Sweden and the OECD

Like all the presently 30 member countries, the Swedish government maintains a permanent delegation to the OECD. The delegation is composed of one ambassador and 12 staff members; five officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, one from the Ministry of  Finance and one from the Ministry of Education and Research. The rest of the staff is locally employed.

The ambassador is representing Sweden in the OECD Council, which is the highest decision-making body. The Council meets at ministerial level once a year to discuss key issues and set priorities for OECD work.

Every year, about 1200 delegates from Government Offices and other government authorities attend  meetings within the approximately 200 committees and working groups of the OECD. The delegation’s mission is to supervise the work done within the committees and working groups, to report to Stockholm about committee work and about current issues and to assist the Swedish Government in preparing Swedish positions.

The general experience is that participation in OECD work provides Swedish officials with needful information and insights in matters related to both domestic and international policy development. The Secretariat provides timely and high-quality analysis as a basis for decisions.

The OECD is an important forum for exchange of ideas and experiences, where the member countries can discuss and identify best practices. As a member of the OECD you also get the opportunity to discuss with all the actors of the world economy due to OECD’s co-operation with about 70 non-member countries.