 Good afternoon, everybody. You're most welcome today to our presentation. I apologize for some technical difficulties of the staff that we're a little bit delayed. I'm pleased to welcome you to this IAA webinar, which is part of our IAA Global Europe project supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs. And I'm particularly delighted to welcome State Secretary, Mr. Christian Danielson, the Swedish State Secretary for EU Affairs. Mr. Danielson, we appreciate greatly your joining us at what we are aware is a very busy time for the EU Swedish presidency. So our sincere thanks to you for being with us. And you'll be able to join the State Secretary Danielson will speak to us for about 20 minutes or so and then we'll go to answer with our audience. You'll be able to join the discussion using the Q&A function on Zoom, which you should see on your screen and please feel free to send your questions during the session and we will come to them once State Secretary Danielson has finished his presentation. So a reminder that today's presentation and the Q&A are on the record. And also please feel free to join on Twitter using the handle at IAA. We're also live streaming this morning's discussion. So very warm welcome to all of you who are joining via YouTube. The Swedish presidency is occurring at a very difficult time, a pivotal time of course for the Union, especially in the context of the seismic upheavals of the war in Ukraine. The challenges to competitiveness of the single market from China with China and the US, and many other difficulties that have arisen. Of course, the tragic natural disaster in Turkey and Syria has also placed in a strain on international relations. The Swedish presidency has laid out very clear priorities in terms of security, competitiveness, green energy transition and democratic values and the rule of law. And they are in great detail in the presidency program with strong commitments to carry these forward and we look forward to the State Secretary taking us through the view from the Swedish presidency at this stage. May I introduce State Secretary Danielson. I think it's true to say that there are very few people in Europe as State Secretary has such a view of Europe, both from inside and from outside. The State Secretary has previously served as Deputy Secretary General of the Commission, Director General of European Commission for neighborhood and enlargement negotiations, and also before he was made State Secretary head of the European Commission for neighborhood representation in Sweden. He also served in the cabinet of as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Vice President Verhoygan, where he dealt with Turkey and competitiveness. On the other side of the fence, the State Secretary was in the Swedish Foreign Ministry during the first Swedish presidency 2001 dealing with enlargement and then during the second presidency in Brussels as permanent representative. So with that spread of experience State Secretary, I hand you the floor and we greatly look forward to hearing from you today. Thank you. Thank you very much and thank you for giving me this opportunity. In fact, this is the second time that I appear in front of the Institute of International European Affairs. Last time I was in Dublin and I think this must have been in 2003 or 2004 and the subject was enlargement. Now different times, different subjects. Now it's a different Europe that we are in front of and as you rightly pointed out for the Swedish presidency and for the EU I would say it is very challenging times. We are now close to one and a half months into the presidency and a major part of it to be honest is about seeing to that the work continues. This is in the midst of the legislative agenda of the European Union so we have numerous issues on the table where the expectation and our wish is to move that forward in order to see to that we are getting the legislation in place and getting the various instruments in place which are there in order to address challenges that the EU has in front of it. So that is a major part of the work now happening in Brussels with numerous meetings. I just realized that there are about 350 files that are open. We're not going to address all of them and we have numerous meetings that are going to take place down in Brussels but also here in Sweden. That being said, we are also facing challenges which are substantial by themselves and which are putting quite a lot of influence over the agenda that we are addressing. And the biggest one is the Russian aggression, the Russian war against Ukraine which is not just an aggression towards Ukraine but it is an aggression against us in a sense. The war that Ukraine is fighting is in a sense our war. It is a war about protecting or defending democracy, defending rule of law and international law. And also a war of standing up against that kind of aggression that we would have hoped would not exist in Europe in the 21st century. Clearly we have also a challenge when it comes to the economy and the energy which has been a major element here which is linked to the Russian aggression which has played up stronger than I think we would have wanted to see. And then on top of that we very recently got this tragic event in Turkey and Syria with the earthquake which also is putting challenges for us, particularly challenges for the people of Turkey and Syria. But where the expectation is that we should stand up and help as much as we can from the European side. Now those challenges being there, nevertheless we have put down for these six months as you rightly pointed to four priorities which we are trying to sort of set out what are these issues where we see most of the political emphasis will be put into. And here they are, if you take them in the