The European Union (EU) is an organisation for European cooperation, to which the majority of countries in Europe belong. Together, the EU countries make joint decisions in numerous areas, instead of deciding independently. The foundations of today's European Union were laid by six countries in 1952.
All European countries that respect the EU's democratic values and human rights and freedoms can apply to join the EU. Today, 27 European countries are members of the EU. Sweden joined the EU in 1995 after a referendum.
The EU started as an organisation for cooperation between six countries in Western Europe during the post-war period. Over time, the Union has grown and today it has 27 member states. The EU's greatest enlargement took place in 2004, when ten countries in Eastern Europe became members. The UK left the Union on 31 January 2020.
* The UK joined the EU in 1973, but left in 2020.
All EU countries can trade freely with each other within the single market. The countries also cooperate on climate and environmental policy, transport, foreign and security policy, judicial matters and migration.
20 of the EU's member states are part of the euro cooperation and use the euro as their common currency. The euro was created to simplify trade between the countries, and any country wishing to introduce the euro must first meet a number of economic criteria. Sweden's politicians have not introduced the euro in Sweden. This is because a majority of voters voted against introduction of the euro in a referendum in 2003.
The 20 EU countries that have gone over to using the euro as their currency are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
The overall goal of Schengen cooperation is to strengthen free movement of goods, services, people and capital across borders.
Sweden belongs to the Schengen area, which comprises 23 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Border controls have been abolished within Schengen. This means that passport controls between the Schengen countries have been removed – the idea is that it should be easy for everyone to travel across borders. Instead, the countries belonging to Schengen have border controls with countries that are not part of the cooperation. A Schengen country can temporarily reintroduce passport controls for reasons of national security.
The countries belonging to the Schengen area are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland all belong to the Schengen area through special agreements.
The EU cooperates with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which all belong to the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA Agreement involves extensive cooperation and means that these countries are included in the EU single market. Switzerland also has a similar agreement with the EU.
The EU's activities are financed by means of contributions paid by the member states to the EU budget every year. The member states then receive money back in the form of support from the EU. In 2016–2022, Sweden has paid between SEK 24–52 billion annually to the EU budget and has received between SEK 10–16 billion annually in backflows from the EU budget. In addition, a number of public agencies, organisations, universities and other institutions of higher education in Sweden receive EU grants via various EU projects and networks.
The EU's activities are financed by annual contributions from Sweden and the other member states. The size of the contribution depends on the country's individual preconditions. Among other things, the contribution depends on the country's gross national income (GNI).
Sweden has a relatively high GNI compared to many other EU countries. This means that Sweden pays a higher contribution to the EU than it receives in backflows in the form of economic subsidies. Countries that pay more than they receive back are known as net contributors.
The economic support from the EU goes, for example, to research, climate work, regional development and agricultural support. During the next few years, a significant amount of money will be used to deal with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every year, the Riksdag takes a decision on central government expenditure and revenue. The point of departure for the decision is the Budget Bill, that is, the proposal for the central government budget that the Government submits to the Riksdag during the autumn every year. One of the expenditure areas in the central government budget is the contribution to the EU. It usually makes up a few per cent of total central government expenditure. In the central government budget for 2022, the contribution to the EU constitutes approximately 4 per cent of central government expenditure.
The central government budget for 2023 – the Riksdag framework decision (in Swedish)
Below is a list of Sweden's contributions to the EU and its backflows since it joined the EU in 1995. The sums below are given in SEK billion in the monetary value of the year in question. The figures are taken from the annual report for the central government sector, where the Government, in table 6.1 Contribution to and backflow from the EU, accounts for the contribution to and backflow from the EU for the year in question. In the annual report for the central government sector, the term EU grants is used for backflows of EU support.
Sweden normally receives more EU support each year than is accounted for in the list below. This is because some EU support goes, for example, to Swedish public agencies, organisations, universities and university colleges via various EU projects and networks. This support does not come directly from the EU budget for the current year, but indirectly via various organisations and actors.
The total support from the EU that has been managed by Sweden during a specific year can be found in Note 3, Revenues from grants, in the annual report for the central government sector for the year in question.
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2022:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2021:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2020:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2019:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2018:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2017:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2016:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2015:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2014:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2013:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2012:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2011:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2010:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2009:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2008:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2007:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2006:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2005:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2004:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2003:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2002:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2001:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 2000:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 1999:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 1998:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 1997:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 1996:
Sweden's contribution to the EU and backflow 1995:
All European countries can apply for membership of the EU. A country wishing to join the EU must fulfil the Copenhagen criteria, which is a number of political, financial and administrative requirements. The EU has eight candidate countries that wish to become members and meet the political requirements.
