Information Support of the European Integration: the Case Study of Sweden

The study aimed to analyze the Sweden experience in information support, particularly, the government strategy of objective informing the public about advantages and challenges of EU integration, and the negotiation process course. The state entry into the supranational structure always provokes the appearance of polar opinions: from absolute approval to total rejection and criticism. This situation was and still is in the candidate countries for joining the EU. Effective communication is a key to broad public support, especially when the public expresses its position in a nationwide referendum. The research methodology was laid by the systematic approach to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of communication and information support, to understand its role in promoting the idea of European integration; the interactive approach to consider the communication interaction of the authorities and citizens through the prism of interests and expectations of both ones. The normative-value method made it possible to study information support from the point of view of its positive impact on citizens and the formation of political values and ideals. The structural-functional method contributed to the study of developing information support as a system. The sociological method enabled to find out the influence of society, its priorities and beliefs on messages generated by the government. The works of domestic and foreign experts on Euro-Atlantic integration, official documents of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, websites of representative structures of Sweden and the EU, analytical reports of experts constituted the empirical basis of the article. Conclusions. It has been demonstrated that with regard to the Sweden European integration course, the Government chose the strategy of not imposing its vision, but informing as objectively as possible. In particular, the Secretariate in Information on European Affairs was created at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was supposed to increase citizens’ awareness. A call center was opened, which was mainly used by journalists. For a qualitative impact, the audience was clearly segmented. The advertising only informed where to get information about the EU, etc. Regarding the negotiation process highlighting, the media were widely involved, which formed public support for the Government’s actions. Ministers and spokespersons of ministries held regular briefings. A special brochure on the course of the negotiation process was elaborated, which was distributed free of charge to households, etc. The experience of Sweden is an example of a positive practice of informational support for joining the EU, which is extremely relevant for Ukraine at its new stage of European integration