order they come, we say security clearly. We see competitiveness as being an important one. We see the green and the energy transition as the third one. And the democratic values and the rule of law as the fourth one. Now let me us turn them to the priority of security, which is primarily Russia's aggression towards Ukraine. And for us, it has not only been there to see to that and so put like this that the most important element for us has been to keep the unity of the European Union which has been astonishing over this period. Keeping European unity when it comes to the support in concrete terms, that's humanitarian support. It is the economic support that is called for. It is right now as well and has been since the beginning, the military support, but also the political perspective for Ukraine for the future integration with the EU. And Ukraine is a Canada country, so there is a process that will have to go on in that context. Now, right now what we are focusing on are three elements. One is the sanctions against Russia, where the work is in a final stage when it comes to the next sanction package. We should be on the table for the 24th, which is on Friday, which is a commemoration, a tragic commemoration but nevertheless a commemoration of one year of war. The second element that we are working hard on is about responsibility and see to that the responsibility for the crimes that have been committed during this war that responsibility also falls on those who are responsible. And that boils down to very quite difficult issues relating to law, which is not only about the EU but beyond the EU because we're talking about international law here but which nevertheless is an important element of what we also should do within the EU. And the third element is about the frozen assets, where we have set up a specific working group to work on it. It's not easy. I mean, one can easily say that it would be great if we can use the frozen assets for the recovery, for the reconstruction of Ukraine. But there are also here important legal elements that needs to be taken into account, and this is exactly what we are working on right now. In addition to the security linked to the Russian aggression towards Ukraine, we have also put under that heading the important element of fighting organized crime, security of the EU internally. Where I think we all the member states have the sense of international organized crime being an element that cannot be addressed only by national measures and national instruments, but where the European cooperation plays an important role. And given the fact that we in Sweden over the last couple of years have seen a dramatic increase in particular when it comes to international organized crime linked to gang violence. This has been something which we have a certain interest to see to that we can do what we can as a presidency to drive that issue forward. We have also under security put the element of migration where we have seen over the last couple of months a substantive increase in irregular migration into the EU. Primarily through the Western Balkan route, and where therefore we have you in the last couple of months have a substantive increase when it comes to seeing to how we can work together in strengthening the external borders of the European Union. Most recently at the European Council on the, on the 9th of February, and this is work which will continue to to drive forward. And that we are doing in parallel with the important work on the migration pact, which is the long term solution to addressing the issue both of, of having a functional, well functioning asylum policy, but also having a policy when it comes to migration, which, which takes into consideration the different elements everything from irregular migration to legal migration. The second priority is competitiveness. And the background here is the fact that Europe over the last 10, 15 years have been lagging behind major partners such as the United States, such as partners in Asia, not thinking about China. When it comes to productivity and growth. And that part of that has a link to the way that the EU instruments, when it comes to single market and beyond is functioning, and that we have identified improvements there as an important element in order to see to that European competitiveness is strengthened. And this is something which is broadly shared among the member states and also by the institutions. So we are looking forward already now in March at the European Council in March to be able to have a very rich discussion on what is called for in order to strengthen Europe's competitiveness, not only for the coming months but in the longer term. And what we are landing on there is issues such as how the internal market can more functional and what we're talking about there is standardization and also eliminating barriers to the free movement of the four freedoms that still exist or are being developed over the last couple of years. We are also reflect one from our point of view we are also seeing important element and important element being the better regulation, namely to see to that we get the regulatory environment which is even more conducive towards growth while not, while not lowering ambitions when it comes to environment or, or, or other legitimate reasons for having joint legislation. We're also thinking about innovation, we're thinking about research and strengthening the research, the research community within the EU, when we are thinking about trade as such, which is such an important player when it comes to, to providing growth for the EU. We should be aware that the substantive part of the growth that we can see globally over the coming years is going to be in, in, in the areas, in, in geographical areas outside the EU, and where the