Talking Europe - 'We should be able to open up negotiations' with Ukraine, Sweden's EU minister says

During her recent visit to France, we caught up with Sweden's minister for EU affairs, Jessica Rosencrantz. We discuss the energy crunch and what it means for Europe's competitiveness; Sweden's and the EU's relationship with Ukraine; and Sweden's dynamic tech and innovation scene. We start with the energy crisis hitting Europe as a result of the war in the Middle East. The Swedish government has stated that fuel rationing might be an option at some point. Rosencrantz says that, in Sweden, "we are putting in place measures to dampen the effects of the spikes in prices by reducing the tax on electricity, for example." She goes on: "It is really important to help consumers and businesses now. But that shouldn't take the focus away from what we need to do in the long run (at the EU level). We need to keep our eyes on the prize, and that is to boost competitiveness in general through simplification. Through fulfilling the single market. And of course, what's going on now really shows that being dependent on fossil fuels from the Middle East or from Russia; that's a bad strategy. It's bad for climate. It's bad for the economy. And it's bad