Sweden: not concern my model
Convinced that their model could be exercised only within the nation-state, the Swedes are wary of the Union. But as soon as they can benefit from their Europeanism itself, pragmatic. The Swedish tabloid press has claimed at the beginning of the summer: “Thanks to the European Union, import of alcohol will be free at last.” The European Court of Justice has lifted the restrictions by which the State had maintained high prices on the forbidden fruit preferred Swedes. Such events explain the current symbol of the Union in Sweden: according to polls conducted by the University of Gothenburg, 43% of the population say that membership is a “good thing”. A rate of the lowest in Europe, but higher in Sweden since its entry into the Union in 1995. At the time, the “yes” had prevailed with 52% of the votes only in the referendum on accession. The recent rise in popularity is the analysis of the effects of accession, seen as beneficial for the country’s exports and food prices. The “Europeanism” of the Swedish east: pragmatic, absolved of symbols, devoid of utopian visions and emotional ties. Car responsible for themselves, the Swedes are struggling to identify themselves as Europeans. More than other countries, they see the nation in the foyer of their privileged identity, hence their distrust towards a deepening of the integration process. However, enlargement to Turkey in particular, the enthusiasm, because it agrandirait the single market in favour of Swedish exports. This skepticism about a politically integrated Europe is old. The accession of Sweden to the Union was late and difficult to accept, particularly for the Social Democratic Party, which dominates political life since 1932. These doubts were based on two specific policies of the country: its social model that Sweden considers inherently higher than other European countries and its policy of neutrality. They formed the whole fabric of a “grand narrative” of national sovereignty in the decades after the war, when their side “founding fathers” of Europe laid the first stone of the project. Neutral during the Second World War, Sweden has not participated in the experiment whose objective was to prevent the former belligerents to clash again. And countries which she feels culturally close (its Scandinavian neighbors, Britain) were not of the party. Hence the vision of a Union dominated by the Christian Democrats, especially Catholics. Despite all these misgivings, the idea of Europe has finally prevail in the early 90 because the country was experiencing a serious economic crisis and that joining the EU was seen as a necessary adaptation, a concession to export industries whose performances finance the welfare state. But misgivings persist. Even today, some Euro skeptics have the Union as a “Catholic club” face the Lutheran Sweden. In addition, if the Swedes are more receptive to the idea of a common security policy, they remain convinced that a successful political reform, which developed their social model, is possible only in the context of a nation-state. In their eyes, other Europeans are not equipped with the same know-how. A political integration thrust therefore provoke a race to the bottom of the Swedish social model. But it is in crisis: inequalities progressing. If public policies contribute to the common back on its feet, the Union perhaps convince the Swedes finally identify it.
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