All European countries that respect the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law can apply to become members of the EU. The application for membership is often part of a long process of adaptation to the EU and its regulatory framework.
Political criterion the most important
The EU's requirements for membership are known as the Copenhagen criteria, which is a number of political, economic and administrative requirements.
If a country that wishes to join the EU fulfils the political criterion, it becomes a candidate country. This means that the EU can start its membership negotiations with the country in question, if all of the member states have agreed on this in the Council of the European Union, an institution consisting of government ministers from all of the member states.
The Council of the European Union
The EU has eight candidate countries:
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Steps towards joining the EU on the European Commission website
Member states can choose to leave the EU. The rules for how to withdraw from the EU are laid down in the Treaty on European Union, which contains the provisions determining how cooperation should function. To date one member state – the UK – has left the Union.
An EU country wishing to leave the EU must first apply to withdraw, which means that the country notifies the European Council that it no longer wishes to be a member of the EU. The European Council, which consists of the member states’ heads of state and government, draws up the guidelines for the agreement that the EU will reach together with the country.
Once the guidelines have been completed, the European Commission leads the agreement negotiations with the country wishing to withdraw from the EU. As EU cooperation covers so many areas, these negotiations take time. However, the agreement shall be concluded within two years.
The agreement shall set out how the withdrawal shall proceed as well as what the country's future relations with the EU shall look like after it has withdrawn. The agreement is signed by the Council of the European Union, which consists of government ministers from all EU member states, and the country withdrawing from EU cooperation. The agreement shall also be approved by the European Parliament, which consists of members elected by the citizens of all member states.
The European Council and the country withdrawing from the EU may decide together to extend the period for negotiations if both parties agree. If there is still no completed agreement two years after the application for withdrawal was submitted, the country's EU membership ceases to apply anyway.
The UK is the first member state to have left the EU. In June 2016, a referendum was held in which the UK's citizens voted against continued membership of the EU. In March 2017, the British Government submitted an application to withdraw from the EU to the European Council. After that the European Commission was responsible for agreement negotiations between the EU and the UK. Two years later in March 2019, the UK should have left the EU, but agreed together with the European Council to extend the negotiation period. The country left the Union on 31 January 2020.
After the UK had submitted its application for withdrawal, the European Council decided that the negotiations between the EU and the UK would be conducted in two stages. The first stage dealt with the conditions for withdrawal. An important matter that needed to be clarified was the rights for EU citizens living in the UK, and of UK citizens living in EU countries. Another important matter was reaching an agreement on how much the UK would pay to the EU under the economic commitments and agreements it had with the EU. In the second stage, the parties then negotiated what shape future relations between the EU and the UK would take. A new agreement between the EU and the UK came into force on 1 January 2021.
The UK was the first country to withdraw from the EU. However, there are also regions that have left the EU. One example is Greenland, which is part of Denmark and became a member of the EU when Denmark joined the EU in 1973. In 1982, the citizens of Greenland voted to leave the Union, and the island left in 1985. As the island is part of Denmark, some EU rules still apply in Greenland today. Greenland has the status as one of the EU's overseas countries and territories, together, for example, with French Polynesia and the British Falkland Islands.
If an EU member state breaches the EU's fundamental principles of freedom, democracy and human rights, the country can lose certain rights, such as the right to vote in the Council of the European Union. However, a member state cannot be expelled from the EU.
The EU treaties – the rules determining how the EU is to function – set out the fundamental principles of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. EU cooperation should be based on these values, and each member state is expected to comply with them.
A member state that disregards the EU's values cannot be excluded from the EU. However, it can lose some of the rights that it enjoys in the EU. The EU institutions can initiate a special procedure – an Article 7 procedure. The procedure is described in Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which contains rules determining how the EU is to function.
The Article 7 procedure can take different forms. If there is a clear risk that a member state will neglect the EU's values, the Council of the European Union notes this and advises the country on how to improve the situation, and then checks whether the risk remains. If a member state seriously and continuously neglects the EU's values, the European Council, which consists of the members states’ heads of state and government, can establish that this is the case.
If the European Council has established that a member state has neglected the EU's values, the Council of the European Union can decide to temporarily suspend certain rights that the country enjoys under EU cooperation, such as the right to vote in the Council of the European Union where the member states’ government ministers adopt new legislation. A country that has been excluded from the Council of the European Union still retains its commitments to the EU. To date, the Article 7 procedure has not been imposed.
The EU also has an early-warning system which is activated before an Article 7 procedure is initiated. According to this system, the European Commission – the EU institution that ensures that all the member states comply with EU legislation – can launch a dialogue with a member state that risks breaching the EU's fundamental principles.
