Now the EU leaders are coming to Norrbotten: "We are a little extra everything"

This week, the European Commission is coming to Kiruna to kick off the Swedish presidency of the EU. But that's just the start – the Commission will be followed by a long series of meetings for important working groups within the EU.
– We are a bit “extra” and interesting to many in the EU arena, says Mikael Janson, office manager at North Sweden European Office.

Green transition, space, raw materials, green energy, important minerals, forestry and climate change. The employees at the North Sweden European Office have for several years noticed a great interest in northern Sweden at the EU level.

– The Commission has highlighted the green transition as one of the central issues. The President of the Commission has repeatedly pointed towards the north and northern Sweden and everything that is happening here, says Mikael Janson.

The North Sweden European Office is the joint regional office of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland Härjedalen and Västernorrland in Brussels. They have noticed an enthusiasm for the meeting in Kiruna – the first presidency to be inaugurated far from a capital city. The details of the meeting are being kept secret for security reasons, but the commission will visit the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Esrange and the LKAB mine.

The mine is one of the destinations where LKAB is expected to present something new and exciting to the EU Commission.

“Excitement in the air”

– People think it's going to be really exciting, just this thing about the ice hotel and sleeping there. Many people are wondering how cold it will be and what to wear. In general, there is a very positive view, there is simply excitement in the air.

The decision to bring the EU Commission to Kiruna came from the previous government – ​​they wanted to showcase what northern Sweden has.

– I still think it was quite daring. Not just being in the capital but taking it to a special environment with the chance to show everything exciting that Norrbotten and Kiruna have to offer. Then we have tried to highlight this in our channels and create interest around it, says Mikael Janson.

“The engine of all EU cooperation”

In addition to the study visits, the commission will be in Kiruna City Hall, Kristallen, for a kick-off meeting, where, among other things, the commissioners within a certain area of ​​responsibility will have the chance to speak with the ministers with the same areas of responsibility. Talk together ahead of the six months when the ministers will lead the meetings and interact with the commission.

– It's huge. The driving force behind all EU cooperation is in Kiruna for two days.

Mikael Janson has worked at North Sweden European Office, the voice of northern Sweden in Brussels, since 2011.

When the commissioners have gone home and the dust has settled behind them, a series of meetings with different groups for different issues within the EU follow. Among other things, several working groups meet to do much of the real work of discussing and negotiating and developing proposals that the country's representatives can agree on. Northern Sweden has had many of these meetings.

– It is an opportunity to feed our perspectives into these processes. Right now there are many big and important issues going on, such as the space issue, the whole forest issue, the mineral issue, innovation work and other things. Our ambition is that they get our perspectives, that we can teach them where we can offer but also what we need from the EU to make it work.

“Extra interesting for many”

These working groups produce what the ministers sit around the table and discuss, if everything goes as planned. Then there is also the European Committee of the Regions, an advisory institution that has asked to come to Kiruna.

– We are regions with a little extra everything and therefore a little extra interesting to many in the EU arena. We hope to be able to steer the program more and that they will bring back many impressions that will facilitate our work.

“Using the EU as a bricklayer”

In the twelve years Mikael Janson has worked at the North Sweden European Office, interest has never been as great as it is now.

– The EU has seen that in northern Sweden there are things that are important for Europe, and therefore it makes sense for Europe to invest in it. But ultimately it requires that the national level is on board. We have seen that we can use the EU as a bridgehead to arouse interest also nationally in a way that did not exist before. The big shift now is actually that the national level has woken up and wants to show this off.
The Kiruna meeting makes it very clear that this is what it is all about.

But the visit must not just be a way for the government to brag about how good we are in Sweden, points out Mikael Janson.

– It can't just be "look at all the amazing things we have", you can't get away with it that easily. There has to be an interest in investing and reinvesting and shifting up. That's what we're trying to contribute – broadening perspectives.

Text: Sara Stylbäck Vesa

_____________________________________________________

Here are the meetings held in Norrbotten:

12-13 in Kiruna: EU Commission

February 20-21 in Luleå: Council Working Group on the Customs Union

March 5-7 in Kiruna: Attaché trip for the Council Working Group on Space Issues

April 27-28 in Kiruna: Committee of the Regions

24–26 May in Luleå: Member States' Energy Attachés

June 6-9 in Luleå and Skellefteå: SMOR, Working Group for Structural Measures and the Outermost Regions

June 12-16 in Luleå: ESPON, program for policy development in the field of territorial development and strategic planning

June 28-30 in Luleå: Informal environmental attaché meeting