Editing Ingvar Carlsson (section)

===Second premiership (1994–1996)===
{{further|Carlsson III cabinet}}
[[File:Madrid European Council (1995).jpg|thumb|right|A 1995 meeting of the [[European Council]] in Madrid. Carlsson is the third from the right in the second row, behind French President [[Jacques Chirac]].]]

The Social Democrats lost the [[Elections in Sweden|elections]] in 1991, but Carlsson returned to power after the elections in 1994. When the Social Democrats returned to power in 1994, they responded to the fiscal crisis<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070627060024/http://hdr.undp.org/docs/publications/ocational_papers/oc26c.htm (archive date: 27 June 2007) Between 1990 and 1994, per capita income declined by approximately 10%] hdr.undp (original URL: [http://hdr.undp.org/docs/publications/ocational_papers/oc26c.htm]) (access date: 5 July 2007) (dead URL)</ref> by stabilizing the currency—and by reducing the [[welfare state]] and [[privatizing]] public services and goods, as governments did in many countries influenced by [[Milton Friedman]], the Chicago Schools of political and economic thought, and the [[neoliberal]] movement.
As Prime Minister, he also carried out a comprehensive reform of the tax system.

After three years in opposition and an election victory in the 1994 elections, Carlsson formed a new government. This government realigned its focus on cleaning up Swedish Government finances, and the task was assigned to the newly appointed [[Minister of Finance (Sweden)|Minister of Finance]] [[Göran Persson]]. The ensuing governing period was difficult and it was strongly criticized by trade unions and party members for government service cuts and tax increases that were instituted. On 19 December 1994, Carlsson announced the decision not to recover the wreck of the [[MS Estonia]], or even the bodies of the victims of the disaster.

Bildt's government had significantly cut taxes, although they were still considered high. In his second government, Carlsson reduced some welfare benefits and halved the value-added food tax. However, he also raised the top marginal income tax rates on the wealthiest, and tax revenue increased as the decade progressed.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Resilient Swedish Model|date=Winter 2003|journal=[[The Wilson Quarterly]]|volume=27|issue=1|page=108|jstor=45270996}}</ref>

Carlsson pushed for Sweden to join the [[European Union]], seeing it as necessary for Sweden to strengthen its economy, although other members of his party were sceptical of the idea.<ref>{{harvnb|Elgán|Scrobbie|2015|p=90}}</ref> After four years of negotiations and a large campaign credited with increasing EU support, [[1994 Swedish European Union membership referendum|a national referendum was held]] on 13 October 1994, with 83% voter turnout (the highest for a Swedish referendum up to that point), and 52.3% voting to join.<ref name=":SwedenEU20">{{Cite web|title=Twenty years since Sweden voted to join the EU – what's changed?|date=13 November 2014|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/nov/13/twenty-years-since-sweden-voted-to-join-the-eu-whats-changed|accessdate=20 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Swedes Vote In Referendum To Join The European Union|date=14 November 1994|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/14/world/swedes-vote-in-referendum-to-join-the-european-union.html|accessdate=20 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____223857.aspx|title=Folkomröstningar 1922–2003|date=21 December 2007|publisher=[[Statistics Sweden]]|language=sv|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402200018/http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____223857.aspx |archivedate=2 April 2012|url-status=dead|accessdate=8 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.val.se/det_svenska_valsystemet/folkomrostningar/nationella/index.html|title=Nationella folkomröstningar|publisher=[[Election Authority (Sweden)|Swedish Election Authority]]|language=sv|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817192957/http://www.val.se/det_svenska_valsystemet/folkomrostningar/nationella/index.html |archivedate=17 August 2010|url-status=dead|accessdate=8 October 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Sander|1996|p=49}} Sweden joined in January 1995 alongside [[Austria]] and [[Finland]].<ref name=":SwedenEU20"/> After joining, Carlsson was critical of the lack of gender diversity in EU institutions, stating in a ministerial meeting that "we don't do it this way in Sweden".{{sfn|Ingebritsen|2002|p=257}}

[[1995 European Parliament election in Sweden|Sweden held an election]] for the [[European Parliament]] in September 1995. The pro-European Social Democrats received only 28% of the vote, while the [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]] [[Left Party (Sweden)|Left Party]] and [[Green Party (Sweden)|Green Party]] together won 30%. The Social Democrats' poor showing was seen as a major blow to Carlsson.{{sfn|Sander|1996|p=50}}

In August 1995, Ingvar Carlsson announced that he would resign as party leader and Swedish Prime Minister. His successor was long considered to be the then Minister of Equality and Deputy Prime Minister [[Mona Sahlin]]. However, due to the so-called [[Toblerone]] Affair, she took back her candidacy and also later resigned from the government. On 5 December 1995, the nominating committee proposed the Minister for Finance, Göran Persson, as the new party leader candidate. He was elected on 15 March 1996 at the Social Democratic Party Congress as party leader and on 22 March 1996 he was elected Prime Minister.