30 November 2022
Our ref: 1030-2022/23
Dear Speaker, dear Colleague,
On 1 January 2023, Sweden will assume the Presidency of the Council of
the European Union. For the Swedish Parliament (the Riksdag), this
means assuming the Presidency of the Parliamentary Dimension for the
first time since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force. Since the previous
Swedish Presidency, interparliamentary cooperation has deepened and our
parliamentarians meet regularly at several permanent interparliamentary
conferences.
During the first half of 2023, the Riksdag will organise the four permanent
interparliamentary conferences
1
, two of them co-chaired with the
European Parliament. We will also organise three thematic conferences.
Our ambition is that all of our conferences will provide an opportunity for
our members of parliament to discuss current EU issues in line with the
EU’s political agenda. The topics of the three thematic conferences are:
-
-
-
The European Green Deal with a focus on a circular bioeconomy
Challenges and opportunities for the EU’s future energy supply
Democracy in Europe
We are very grateful to be able to meet in person again, but we also
believe that we should embrace and continue with our new innovative
ways of debating political issues. This is good for the climate and
environment and makes it possible to meet more often without increased
costs. For this reason, the conference on the European Green Deal will be
a videoconference.
The Riksdag will do its utmost to ensure a successful implementation of
the Parliamentary Dimension of the Presidency and also to promote
dynamic interparliamentary cooperation. It is with great pleasure and
honour that I present to you the calendar of the interparliamentary
conferences for the first half of 2023. Please find the calendar enclosed
with this letter.
1
The Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the
Common Security and Defence Policy, the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic
Coordination and Governance in the EU, the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol, and
the Conference of the Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the
European Union (COSAC).
The Speaker
THE SWEDISH PARLIAMENT SE-100 12 Stockholm • Phone +46 8 786 40 00 • www.riksdagen.se