way EU can, can integrate or can, can play a role in that, in that respect. We'll also have a direct effect on our ability to create prosperity and growth within, within the European Union. That, that is something we have put quite a lot of emphasis on what has come in, which we did not see that clearly when we started to prepare our, our presidency is the, the fallout of what is called Eva inflation reduction act in the United States, which on the one hand is something that has come, namely that United States is back on the scene when it comes to fighting climate change. And, but we, which also has a certain elements of it, which, which leads to negative risks leading to negative effects for European industry. So that is something where we have had to put quite a lot of emphasis of the last couple of weeks and months. In the European Union, I found a way forward now, which is, which is the right way. It exists of a number of elements. One is close cooperation with the United States, trying to find ways and means to see to that those elements of era, which are risks having negative effect for European industry that that one is being addressed in some way or another in our bilateral relations with the United States. The other element, which is not, should not be seen as a protectionist instrument, but which, because it's not, but which is addressing a fact, namely that we have reason to try to see to that environment for clean tech, which is what era is about in within the EU that environment becomes more conducive towards clean tech. But that is the second element that that that now is being addressed, and which points down to issues such as permitting, such as seem to that the provision of raw materials is being better taken care of, which also looks into issues relating to the energy and the electricity electricity pricing. Another element in respect to that kind of clean tech element clean tech that came out of the era discussion is about financing. It's true that for some areas there's a need for further financing of clean tech and where state plays a role. There is has been a quite substantive discussion on what that should look like. And there's one on the one hand state date very time limited and specified national such state date for clean tech, but on the same time, EU instruments that already exist and funding that exist, that also could be used for the same purpose. The further element is the whole issue of skills that is called for for the development of clean tech. So these we have been working on over the last couple of weeks, and it's something that we also is going to continue to work on when it comes to competitiveness, and that will be important elements. Our third priority is the green and energy transition. And it goes without saying that that is very high on the agenda for all of us, it is about climate change, but it goes beyond climate change. It's also about biodiversity, and it's about the whole transition when it comes to becoming greener and even better addressing environmental challenges that are out there. It's clear that the fit for 55 package, which is climate change primarily is one of those areas where we are going to put lots of emphasis, particularly a substantive part of that was already addressed during the previous presidency, the project presidency, but we have a number of elements that needs to be addressed now and agreed upon now in order for that package to come together and starting to also play its full role. And it's important that that happens during the Swedish presidency, because otherwise, there is an issue of timelines. The objective here is 55% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030. And if we don't get the this legal framework into place, then there is a risk that we will not be able from the use point of view to to fulfill that that clear objective that has been set. So we're going to work hard on that one. And as it stands right now, I'm pretty, I shall say, I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to deliver this while during the six months ahead of us. And then finally, we have the issue about democratic values and principles of law, which, which rule of law and democratic values being the basis of what the EU, which we stand on, and therefore so important, not only important from the point of view of, of, of defending democracy and being able to project our system beyond the EU democracy rule of law, the right to minorities, but also important and for the citizens within the EU, but also important for the EU system to work and to function. We are a union of law. And a Swedish court or an Irish court, when being when, when having to take a stand on issues which are related to European law is the European Court. And therefore the system much will must work and there must be be full confidence in that this is exactly what is going to happen. And that is how it will function. Now it's clear that over the last couple of years that have been identified deficiencies in the system, in terms of in particular two countries Poland and Hungary. And we will continue our presidency to work on that and help those countries to come back and fully, fully be sort of fully fully live up to the conditions that are called for for for creating that kind of confidence in there in the legal system. And we will also work in order to keep that whole issue on the agenda, and we will have certain certain manifestations of it, in terms of of a symposium in June, which we on rule of law, which we will hope will sort of lead to further steps in the direction of strengthening this within the cooperation in the EU. So there you have our our four priorities. We will, we are facing multiple crisis that's clear, but it's also clear that we need the European cooperation more than