Marcus Oscarsson, Recognized Authority on EU and U.S. Politics and Swedish Government Official, to Participate in "EU Environmental Law" Course

Marcus Oscarsson, a recognized Swedish observer of EU and U.S. politics, will moderate a discussion board about European Union environmental politics and related issues in this summer's Denver Law course offering "European Union Environmental Law & Policy."

He is a long-time contributor to Denver Law's European Union-related courses, having first been a guest lecturer in 2004 and every year since.

Mr. Oscarsson, who works for the Swedish Government, has a background in economics and journalism. He covers Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden for The Times and Sunday Times of London.

Mr. Oscarsson is also a respected authority about U.S. politics. In this regard he has spoken about U.S. presidential campaigns, U.S. elections, and Transatlantic relations at the Swedish Parliament, the Swedish Ministries for Foreign Affairs and Defense, the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Don C. Smith, the director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at Denver Law, teaches "European Union Law & Policy" and "EU Environmental Law & Policy." He has asked Mr. Oscarsson to be a part of all of his EU courses.

"Marcus has a unique perspective about the Transatlantic Relationship. On one hand, he is European and a citizen of the EU. But on the other hand, he is one of most perceptive individuals I have ever met -- in the EU or U.S. -- when it comes to evaluating the big issues that involve American politics. Consequently, he is perfectly positioned to talk about the Transatlantic relationship in a manner that combines an understanding of both political systems.

"Students who have been taught by Marcus rave about his insight as well as his ability to explain complicated issues in a more understandable fashion. I think this is due in large part to his experience closely following U.S. governmental issues for more than a decade," Mr. Smith said.

Denver Law is one of the handful of US law schools that offers a course in EU environmental law. This is a particularly important course since the EU is widely recognized as being the world leader in terms of climate change policy, chemicals regulation, and recycling and disposal of electronic wastes.

"EU Law & Policy" is taught completely on-line so that students can participate in the course from across the U.S. and the world.

European Union Environmental Law Guest Lecturer Marcus Oscarsson Featured on Sweden's TV4 News Channel

The Sturm College of Law Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program has benefited greatly over time (and continues to) from the many guest lecturers who speak to DU students. But it seems fair to say that few of these guest lecturers have ever been featured on a European TV channel talking about a royal wedding.

That was until yesterday when Stockholm-based Marcus Oscarsson, a regular guest lecturer about European Union environmental issues, was featured on Sweden's major news channel TV4 where he talked about this past weekend's royal wedding between Sweden's Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling.

Mr. Oscarsson, an official in the Swedish government, writes from time-to-time for the Times of London, one of Europe's major newspapers. In his "reporting" role, Mr. Oscarsson wrote a front-page story about the royal wedding for the Times' Sunday edition. That was followed by a Sunday morning appearance on TV4.

In his "day job," Mr. Oscarsson is involved with Sweden's governmental issues. From July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009, he was also a member of the Swedish Prime Minister's communications team where he helped with the government's role as president of the European Union. Most recently he was a guest speaker (via video conference) in the "Comparative Environmental Law" course in April 2010 where he spoke to students and responded to questions about the EU's environmental policy. In July he will moderate a discussion board in the "European Union Environmental Law & Policy" course.

Click here to watch the program. But be forewarned that Mr. Oscarsson's comments are all in Swedish. Fortunately for DU students, he also speaks and writes fluently in English!

Swedish Official Marcus Oscarsson Speaks to DU Law Students About European Union Environmental Policies and the EU's Environmental Leadership Role

Marcus Oscarsson, a Swedish civil servant who worked for Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt during Sweden's European Union Presidency from July-December 2009, spoke recently to Professor Don Smith's Comparative Environmental Law course.

Mr. Oscarsson, shown in the picture on the left on the large screen, talked to the students from his Stockholm office by way of a video conference. The students in Denver could see and hear Mr. Oscarsson while he could see and hear them as well. The eight hours difference between Mountain Daylight time in the U.S. and Central European time in Stockholm faded away quickly once Mr. Oscarsson began.

