STOCKHOLM, 10 September 2003 — A majority of Swedes will vote against joining the euro next Sunday judging by latest opinion polls which show too few converts to the European Union’s flagship economic project. As campaigning hit fever pitch, Prime Minister Goran Persson insisted victory for the “yes” side was still possible, but the polls suggested euro supporters have too much ground to make up.
One poll even showed the “No” side’s lead widening slightly just when euro supporters urgently need to persuade many among the seven million voters to give up the krona. The “yes” side pins its hopes of Sweden becoming the 13th member of the single currency on mainstream politicians and business leaders drumming up a late burst of support.
Opposition to the euro is being shored up by fears that it might put at risk Sweden’s generous cradle-to-grave welfare and political control over its relatively prosperous economy. A Reuters correspondent visiting the town of Arjeplog just beneath the Arctic Circle found that like many far-flung areas dependent on state funding, anti-euro sentiment was high.
“Brussels is too far away from Arjeplog. Stockholm is already far enough,” said pro-euro Mayor Bengt-Urban Fransson. The referendum is being watched for signs of acceptance or rejection of the EU’s most ambitious economic project so far. Financial markets have stayed calm but are betting on a “No”.
The ramifications of a Swedish “No” euro could spread beyond the EU’s present borders. Polish deputy central bank governor Andrzej Bratkowski said it could dampen euro-enthusiasm among 10 mainly ex-Soviet bloc countries waiting to join the EU next May.
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, a Swedish speaker, joined Persson to tell voters: “A ‘Yes’ vote is support for democracy, influence and welfare. The world is watching Europe.”
Euro-skeptics have led the polls since April, though the gap has narrowed slightly and Persson hopes for a repeat of Sweden’s 1994 referendum on EU membership, when the undecided turned pro-EU late in the game. “This will be an extremely close race. I have said that all the time. And many, many voters will decide on the last day of the week,” said Persson as he cast an early postal vote.
But Ulla Hoffman, head of the anti-euro Left Party, told Reuters: “People trusted the politicians in 1994 but they won’t trust them this time.”
