Sweden and the European Economic Community
| Author | Mats Bergquist |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083676900400101 |
| Date | 01 March 1969 |
| Published date | 01 March 1969 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Sweden
and
the
European
Economic
Community
Mats
Bergquist
In
order to
give
a
comprehensive
picture
of
the
subject
of
this
essay
it
has
been
considered
best
to
use,
as
a
point
of
de-
parture,
the
debate
that
accompanied
the
approach
Sweden
made
to
the
European
Economic
Community
in
1961-1962.
In
relevant
aspects
the
argu-
ments
then
raised
seem
to
be
valid
today.
This
became
evident
in
May
last
year
when
the
new
Swedish
appli-
cation
was
submitted
in
the
wake
of
the
new
United
Kingdom
application.
The
picture
given
here
is
based
upon
what
happened
in
1961-1962;
by
way
of
epilogue
the
discussion
in
1967
is
touched
upon.
It
must
be
emphasized
that
just
be-
cause
the
economic
and
political
aspects
were
the
ones
mostly
occurring
in
the
debate,
this
must
not
be
interpreted
as
indicating
that
the
ideological
dimen-
sion
(this
term
is
used
here
in
an
inten-
tionally
vague
sense)
-
as
well
as
those
political
dimensions
that
are
motiva-
tional
-
did
not
play
an
important
role
in
the
process
of
arriving
at
a
policy
on
the
part
of
parties
and
organizations.
How
important
cannot
now
be
assessed;
this
assessment
must
await
further
re-
search.
In
this
essay
a
concentration
on
policies
rather
than
motivations
has
been
necessary.
1.
The
politicization
of
the
question
of
European
integration
A
basic
trend
in
Swedish
trade
policy
-
as
well
as
in
that
of
the
other
Nordic
countries
-
has
been
to
follow
the
line
pursued
by
the
British
Government.
It
might
be
said
that
as
long
as
Great
Britain
stuck
to
her
inter-governmental,
functional
approach
towards
the
issue
of
European
economic
cooperation,
she
had
the
solid
support
of
the
Swedish
Government.
Sweden
became
a
member
of
OEEC
back
in
1948,
joined
EPU,
later
EMA,
supported
the
British
initia-
tive
of
1956
in
starting
discussions
on
a
European
Free
Trade Area
and
be-
came
a
co-sponsor
of
EFTA
when
it
was
negotiated
in
1959.
There
were
no
political
divergencies
in
Sweden
over
the
policy
followed
up
to
this
point.
Very
little
discussion
took
place
in
the
late
1950’s
on
our
position
vis-A-vis
the
Common
Market.
It
was
taken
for
granted
in
all
quarters
that
Sweden
would
not
contemplate
joining
the
Community
without
Great
Britain.
The
problem
was
thus
not
brought
into
the
political
arena.
It
could
have
been
foreseen,
had
any-
one
given
thought
to
the
problem,
that
a
change
in
British
policy
of
the
type
that
took
place
in
the
spring
of
1961
would
probably
entail
a
confused
de-
bate
in
Sweden
as
to
what
path
to
fol-
low.
If
and
when
the
United
Kingdom
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