Structural changes and several crises in recent years have put tremendous pressure on the labour market. Many jobs are gone, but a lot of new jobs have been created. The challenge which emerges is that many new jobs have very different skills profiles to jobs that have been lost. Many people risk ending up outside the labour market. The Swedish example shows the need for a framework which covers all parts of the labour market, to be able to create the right conditions for new jobs for everyone.

Fredrik Reinfeldt has been active in Swedish and international politics for over 25 years. He reinvented the Moderate Party (centre-right) creating “the new Moderates” and entered into an alliance with three other center and center-right parties. The four party alliance won two successive elections and Reinfeldt, as Prime Minister, presided over two coalition governments (2006 until 2014).  During his time as Prime Minister, Reinfeldt reformed the Swedish economy and labour market, making Sweden one of the most competitive countries in Europe. More than 300,000 new jobs were created. The Swedish economy had higher growth rates and sounder public finances than other European countries during his time as Prime Minister. Sweden was also the only country in the EU that lowered it´s national debt during the financial crises.  He is currently writing a book about his time in politics. 

The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) was established in 1991 as a dedicated centre for the interdisciplinary study of processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

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