public consultation results?

EU |  Representatives of business, environment, tax payers and science community have jointly sent a letter to the President Barroso, urging the Commission to report the true results of the public consultation on the EU budget.

EU Commission got the business Copenhagen scorecard

Comment |  Many are pinning hopes on the Copenhagen climate change summit, COP15, in December but just as many are wondering what an agreement actually will imply. Business is one of the important stakeholders and is to a huge degree part of the solution and also determined to do its part in tackling the great challenge, writes Mr. Mårten Bergman at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise office in Brussels.