Among the issues Mr. Oscarsson addressed were:

• Why environmental issues are important in the EU: The "northern" countries, such as Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Sweden have active "Green" political parties that have raised the level of concern about the environment and in some cases -- such as Germany -- have been part of governing coalitions. Moreover, in countries such as Sweden the environment and nature are extremely important with many people spending large amounts of time hiking, boating, and so on.
• EU policies regarding climate change: There is widespread agreement in the EU that climate change is taking place and that the consequences will be catastrophic if the world does not respond. On the other hand, the EU was very disappointed with the outcome of the Copenhagen UN climate change talks in December. One option that has been mentioned in the global media is that maybe the EU needs to let another, more environmentally "moderate" country, take the lead in future climate discussions, he said.
• How the EU feels about its successes and failures in relation to being a "world model" on environmental issues: While most EU citizens are "very proud" of the EU's commitment to environmental leadership, there is concern that without the active involvement of the China and the U.S. any global successes will be limited at best, he said.
• The political differences between the U.S. and EU countries regarding environmental issues: With the "proportional representation" electoral scheme that is in place in most EU countries (outside of the U.K.), Green parties are often pivotal actors in helping governments put together governing coalitions. This means that the Greens can play a larger role in defining environmental policies than in places, such as the U.S., where smaller parties simply do not play much of a role in determining who will govern a country.

Mr. Oscarsson was delighted with the wide ranging group of students from Argentina, Japan, Nigeria, and the U.S. "It was a real 'international' event," he said after his remarks.

According to Prof. Smith, "The European Union's leadership role in environmental policy issues is one that we often talk about in class. To have someone like Marcus Oscarsson, who is involved in Swedish policy making, speaking in real time to our students is highly beneficial to all of us since he can provide a true and highly informed 'European perspective' on why and how the EU has taken such an ambitious stand in relation to many key issues such as climate change." Prof. Smith went on to say, "We owe a large debt of gratitude to Marcus for taking time to speak to us and to share his insights with our students. I am certain that future DU students will also learn from Marcus since he has been a regular contributor to our program for several years now and is certain to remain so in the future."

In addition to his service to the Swedish government. Marcus Oscarsson has also served as Scandinavian correspondent for major European newspapers such as the U.K. Daily Mail, the Times of London, and the U.K. Sunday Telegraph, and the U.S.-based Global Post.

Happy 4th of July...From the European Union and Stockholm!

All of us in Denver wish the readers of this blog a Happy (but a bit belated) 4th of July! And we aren't the only ones wishing you the best.

Our program's "man" in Stockholm, Marcus Oscarsson, was featured on a national news show for Sweden's TV4 yesterday. Marcus, who some of you may be familiar with if you've taken "European Union Environmental Law & Policy" from me, joined a roundtable discussion about this 4th of July and America's mood as perceived from a European perspective.

And for those of you who don't know Marcus, let me tell you a little about him. Marcus and I became acquainted nearly 10 years ago when he was an intern at the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in Denver. That year, to be precise in the spring of 2001, Sweden's government was serving as the president of the EU and Marcus helped arrange for me -- recently returned from several years working in the EU -- to speak to the Denver group. Since then, we have become fast friends and he has helped me in my numerous offerings of "EU Law & Policy" and "EU Environmental Law & Policy."

For the next six months, Marcus is part of the Swedish government's EU presidency. This is a particularly important six months for the EU for many reasons, not least of which is that Sweden will lead the EU's delegation to the U.N. sponsored climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. In this role, Sweden (in collaboration with its other 26 EU member states) will likely take an ambitious position vis-a-vis where future global climate change policy will go. (It is worth noting that Sweden, and its impressive government and group of civil servants, is perhaps the most admired and respected holder of the EU presidency, which is rotated among the EU's member states.)  But this is getting a bit far afield from commenting about our program's great friend in Stockholm and the EU.

This coming semester (which begins in mid-August) I will be teaching "EU Law & Policy," and Marcus will most likely speak to the class from Sweden about the Swedish EU presidency.  Of course I would prefer to take the entire class right to Stockholm, but there is the slight matter of cost to do so...

If you check out the video link, Marcus is the one on the right-side of the panel.  Oh, and one more thing -- the video is all in Swedish so for those (like me) who don't speak Swedish, it may be a bit difficult (but not impossible) to follow!