The nomination of Malmström, who is a member of the liberal People's Party, affiliated to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, comes as a surprise. Reinfeld was widely expected to nominate somebody from Moderaterna, his European People's Party-affiliated party. The names of Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt had been cited as possible successors to current Swedish Commissioner Margot Wallström, who is returning to national politics.
Malmström has a Ph.D. in political science from Gothenburg University, was born in 1968 and partly spent her childhood in France, Germany and Spain. She speaks English, French and Spanish fluently, and according to reports, speaks decent German and Italian. As a member of the European Parliament from 1999 until 2006, when she was appointed as minister, she gained notoriety by initiating an online campaign aimed at dropping Strasbourg as one of its the seats.
Malmström supports eurozone membership for her country. Sweden opted out of the single currency in a 2007 referendum.
As Europe minister, Malmström was a strong campaigner for Lisbon Treaty ratification and had expressed strong views on the revision of the EU budget. In her blog, she hinted that her fields of interest as commissioner may include EU enlargement.
"Today, the Swedish government has decided to nominate me to the next European Commission. Europe has to deal with a range of decisive issues. For example we have to handle climate change, increased cross-border crime, and make further enlargement possible. I am proud and honoured for the opportunity to contribute to this important task as commissioner. Being a liberal, I feel strongly about European integration. The European Union is the most important tool we have to tackle our common challenges," Malmström wrote.
