Upon accession to the EU in 1995, Sweden declared that it would take a keen interest in the development of EU environmental policy. Having already developed a national environmental policy which is progressive by international standards, the Swedish government stated its intention to work for strict environmental protection standards at the EU level also. In this article it is argued that, between 1995 and 1998, Sweden acted as an environmental leader in the three cases studied in particular: the 1996 Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC); acidification; and the Auto/Oil Programme. It is recognised, however, that the active role taken by Sweden in these policy areas owes much to domestic considerations, such as a high level of ecological vulnerability and a wish to protect national environmental standards. To achieve results in EU policy-making, both domestically-based and EU strategies have been applied by Sweden, which, in EU negotiations so far, has preferred compromise to confrontation.
European Energy and Environmental Law Review