Sweden and the Intergovernmental Conference

Abstract

Since joining the European Union in January 1995, Sweden has been confronted with a relatively dynamic EU agenda — a situation complicated by the fact that the country has a generally EU sceptical population. This study examines Swedish perspectives on the 1996-7 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which culminated in the June 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam. It explores the relevance of Miles's `Membership Diamond' through the application of two IGC-related case studies — openness and transparency and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) — both of which were central platforms of Swedish proposals for the conference. The author argues that whilst some revisions are necessary the Diamond provides a useful conceptual framework and supplementary vehicle to theories of `twolevel' games.