In the spring of 2023, Sweden holds the presidency of the Council of the EU and the inauguration will take place in Kiruna in northern Sweden – one of the most remote settlements of the EU. North Sweden European Office invited the EU journalists that are going to cover the European Commission's visit to Kiruna to a “Curious on Kiruna’’ event, with stakeholders from northern Sweden who them an introduction to northern Sweden and what the regions has to offer the green and digital transition. The event was a success with noteworthy media from all over Europe who wanted to know more about northern Sweden.
On the 4th of October a kick-off meeting for the new OECD-study will be held, a study which has been initiated by North Sweden and has received funding from the European Commission. The purpose of the new study is to propose strategies for regional development capacity for all the regions comprising the network Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA). At this Zoom event all relevant operative aspects of the project will be presented and discussed with regional representatives from the NSPA, as well as representatives from the European Commision (DG REFORM) and OECD.
On the 14th of September the European Parliament voted to adopt revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive, which in broad strokes determines if biomass from the forest can be classified as sustainable or not. The adopted revisions entail a restriction on the share of primary raw wood material that can be classified as renewable energy. Politicians from northern Sweden have, with the support of North Sweden, drafted a letter addressed to the members of the European Parliament where they asked for legislation that would also work in the arctic regions, which to a large extent is heated and provided with electricity from this type of biomass.
When members of the European parliament gathered for the plenary session in September, the agenda was packed with negotiations about climate and energy proposals. The forest played a major role in many of these. One of the votes concerned the Commission’s legislative proposal for a regulation on deforestation, which the parliament adopted. The network of politicians; Europaforum Northern Sweden, which North Sweden European Office is part of, supports the EU:s ambition to reduce the global deforestation but an increased administrative burden connected to trade with wood and wooden products is a cause for concern.
On the of 28 September the political network Europaforum Northern Sweden, which North Sweden European Office is part of, signed a position paper put together by ERIAFF, a European network consisting of regional parties in agriculture, food and forest. The position pertains to the European Commission’s latest legislative proposal about land use, Nature restoration law.
08 Sep 2022 European Forum of Northern Sweden’s views on REPowerEU
08 Apr 2022 Europaforum Northern Sweden’s views on LULUCF
08 Apr 2022 The European Commission's industrial policy director visit to Norrbotten
08 Apr 2022 EFNS views on renewable hydrogen in the Renewable Energy Directive
04 Apr 2022 NSPA forum 2022 - highly topical conference on northern Europe in the Arctic where many eyes are focused
21 Mar 2022 EU’s commissioner for energy visited northern Sweden
03 Feb 2022 Webinar with a focus on the EU Commission’s revision of the trans-European transport network