ever, I think. And I have a sense that we have a sense that that is broadly shared by the Member States, it's broadly shared by these bad European institutions, and therefore we are fairly confident that we are going to be able during this presidency to live up to the to the expectations that are on us from from the member other member states but also beyond beyond that. I think I stop here and open up for for questions or comments. Thank you very much indeed. That is very comprehensive view. I think it's made clear to us the extraordinary breadth of the challenges that you face on a number of fronts, and your outline of the dossiers that are open. Even just to keep business as usual, plus the the serious challenges that are there. But thank you very much for giving us such a very clear expose of where the Swedish presidency and the direction you are working in. I have just a number of questions. You mentioned the first priority of your list is security and security and defense and I note that in your the detailed outline of your presidency program. You said that we must build robust European security and defense policy in close cooperation with partners and you express strong support for the strategic compass. And I have a question from retired Brigadier General her and who his question basically is how does Sweden fund its armed forces so well. I have a few questions that the Irish defense forces suffer from underfunding because of budget is always necessary for education and health, and yet Sweden manages to fund its its defense forces, but basically could I just ask you. Do you see EU cooperation in the security and defense force going forward during your presidency. Because so much emphasis is based on nature but obviously there is a cooperation with NATO but how do you envisage during your presidency keeping the EU security and defense program going as well. Now it's an important issue and I think I start from the compass. I think that one sets out fairly straightforward areas where EU has an as a complimentary role to the to NATO which of course is the major provider of of of of of defense for for the allies. Now Sweden is not yet an ally but for those of our members and we hope to be a member very very soon. So the compass sets out a I think in a quite elaborate way where where we can work and should work more within the EU context. One is about this sort of new threats like cyber like hybrid, where the fact that the way the EU with its research competences but also with other competences within the union are able to provide and complimentary row to similar kind of activities going on within the other context. So that's one element. The second element is capacity and and that that is capacity which has to do with our EU's role in particular when it comes to operations such as the one we have had in Georgia for many many years in order to to help monitoring the the ceasefire situation there or other situation in Georgia, or for that sake any of the other I think close to 15 or whatever it is today. Operations that are underway where the compass sets out we need to do that faster and we need to do it better. And I think that is something that we should work on the third element has to do with the defense industry and where within the EU. We have reason to try to become more efficient in in both the development but also in the procurement of defense of defense material. And here EU can play a role together right now there is a piece of legislation on the way on on exactly that on procurement. And the fourth element is about the cooperation with international organizations so in all those strands, you will continue to to work and we we are going to continue as the presidency to work and see to that those elements but of course, what is overshadowing all of this is the war at Russia's war against Ukraine, where the EU has taken a role in helping member states to to finance the military support to Ukraine through the peace facility, where in total I think we have provided over 3 billion euros in in in defense financing or defense material from from member states. So that is one important element and right now there's a discussion within the EU, or whether we could do more in particular when it comes to ammunition for for Ukraine which happens to be a difficult area right now, and how we can see to that the producers in Europe can scale up. In order to see to to meet not only the demands of Ukraine but also the demands of Europe's own security, given that quite a substantive part of the stocks of ammunition has now been delivered to Ukraine from many many of the member states. So that is on the EU's road as such and then the question was how can we in Sweden finance our defense, defense, defense force. Well, we have, we have, we have gone down quite substantially in the in the when it comes to the financing or defense over the last 20 years. If we would have been sitting here in 1995, which is a bit more than 20 years, we would be close to 3% of GDP of for the for the defense. We went down and I think at the lowest level we were at one point, one point one or something. Now we have an objective to go up to 2% of GDP by 2026. And this is what we are doing right now. And the question that was asked, how are we doing that? Well, it's a question of priority. It's a question of finding the funding and of course that beats funding that is not going for other purposes, to be to be honest. But right now, situation in Europe is such that this is absolute priority. Thank you very much indeed for for that detailed outline of the EU contribution in the field of security and defense. I think it's true to say that there is a lot happening in this area but that most of our populations are not aware of the EU contribution in the security and defense