On October 7-11 the 1^st EDS Council Meeting, organized by  Fria Moderata Studentförbundet (FMSF) was held in Stockholm.

The event contained political seminars, discussions and formal EDS Council meeting gathering around 60 participants from more than 30 countries in Stockholm.

Every day we were welcomed at the party headquarters in the picturesque Stockholm’s Old Town centre where the event took place.

The overall theme of the conference was political change.

Speakers were very well chosen and each of them was an expert in his field. Topics were interesting for everybody and we gained a lot of new knowledge.

We listened to and discussed with MP Mats Johansson who talked about the transformation of the Swedish Moderaterna party after the bad election result in 2002. Former FMSF chairman and EDS Director of Policy Mr. Tobias Sjö talked about reforms in the health care system to make it more accessible and patient-friendly. Mr. Tobias Billström, minister for migration and asylum policies talked about the new Swedish work migration system underlining that migration is a possibility for countries and not a threat. MP Lars Hjälmered`s topic had been environmental issues which he portrayed as a winning issue for the centre-right  and MP Karl Sigfrid covered questions regarding integrity and internet. MP Gustav Blix talked about education reform and Mr. Johnny Munkhammar PR-consultant and author talked on the topic of “new reform agenda”. Finally, associate professor Nils Karlson of the Ratio Institutes discussed the financial crisis and what will be the political effects of it while Mr. Gunnar Hökmark addressed the EDS Council with couple of words on Sweden’s role in the EU.

Such a wide range of national delegations brought together continued discussions at the dinner table and could not even stop intensive debates till early morning in the hotel rooms.

Saturday was, as usual, the day of the EDS Council Meeting where motions, prepared by EDS Permanent working groups were discussed and voted upon. Also, recently elected  EDS Chairman  and  members of the Bureau gave their detailed reports on work that had been done since July, and all ambitious plans for the upcoming working year in EDS were thoroughly discussed.

Council Meeting in Stockholm will be remembered for its warm and nice atmosphere too. Singing and joking as well as toast proposing were an essential part of every evening in Sweden. The Council meeting was concluded by great Saturday evening crowned by traditional Swedish student dinner with good Swedish food and songs and a great spirit among the participants.

Since Stockholm is a city on water and Swedes being keen on functionalism use as much available space there is in Stockholm it is not a surprise to find hotels, bars, nightclubs on the sailing boats. Also we were accommodated in such floating hotel, which was new and interesting experience and possibility to get to know each  other better  than  ever.

Stockholm is a beautiful city and the people there are friendly, always willing to help. And none of us did claim a prize for finding Swede who does not speak English. During Council meeting there were a lot of toasts and gratitude for nice time in Stockholm. But we would like to thank FMSF one more time- we spent unforgettable days in Stockholm!