The Swedish government said today it would set up a committee to look into the Swedish police's authority and the tools at its disposal to prevent and combat riots, after violent clashes in Gothenburg marred an EU summit.
In a statement, the government said the committee would "examine judicial obstacles preventing the police from using certain equipment during riots", a reference to tear gas and water cannon which Swedish authorities bar police from using.
"It is unacceptable that society and individuals -- including the police officers assigned to keeping the peace -- should have to be subjected to violence and destruction of the kind we have seen in Gothenburg," Justice Minister Thomas Bodstroem said in the statement.
Thousands of anti-globalisation demonstrators rampaged through the genteel coastal city, the scene of a two-day European Union summit that began Friday, smashing shops, torching property and clashing with police.
Three people were shot by police during the protest, one of whom was still in critical but stable condition today.
The government said the committee, which will be headed by former prime minister Ingvar Carlsson, will also examine the current regulations on detention.
Currently, police can only hold protesters for six hours, after which they must be released or placed under suspicion of a crime.Police in Gothenburg had complained they were forced to fight the same protesters day after day.
Finally, the committee will look at ways of making it easier to identify people taking part in riots and consider whether regulations for inner border controls must be changed.
The government said it would take an official decision to establish the committee at the next cabinet meeting on June 20.
Yesterday, Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson announced that the EU will set up a working group of ministers from France, Sweden and Belgium to look into ways of combatting violence at future European summits.
Belgium takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU from Sweden from July 1.
AFP