area. It's something that has been kept quite low key and perhaps needs to be raised. Also you mentioned Georgia and I recognize the role you played in Georgia in 2021 on behalf of the President of the European Council and we're offering an agreement with the two political party with the government there, which was very welcome. And I have a question from the Irish examiner given the recent concerns raised by the Dutch military about the Russian threat to critical cables and energy infrastructure in the North Atlantic. Is there is this a major issue for Sweden in its presidency. And also, do you feel the threat applies to the seas around Western Europe, and given the difficulties and shortages in the Irish naval service. Is this something that the EU could assist Ireland with. I think it's the critical cables and energy infrastructure and the threat from Russia states actually a few. So is this something that Sweden is worried and conscious about on. I'm very conscious about it. There was. Well, we don't know who did it but you might recall that the. There was a major blow up of of the North Stream pipeline in the middle of the Baltic Sea, which I think showed the vulnerability of infrastructure as such. So we should be clear on that. So, so I think that that made it clear for us at least now I'm talking from Swedish point of view that this is issues that we need to take with quite some quite substantive seriousness, which we do. Now on the question whether we this is something which we are working on within the European Union, the answer is no. It's not part of the of the of what we are what we are discussing. I presume that this is something that the alliance is looking very careful on but of course we are not part of the lines so I don't know what the discussions are, what they look like well we do that. But this is not the object of the discussion that we're having now today, but on the reply on the way that this is an issue for the European Union. It is not for the time being. Yes. Thank you for that. Obviously it's something I think the Irish view and given the coastline here. This is something that needs to be seriously looked at and taken into account. Following on your mention of NATO I have a question from the colleague in the Department of Foreign Affairs Michael Tracy. What is the state secretary's view on Swedish accession to NATO will it ultimately succeed and what time scale you might have for that. And what are your views of the objection to the application by Turkey. We hope that the that the accession will will happen as soon as possible. Now we are joining NATO and it's of course for the NATO members to to agree to that and we have two of the members of the Alliance that has not yet ratified. And we know that with one of them, which is Turkey, we had a discussion in at the Madrid summit, which ended in a memorandum of understanding between us. And it was also outlined a couple of issues which should work together with. We have done on our side, what was called fall from that from that agreement. And so we are now waiting for the replication by the two countries concerned. I can't say anything about the timeline for that, but clearly it is important. It is important not only for the security of this part of Europe where Sweden is located. Sweden and Finland as part of the Alliance would substantially strengthen the Alliance ability for for defense of its members. But it's also important in terms of strengthening the capabilities of the Alliance. Sweden and Finland will both be net contributors to the to the to the Alliance when it comes to defense capabilities and that is beyond the the graphical theater of of the part where Sweden and Finland is located. So for all these reasons we hope that there will that we will be able to see become members in the Alliance and have their applications as soon as possible. Yes. And thank you. Yes, I think we all see, see the difficulties and wish you well in that. I have a question states actually from Sean Murray Euro news and she asks, can you give us some outline of the potential manifestations from the presidency regarding the rule of law and Hungary and Poland in relation to protecting the independence of courts respect the ECJ and values and principles of the EU. This is a difficult situation for the EU as a whole. I know we are we are going to continue the process that has been going on for a couple of years which is called article seven process so we will have those. Those hearings in the council with the two countries concerned that is going to be the major element when it comes to Poland and Hungary. We hope that issues are being addressed by the two countries so that we can we can close those processes because that would be the best best best outcome. In parallel with that we will continue the work on which are a kind of peer examinations between member states as regards the rule of law situation in in individual member states and we have, I think five countries up for our presidency which we will examine. So we continue that work and these are the two major elements that we are going to to have on that end up. Thank you that that will continue. Moving away in a different direction from plan she's some welcome. Priorities is out of the Swedish presence and see referred to this swift and decisive response to the invasion of Ukraine. But his question in fact is about Israel, and what the EU is response to Israeli violation of interlust in a law on human rights abuses have not been swift or decisive. Where does the Swedish presidency stand in relation to the situation in Palestine and in Israel. And do you think this is the main point do you think that the EU's lack of unity undermines its position in the eyes of the global community in relation to Israel and Palestine. No