The Swiss government announces that it wants à la carte negotiations with the EU
Ignazio Cassis, President of Switzerland announced that this à la carte negotiation with the EU marked a new chapter in the country's history.
AFP - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
After months of uncertainty about the future of its relations with Brussels, the Swiss government, showing "pragmatism", opted this Friday, February 25 for a negotiation by sectors with the European Union, definitively refusing any general agreement.
Advertising
Read more
This new "
path is not only in the interest of Switzerland, but also of the EU
", said Swiss President Ignazio Cassis at a press conference.
"
We are in a new chapter in the history of Switzerland
," he said.
Ties between Brussels and
Bern
have been strained since non-EU Switzerland suddenly decided in May 2021
to end years of talks
for a framework agreement, also known as an institutional agreement, with this bloc of states.
Since then, the EU has been urging Switzerland to show "
will
" if it still wants to conclude an agreement.
Towards a continuation of the bilateral path with the EU
Highlighting “
Swiss pragmatism
”, Ignazio Cassis announced on Friday that Switzerland had made its choice.
"
We are motivated to find a path that can accommodate both sides
."
In a press release, Bern explained that it wanted to “
pursue the bilateral path with the EU (…) in the interest of both parties
”, but not in any form.
“
The Swiss government wishes to clarify outstanding issues in the general context of relations with the EU, adopting a broad package approach
,” he said.
"
This approach aims in particular to anchor institutional elements in the various agreements on the internal market through a vertical approach, that is to say sectoral
", he explained.
The resumption of law, the establishment of a settlement of disputes, electricity, food security, research, health and training are among the possible elements of the negotiations envisaged by the Swiss government.
It remains to be seen how Brussels, which was particularly keen to conclude the general institutional agreement, will react.
Homogenize the legal framework between Switzerland and the EU
The draft general institutional agreement with Brussels aimed to standardize the legal framework concerning Switzerland's participation in the single market of the EU, its main economic partner, and to establish a dispute settlement mechanism.
Switzerland, a landlocked country, is surrounded by member countries of the EU, which is its main economic partner.
Years of talks to conclude a framework agreement have reached an impasse, the European Union having refused to give in to Berne's demands to exclude key questions relating to State aid, the protection of wages and freedom of movement.
Relations between the EU and Switzerland are currently governed by a set of disparate agreements, while for more than ten years there have been discussions for a comprehensive agreement that would have harmonized the legal framework governing these links.
But Switzerland is reluctant to respond to demands from the European Union for budgetary contributions and alignment with European rules as a price to pay in order to retain its free access to the single market.
The need to “regain stability”
Switzerland is the fourth largest trading partner of the European Union and 1.4 million EU citizens live in this country of 8.6 million inhabitants.
The Swiss decision not to sign the framework agreement has had an impact on its economy.
Thus, Swiss researchers who participate in the EU's Horizon Europe framework program are deprived of European funding, as Switzerland is now excluded from the associated countries.
In addition, the medical technology sector must comply with stricter requirements for the export of medical devices to the EU.
As a result, Medtech bears the full brunt of administrative constraints to have its products approved on the common market.
It “
is absolutely necessary that we find stability
”, underlined Friday the Swiss Minister of the Economy, Guy Parmelin, alongside the president.
In Medtech, there are "
tens, hundreds of millions of francs which are spent on administration and which could be spent on something else
", he said.
(
With
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Swiss
European Union
Trade and Exchanges