Sweden is to review legislation to enable police to deal more effectively with the kind of violent protests which occurred during the EU summit in Gothenburg.
Even as trouble spiralled to an unprecedented level on Friday, police did not resort to the use of tear gas or water cannon. But three people were injured when police opened fire with bullets, one of them seriously. The result has shocked Sweden and foreigners alike.
The Prime Minister, Mr Goran Persson - hosting the summit climaxing Sweden's six-month EU presidency - said the violence had overshadowed Sweden's work to bring eastern Europe into the EU and make economic policy reflect environmental concerns.
"It should have been a triumph for Goran Persson as EU president. Instead it was one of the worst days in his political career," said Sweden's biggest-selling tabloid, Expressen.
Mr Persson told a press conference he did not find it "reasonable" not to have used tear gas and water cannon during the riots. "We have to be realistic about the world we are living in, he said. "We have to evaluate what has happened and analyse any changes in legislation to make it possible to use tools."
He proposed the setting up of a working group to consider any changes in the law.
For Mr Persson's government the violence was all the worse as it had gone out of its way to reach out to opponents of the EU. The government organised a series of "dialogues" with the dozens of groups meeting in Gothenburg to protest against EU policy and globalisation.
City authorities provided accommodation for thousands of foreign protesters and co-operated in planning demonstrations by thousands of people.
All this was set to nought last Friday when, at one stage, police lost control of the city centre, retreating under a hail of paving stones. Dozens of masked militants from all over Europe moved down the prosperous port city's main avenue, methodically smashing shop windows.
Security fears prompted police to move several visiting EU delegations from hotels and forced the summit hosts to switch a gala dinner from the botanical gardens to the heavily guarded convention centre.
Unlike other countries, where the authorities might resort to tear gas or water cannon to contain a protest before it even turns violent, the Swedish police seemed to have little in their armoury except batons. Until, that is, one officer, seeing a colleague beaten to the ground and kicked repeatedly, fired in what police said was self-defence. Three demonstrators - two Swedes and a German - were wounded.
A clearly embarrassed and not fully briefed Justice Minister, Mr Thomas Bodstrom, defended the police at a hastily convened news conference late on Friday, but insisted it was up to the police and not the government to decide what weapons and tactics to use.
Swedish officials explained that Mr Bodstrom was, as a minister, constitutionally barred from interfering in the work of the independent police.
The chief of the Swedish Police Board, Mr Sten Heckscher, surprised journalists when he said police operations throughout the summit had been a success.
Deflecting criticism, he defended his force and condemned "hooligans who made use of peaceful demonstrations as a shield". Under very difficult conditions the police carried out "an excellent job successfully", he said.
Police said that all the protesters arrested and held in custody - about 100 - had previous convictions. A total of 549 police were reported to have received facial, head and hand injuries. A large number of demonstrators were also injured.