Constitution (2004)

REFERENDUMS HELD ON EUROPEAN MATTERS: 2

1994: EU - Accession (Yes 53 % - No 47 % - Turnout 83 %)
2003: Introduction of the Euro (No 56 % - No 42 % - Turnout 83 %)

CONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS - Constitution of Sweden

Binding referendum provided if constitutional amendment effected. Otherwise binding referendum requires implementation by constitutional amendment. Consultative referendum expressly provided.

ARTICLES ABOUT INTERNATIONAL TREATIES, REFERENDUM AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Approval of transfer of sovereignty without effect of constitutional amendment:
Majority from parliament according to the particular area of competency required, X § 2 ConstSweden.

Approval of transfer of sovereignty with effect of constitutional amendment:
Approval in the way of a constitutional amendment. The procedure provided for the constitutional amendment can be excluded with a majority of 5/6 by presence of at least 3/4 of the members of parliament in case of urgency. Limit for transfer are the fundamental principles of the constitution, X § 5 ConstSweden.

Approval of constitutional amendment:
Two successive approvals in between at least nine months before and after re-election of the parliament. The constitutional committee can allow an earlier second consent with a majority of 5/6 of its members. A referendum on the amendment has to be held contemporaneous with the election of the new parliament if demanded by 1/10 of the members of parliament and approved by at least 1/3 from the members of parliament, VIII § 15 ConstSweden.

Other constitutional regulations about referendums:
Consultative referenda can be called, VIII §4 ConstSweden.

RATING AND DEBATE

Decided

Sweden was set to adopt the EU Constitution by the end of 2005. A bill on ratification of the Constitution was to be presented to the Swedish Parliament by September 2005 with view to adoption in December 2005.

Sweden has the lowest level of popular support for the Constitution across the 25-member states, according to Eurobarometer. "We have a tradition in Sweden of being restrictive with referendums, reserving them for questions of great importance. This treaty does not entail any major change in Sweden's relationship to the EU", State Secretary Lars Danielsson said in December 2004. Meanwhile over 120,000 Swedes signed a petition calling for a referendum on the European Constitution, which was handed to the government on 22.03.05.
At the beginning of May 2005, members of the Social Democrats had launched a new initiative to force the party to call for a referendum on the Constitution. The initiative used a paragraph in the party statutes, which had not been employed since 1922, which allows for just five per cent of party members to call for a referendum, meaning that 7,000 party members must sign the current petition to secure the vote.

Although Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson underlined at European level shortly after the referenda in France and the Netherlands his compromise to ratify the Constitution at the end of the year, he also opened the door to the possibility of aborting or postponing the ratification process in the national discourse.
On 17.06.2005 Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson announced "We will postpone our ratification indefinitely [and] we'll come back sometime next autumn and decide if and when to move ahead with the ratification".
The decision to postpone the referendum was supported by the whole political class, who had started to see in the ratification process an obstacle for the national elections and who is now completely divided on the way how to ratify the Constitution. Shortly after the EU summit the Swedish Left Party, a parliamentary ally of Prime Minister Goeran Persson and contrary to the constitution, threatened to drop its support to the government if Persson sticks to plans to submit the Constitution to parliament for ratification. Although Persson's Social Democrats are not in no formal coalition with the Left Party and the Greens, both formations could pressure the government since they are needed to push legislation through parliament. In this sense postponing the conflictive issue was important to maintain the unity among both the social democrats and their allies. The opposition is also satisfied with the disappearance of the theme, since the ultra eurosceptic party “June list” gained influence with its strong opposition to the Union among the conservative voters, who are numerous since the European euphoric is very limited in the Scandinavian country.
At the same moment the government was under pressure since, opinion polls showed that close to 60 per cent of Swedish voters opposed the parliamentary ratification procedure and were in favour of a referendum, and 40% of those said they were against the Constitution.

Eurobarometer (2006), The Future of Europe - Results for Sweden, Special Eurobarometer 251, Fieldwork: 23/02 – 15/03 2006. (PDF)

Eurobarometer report, (February 2004): 58% rather agree, 26% rather disagree*

*Are you rather agree or rather disagree with the statement: The European Union must adopt a Constitution.

Eurobarometer report, (January 2005): 27% favourable, 25% opposed*

*Based on what you know, would you say that you are in favour of or opposed to the draft European Constitution?

Eurobarometer report, (July 2005): 38% favourable, 35% opposed*

*Based on the question, are you for or against a constitution for the European Union?

Latest News

17.06.2005 Sweden, Finland postpone ratification of EU constitution indefinitely. EUbusienss.com

14.06.2005 Push back EU constitution ratification deadline, Swedish PM says. EUbusiness.com

04.06.2005 Swedish PM's ally issues threat over EU constitution. EUbusiness.com

03.05.2005 Sweden's ruling party in battle over EU poll. EUobserver.com

23.03.2005 120,000 Swedes sign call for referendum. EUobserver.com

08.12.2004 No Swedish referendum on EU Constitution. EUobserver.com

30.09.2004 Swedish government presents plan to ratify EU Constitution EUobserver.com

04.05.2004 Prime Minister Persson has refused to call a referendum and the Swedish Parliament has rebuffed to hold a referendum, but support for a referendum to decide this matter has grown dramatically over the past half year. EUobserver.com

PROCEDURE

vote in the national parliament

STATE OF THE PROCEDURE

Ratification Bill should be presented to Parliament in Summer in order to have it passed in December 2005.

DATE OF RATIFICATION

Ratification was postponed

RELEVANT DOCUMENTS AND MATERIAL

Jungar, A.C.; Karlsson, C. (2005), Folkomröstning eller parlamentsratificering - hur besluta om förslaget till konstitutionellt fördrag? [Referendum or Parliamentary Ratification: How to Decide on the Proposed Constitutional Treaty], Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies. (Swedish) (PDF)

Langdal, F. (2005), Country Report: Sweden, EPIN Ratification Monitor, May 2005. (PDF)

The Federal Trust, EU Constitution Newsletter, April 2005, with country reports on Sweden and Malta.

Working Program for European Affairs by the Swedish Government (in Swedish)