Switzerland-EU negotiations –
Who will the European hot potato land on?
The prospect of a vote on the package of agreements during this legislature is fading. So much so that we don't know who will be left to convince the people.
Published today at 10:53 a.m.
The European delegation of the Federal Council. From left to right: Beat Jans, Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis.
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- The vote on the package of agreements with the EU could wait until 2028.
- It is indeed difficult to imagine a campaign in 2027, an election year.
- By then, the composition of the European delegation could completely change.
Ignazio Cassis, Guy Parmelin, Beat Jans. Of the three members of the European delegation of the Federal Council who came to present the end of negotiations with the European Union (EU), will there be at least one left to defend them before the people? Nothing is less certain.
Those hoping for a quick vote on this issue can indeed go back to bed. It is enough to analyze the calendar to understand that there will not be a vote before 2027. Even 2028 seems more realistic. Here's why.
The consultation will be carried out in 2025, with the aim of parliament receiving the package at the beginning of 2026. With the treatment in the committees of the two Chambers and the political battle which will follow in plenum, the final version has almost no chance of being ready that year.
A possible window would open in March 2027. The advantage is that the vote would take place under the presidency of Ignazio Cassis, bearer of the file. But 2027 is the year of the federal elections. Who will dare to put such an emotional subject on the table a few months before the renewal of parliament? Apart from the UDC, which would see it as an incredible opportunity to boost its campaign, no one.
Under the Rösti presidency
Ultimately, the most likely scenario is therefore that of an election in 2028, under the presidency of the UDC Albert Rösti. But this timetable raises other questions about who will be there to support him. At 69 years old, the other UDC in the government, Guy Parmelin, will undoubtedly no longer be Minister of the Economy. It is also possible that PLR Ignazio Cassis has left the Federal Council, he who will be 67 years old and eleven years in the Department of Foreign Affairs under his belt.
Of the three ministers today at the front, only the socialist Beat Jans, Minister of Justice and Police, could remain to assume responsibility for the final result. And again, it is not excluded that he will take advantage of a ring road to change departments.
In other words, the Federal Council has just thrown the European hot potato into the air. But no one knows who it will fall on.
Florent Quiquerez has been a journalist in the Switzerland section since 2015. Specializing in politics, he primarily covers federal news. Previously, he worked as a parliamentary correspondent for Radios Régionales Romandes.More info
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