This is Saturday’s press conference with Sweden’s prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and French Presidency Nicolas Sarkozy, with translation into English. At this press conference, Reinfeldt says that there is not going to a vote on the future of Jose Manuel Barroso as president of the European Commission in the 2009-2014 period at the July session in Strasbourg. They also address other issues that will be on the EU radar in the coming months, including climate change, a carbon tax and the situation in Iran. Video streamed from the EU presidency website.

Sweden’s European Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmström, a former member of the European Parliament, previews the second week of the Swedish EU Presidency in this video posted on YouTube.

EUX.TV News report by Raymond Frenken:

The Swedish presidency of the European Union kicked off on Wednesday against a very tough backdrop: the outright fiasco of the six-month presidency by the Czech Republic, whose government collapsed half-way, and the very energetic presidency of France in the second half of 2008.

From Stockholm, the message now is humility and optimism.

With the economic crisis, the situation in Iran and the talks on climate change pulling together to create a global perfect storm, the modest Swedes are set to deploy considerable diplomatic efforts, to respond to the global crisis, to prepare for the interior changes in the union – assuming of course Ireland will ratify the Lisbon Treaty, and to further deepen existing strategies.

Stockholm today was the venue where the Swedish presidency of the European Union started, with a meeting of the Swedish government and the European Commission. Raw video supplied to broadcasters by EbS.