Strasbourg, 14/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Swedish Secretary of State with the Prime Minister, Lars Danielsson, announced, on Tuesday to the press, in Strasbourg, that the President of the European Council Goran Persson would being on 26 February his tour of the capital in view of the Stockholm Summit, with two messages for his colleagues: (1) the economic reform in the Union must continue. To do this, the Swedish Presidency hopes to achieve progress with regards to the agenda for the liberalisation of gas and electricity, financial services and the development of information technology. In addition to this, it will insist on the fact that biotechnology should play a greater role in innovation in Europe; (2) the social challenges must find answers. This first concerns the demographic challenge of the ageing population, with all the problems this raises for the financial of pensions. The issue of pensions (a "time bomb", said the European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein) must remain subordinate to national decision, said Mr Danielsson, but it is necessary to compared the experiences of each on the path of the system's reform.
As for the future of the Union, the Presidency intends to present initiatives at the beginning of march, but Mr Danielsson asserted that, according to Sweden, if the wide ranging debate which will open will main concentrate on the institutional issues, this will lead to a deadlock.
Among the other issues on the Swedish Presidency's agenda, Mr Danielsson cited the statute of European parliamentarians (each must be ready to budge if we want to reach a compromise, which must be a package, including fiscal issues but not only, he said) and access to document (Amsterdam set the deadline of next 1 March, but what matters, it is especially, it to find a satisfactory solution for all, asserted Mr Danielsson).