Sweden takes a beating when Ebba Busch skips school | Ylva Nilsson

The world is fragile and in Europe one cannot stop pondering how vulnerable we have become – dependent on Russia for our energy, on the US for our defense and on China for supplies of necessities such as medicine and minerals for the climate industry.

In a series of talks over the past year, the EU governments have thoroughly twisted and turned the question of how Europe should preserve its competitiveness.

– For us, it is an incredibly big question, explained Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson last week, on his way to an EU summit. He mentioned two different perspectives that conflict with each other:

– Is it free trade and the internal market that creates competitiveness, or is it more state support and continents competing with each other…

He himself would, of course, be a strong advocate of free markets with a lot of free trade.

Before a larger consultation on the subject, between the EU’s industry and business ministers on March 7, our minister of business, Ebba Busch, put together an open letter with the Swedish arguments and collected signatures from like-minded countries.

The letter fell flat.

One reason was that only seven small countries put their names to the letter. But more important was that Ebba Busch was not at the meeting.

Ebba Busch is mostly absent when the EU’s economic ministers meet.

When the EU’s economic ministers deliberated on competitiveness and the future of the industry, the Swedish minister was not there. She sent her secretary of state instead, but underlings are unfortunately not taken seriously as interlocutors when ministers meet.

Ebba Busch is mostly absent when the EU’s economic ministers meet. On September 25, she was not present when her colleagues held a deeper conversation about long-term competitiveness and productivity.

As energy minister, she missed the meeting on 17 October when the ministers decided on a major electricity market reform. When they deliberated on technological leadership and competitiveness on December 5, she was also missing.

On December 7, the ministers of industry met to hammer out a major industrial policy reform – no Ebba Busch. At their next meeting on 14 February (resilient industry) she was in Paris instead and she also missed the ministerial meeting on 4 March (more flexible energy transmission) or, as I said, 7 March.

And she was missing again on April 15-16 when the energy ministers discussed how to quickly expand and connect the electricity grids.

That time she was in Stockholm. She had invited Swedish companies to discuss… how Sweden affects the EU’s competitiveness policy.

– We should not remain on the platform when the economy turns, now we need speed! Sweden must pursue an active EU policy that strengthens competitiveness and creates good conditions for industry,” said Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch.

The audience applauded.

For the aforementioned summit that Kristersson was on his way to, the former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta had been asked to report. His message was brusque:

– You are talking about yesterday’s market.

Letta argues that we need to start seeing Europe as a market in competition with the other big blocs, to avoid continuing to see industrial companies move, investment capital flow away and technological know-how pass our noses.

So, the other perspective Kristersson mentioned: state support and continents competing with each other. This is now emerging as the collective analysis from all future talks held by the EU governments.

– If we speak clearly with one voice, we will be heard in Brussels, assured Ebba Busch.

The irony of her saying that in Stockholm when she should have been in Brussels probably went unnoticed by the audience.

Ylva Nilsson is an independent columnist on Expressen’s editorial page. Read more of her texts here.

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