doubt we have conclusions which goes back to 2009 on the EU's position when it comes to this issue and that that is favoring a two state solution and supporting efforts to go in that direction. And and that that is the way that the presidency will also work on these issues during the six months. Thank you. Yes. Another question that we have a lot of questions and from Michael coil, could the state secretary comment on the impact of the sanctions against Russia. Have you a sense of of the impact that they are having in Russia. One reads that their economy is not as bad as we expected they're receiving help from elsewhere. What is your view state secretary on the impact of the sanctions. I will only refer to those studies that are out there and they seem to indicate that the impact has in there indeed being quite substantial for the Russian economy. And they will continue to be substantial. And that we are not. We have sanctions on important input for for the the oil and gas industry will in the longer term play or in the medium term or fairly soon play play an even more important role. So there should be no doubt that the sanctions has played has played an important role from that angle, what is now important as well is to see to that they are not so respected and that they are full respected. And that's something which an Irish has a specific role to play, namely David Salam, who is has been coming to the EU system again in order to help the EU member states and the institutions to to see to that the sanctions are being respected. No, so my take is that the now take is that the sanctions have been very important, not only not as a symbolic measure, but as a substantive measure. They have also had substantive, a substantive effect for individual Russians, who have been considered particularly, I would say, being part of the of the efforts when it comes from Russian side when it comes to this unacceptable war against Ukraine. Yes, yes, David Salam was stolen from the Institute as director general to go to I know to be the to be the sanctions are. It's not it's not an easy task I think and also there's the intention to set up a permanent unit in the commission to deal with sanctions which of course would track would track sanctions right across the board. I ask you, I have a question that I would like to ask you about the migration policy, State Secretary. It's, it's one of the most difficult policies to get to pull together in the EU, it has been for years. There's a resurgence of migration from outside the EU. It's just very difficult to see how it can be pulled together given the different attitudes to migrants coming into the EU, and to try and get a legal form of migration. Are you optimistic that in the Swedish presidency you could move it forward to try to solve what is an extremely difficult issue. We have experienced including our own increase. So there is a real demand to focus in this area. Yeah, no, I think one needs to do a distinction between the short term challenge we are facing right now, which is particularly true for, I think three member states. One is Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, which over the last couple of months has had a substantive increase of irregular migrants coming into their respective countries. Some of them has the right for international protection, many of them have not. And, and that has created a very strong, I think wish from member states of looking on in particular the external borders and see how they can be strengthened. That was the result of the latest European Council. And the work on that is now going on. It has to do with infrastructure, it has to do with migration management is that to do with concrete support via Frontex at the border as such. But it also has to do with fighting even even more efficiently. The international organized crime that are administrating this irregular migration from from countries outside EU. And finally it has to do with strengthening the partnership with the countries of source and countries countries of transit. So it's, on the one hand, helping them to build up the necessary instruments and administrative capacity to handle migration by themselves, controlling their own external border, but also to be clear to them. I'm thinking on particularly countries of source that our, we expect them to readmit their own citizens. But if we don't do that, it will have consequences for our relations. And, and what came out very strongly was this whole government approach, which means that we're not only thinking in terms of migration, but we also thinking in terms of how does that interplay with visa policy, trade policy and development policy. I, as being worked quite a lot with countries of source and of transit in my previous position, I believe strongly that this is the right way forward, because it's a bit odd that we should that countries from which citizens are coming refuse to to submit them to them countries when they have no right to be in the European Union. That is the short term elements that right now are being implemented slightly longer term. We have the migration pact. And there I am quite optimistic that Member States and European Parliament will be able to land that one in accordance with the roadmap that has been set up. And that is running from from now until next year at this time around this time. And here the challenge is to find this balance between on the one side responsibility for those countries for all countries, but in particular for those countries where the migration is coming in and solidarity from those countries within the country pressure is not the same. And I think the elements that the commission has set out and which are now being negotiated is the right balance is the right is the right elements