This thesis examines how the parliamentary debate in Sweden saw the consequences of Swedenas a nation were to join the European Union. The nation is defined as a state based on nationalself-determination. The EU is regarded as a supra-state organisation and one of the moreextensive efforts of its kind. I specifically examine two themes in Swedish foreign policy. Theseare the nonalignment policy and migration policy. Through a discourse analysis I show that allpolitical parties perceive consequences for the self-determination and all argue selfdeterminationwill be lost in the event of membership. However, they are divided in what theybelieved this would lead to. Some parties support EU whereas others are sceptical of EU. Partiesthat support an EU-membership argue that it is inevitable to join and Sweden will lose selfdeterminationanyway. A membership opens the possibility to influence and participate, but anabstaining will lead forced acceptance of policies. Many of the supporters are even positive ofbeing a member in EU. Sceptics, on the other hand believe Sweden will lack influence and loseall self-determination. The organisation itself is against Sweden as it is a supra-stateorganisation, which may reduce the role of single member-states. For the nonalignment policy,the government initially use it as an argument against EU, but later support membership if thenonalignment policy can be kept. The other supporters acknowledge the nonalignment policy,but nevertheless assert that EU is compatible with the nonalignment policy. This is because ofthe changes in the geopolitical situation. Sceptics believe the nonalignment policy rejectmembership, mostly due to the still uncertain geopolitical situation and the suspicion EU willdeprive Sweden of its decision-making. Sometimes they suggest the self-determination andnonalignment policy are prerequisites for each other. In the migration policy, all parties supportgenerous migration policy, but
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-320389 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Maagaard, Sebastian |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för idé- och lärdomshistoria |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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