Jonas Tallberg: "Many placed their hopes in the euro as the economic instrument that would drive political integration"

Two decades after Sweden's referendum on the euro, the issue has resurfaced, following the release of a new inquiry led by economist Lars Calmfors at the turn of the year. Support for adopting the common currency has risen since 2022, according to the business news outlet EFN.

ECB president Christine Lagarde attends the banknotes signature event.

Should Sweden Adopt the Euro? (In Swedish)

Calmfors, who headed the new review, argues that the case for Swedish membership has strengthened. At the same time, Karolina Ekholm, director general of the Swedish National Debt Office, notes that public opinion has long tracked the value of the krona.

Time for the Euro? (In Swedish)

Jonas Tallberg, a political scientist at Stockholm University and a contributor to the inquiry, describes Sweden's approach as fundamentally pragmatic.

"Sweden has never been at the forefront of the federalist camp," he says. "But when the functional advantages of deeper cooperation have become clear, those insights have tended to shape policy over time. We don’t buy the visions — but we do buy the functional benefits."

Tallberg and colleague Magnus Lundgren, Associate Professor at Gothenburg University, examine the euro's role as a driver of integration in one chapter of the report.

Further information

Jonas Tallberg is a Professor of political science at Stockholm University and co-director of the Stockholm Center on Global Governance. In the inquiry, he and Magnus Lundgren, an Associate Professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, examine the euro as a driver of integration (Chapter 10).

Karolina Ekholm has served as Director General of the Swedish National Debt Office since February 1, 2022. Before taking up the post, she was a professor in the Department of Economics at Stockholm University, and she previously served as Deputy Governor of Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank.

Lars Calmfors is Professor Emeritus of International Economics at IIES and researcher at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. He led the major inquiry into the euro in the 1990s, which at the time recommended that Sweden wait before joining the currency union.

Last updated: 2026-04-16

Source: Communications Office