that are there. Now it's time now it is you is to find the right balance. And in that migration pack there is also elements of legal migration, because on the same time as we have this challenge of irregular migration that needs to be handled. There are elements of scene to that we have a functional asylum policy which lifts up to our, our, our commitments when it comes to international law. We also need to see to that we have a policy of legal migration that holds water, and we know that that's an area where we probably will have more of an interest to have it functioning as we are looking ahead, given the development of our own workforce. So, these elements comes together in the migration pack and on your on your question, or yes, I am cautiously optimistic that this will fall into place. And during the Swedish president so we are going to work in particular on two elements which has to do with external border. One is the Euro deck, which has to do with the, with the information systems as such, and the other elements is about screening, which has a link towards the information system but which makes it more easy and more, more, more comprehensive when it comes to screening those migrants that comes over the border when they come over the border. Thank you very much indeed for that comprehensive reply. I think as I mentioned that Ireland is struggling as well with with a significant increase in numbers so a future path for dealing with with thought is an extremely difficult situation would be would be very, very helpful. In your case, in your case is primarily Ukrainians isn't it. You know, we have seen a significant increase from arrivals outside Europe, I think at one stage it was really a thousand. And yes, but that are 70,000 plus, but also a very significant increase in in migrants from outside of Europe. And as you say, it's difficult to distinguish between those who are genuine migrants and those who are requiring the treatment as migrants and that is just the problem. Inevitably states that we've come to a question about you UK relations. It's, it's how you're speaking here in Ireland and what do you think is the future of the UK relations, how do you see it I know Sweden and the UK have been and are particularly close and but how do you see the future of the EU UK relation. Well, I mean, I don't want to comment on the on the Brexit as such but only perhaps to say that you rightly pointed to that we work very closely with with United Kingdom. We're members of the EU and and it's of course unfortunate that they're not there anymore but that was a decision by the British people so that that were who are we to have any views on that. For the future. We have an agreement and the first thing is to see to that that agreement is being respected fully and that's why the discussions of the Northern Ireland protocol is so essential. And here we stand all together. The European Union and its member states. And I'm my understanding is that the, the discussions on a ghost or whatever we should call it between the Commission and the British government is, as I put it is ongoing and and our hope is that they will lead to a to result, which means that we can come out of that particular particular issue which has been there for quite some time now too long time. So, so that is on the Northern Ireland protocol. And as I said it's so not I mean there is this tendency from time to time to say well not an island but why is that important. It is absolutely essential for for Northern Ireland to be part of the single market that needs to be guarantees that we can trust whatever comes out of Northern Ireland that goes into the single market so full respect for that and fully behind the position of the EU from and and the unit is very very strong for the future. Well, there are there are elements of possible possibilities of developing the agreement that was reached. And to the extent that this is something that is going to be of interest for the United Kingdom and for the EU we would be probably among those who would say that would be a good thing. It would see to that that we can either have an even richer relation with the United Kingdom outside the but we're not there yet. Let's start now to see to that the what needs to be addressed needs to be addressed and that is the Northern Ireland protocol. Yes. Yes. Thank you and we all have a high hopes for that and hope that that can be can be addressed and we can move forward from that. The security and defence letter that was obligated we'd very much like to see obviously a security and defence relationship with with the United Kingdom. State Secretary you were responsible for quite some time for enlargement. We have a very large number of applicants in the waiting room. How what is your view about the speed that that is likely to to move obviously Ukraine has come in with strong moral pressure. Well over there also but also the Balkan member states who have been waiting for quite some time. Could I have you the view of your view and the presidency view as to how it might move or will there be quite a long lag. Well I think the the process as such is is well known and well understood. It's merit based and therefore it's linked to the ability of the country's concern to take on the the rather challenging commitments that you need to put in place to become a member of the EU and and it's both the technical ones which are by themselves quite substantive but it is also what we call the fundamentals which is the guarantee institutions that or other institutions that guarantee democracy rule of law respectful minorities. And on that one I think all of all the countries concerned are working very hard in order for that to happen and but there are still issues that needs to be addressed that goes for western