On 15th March 2011, Professor John Bachtler was an invited speaker at the National Forum in Sweden, a biennial event bringing together regional politicians from across Sweden and chaired by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications.
Drawing on EPRC research conducted under the EoRPA and IQ-Net research programmes, John Bachtler presented a paper 'Taking stock of Cohesion Policy: Current Progress and Preparations for the Next Programme Period', reviewing the progress made by Member States in achieving the goals of the Lisbon Strategy through the use of Structural Funds in the 2007-13 period and discussing the main features of the forthcoming reform of Cohesion policy for the post-2013 period.
Subsequently, John Bachtler also took part in a seminar in the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, examining the reform proposals in more detail and the Swedish position on the future of Cohesion policy.