An Employment Union for Europe? The Role of the Swedish Government

Abstract

The Swedish Government's proposal for an ‘Employment Union’ to offset the potential increases in unemployment caused by moves towards Economic and Monetary Union, has put the problem of unemployment at the top of the agenda of the current Intergovernmental Conference. Domestic political pressures coupled with a belief that the EU offers the potential for a solution to this problem, were key factors behind the decision to table an amendment Forging links with other European social democratic parties to generate support for the proposal, the Swedish Social Democrats need the proposal to succeed for both domestic political ends and to safeguard the future of the European project.