Balkan that goes also for Ukraine. I mean there were seven conditions that were put when they got the Canada status is true for Moldova and it's true for Georgia. Now when they are able to move ahead, the process will move ahead and therefore it's very difficult to say anything about timelines. But what I have observed is that there is a I think has always been an openness from member states for the enlargement process every year. There has been manifested in manifested in conclusions from the from the council when on enlargement so that that has always been that political commitment that EU is a will enlarge when the countries are ready to become members of the EU. But what I think one sense now is that there has been more of a stronger priority to these issues. And that I think has to do with what we have seen the Russian war, but also the way that the world has developed and a recognition that for the EU. It is essential that these countries who would like to become members of the EU and happens to be our neighbors that they can develop in that direction. If I'm put it bluntly is like previous commission and put it, we have a choice of exporting stability or importing instability. And there's something in it. And I wouldn't say that that goes for all of them but that's something in it and stability by moving towards becoming members of the EU is probably true in terms of putting the various structures in place. So that's that's how I see it. I also I asked had a meeting today in fact with ambassadors from the Western Balkan campus here in Sweden and it's very clear that there is a determination on their side to to move ahead and I was last week in Kiev. It's very clear that the decisiveness of the Ukrainians to move in this direction and wanting to to do the necessary forms in that way going forward in the accession process. So that's where we are. And I think we will see over the coming years that this issue will be on the agenda and hopefully we will see further progress from the country's concern and thereby them moving forward to moving closer towards the EU. And but the timeline is something that is being going to be decided by their ability to take on the, the commitments that are called for. Thank you very much indeed for that. I suppose one can see that that's from an awful situation or war situation. There's something positive, more of a gathering of views that in in the European direction, rather than just coasting along as as things have been going. Yes, State Secretary we are very close to the end. Just one last question. What do you see as the biggest challenge to the single market. We are 30 years now in the single market and Sweden is a big trading nation. What do you, what would you see as the single biggest challenge for the single market. I do see that the single market continues to be a single market. And what it means in concrete terms is to continuously address the temptation by member states to put into place various kinds of measures that the factor is going to run contrary to the single market. And that is everything from abuse of state aid to various forms of of legislation which happens to be designed in such a way that they're particularly friendly towards the production from the country in the country itself and this this temptation is there at all levels. It could be at the local level it could be also at the leader. So that's I think is one element which is important. I'd like to mention another one and that is to continuously develop the single market. And that means being able to see to that the digital environment that we are going to live in. And that also means a single market that is not only in name but also in substance. It means services seriously becoming a single market for services, which has been a very big challenge over the last over the last couple of years. Okay, I think we all need to reflect on the legislation and the latest burden. There is also always a temptation to go for legislative instruments in order to address issues that are coming up. And doing that seem to that it doesn't become another layer on the layer on the layer, which leads to Europe and European industry being less less less less able to to compete, but also less able to create that prosperity and economic growth that is pending our system, underpinning democracy and rule of law, and which is essential for us to be able to to project in order to stand up against these other systems that are around. And that that we are the factor competing with today to an extent that was not the case a couple of years ago. So here you have a bit how I see it into the single market. Yes, that's a very good. That's very good advice, I think to each of the member states to look at things. And also the layers on layers of bureaucracy that certainly in a number of areas inhibit productivity, which we do need to look at compared to other areas and other trading trading networks, certainly from an Irish point of view, we would welcome services and digital added on, and we wish you well in in trying to bring that forward. State Secretary Danielson thank you so much for giving your time at this, as I say challenge in time for the Swedish presidency, we wish you the best of. It isn't the correct word, but we wish you that all the efforts of the presidency which we can see already are considerable will bear fruit during the six months. I know you have on the first of June the European political community as well to cope with. We have seven member states there. So good wishes go to you. And for a very successful presidency in a difficult situation. Thank you again for joining us. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. Thank you. And thank you to members who are joining us. Bye bye for the moment. We'll be seeing you again.