Bern and Brussels are preparing to seal their negotiations on new bilateral agreements, but the path still remains cluttered with obstacles until their possible final approval.
The Swiss government could give the green light on Friday to a set of hard-negotiated bilateral agreements with the European Union, but their approval by the Swiss parliament and the Swiss in a popular vote remains uncertain. “Today we have reached a stage where both contracting parties are of the opinion that it is time to whistle the end of the match, the result of which, although not brilliant, has the advantage of satisfying both Berne and Brussels”, commented Gilbert Casasus, professor emeritus in European studies at the University of Fribourg, to AFP.
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In March, Switzerland agreed to relaunch talks with the EU, after having abruptly ended them in 2021, not without angering Brussels. These new negotiations – which the parties want to conclude this year – aim to update existing bilateral agreements and conclude new ones (electricity, health and food security). For the federation of Swiss businesses, they “allow Switzerland to preserve the conditions of access to markets that exist for our economy in Europe and to develop them in important areas”.
Libre circulation
Swiss media, citing diplomatic sources, claimed that all issues were resolved – including sensitive issues such as the free movement of people – with the exception of the amount of the Swiss contribution to the European Cohesion Fund to help certain countries to catch up with their developmental delay. “So far, around 200 negotiation meetings. The last ones are always the most difficult. Let’s make the work pay off,” said the European commissioner in charge of negotiations, Maros Sefcovic, on the X network this week.
“Now that an agreement is in sight, we hope that Switzerland will be ready to move forward. We believe we have achieved a very delicate balance, which should be appreciated as such by all parties,” said a diplomatic source. European Union in Brussels. The Swiss government could give its agreement on Friday, then the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, could come to Bern before Christmas to seal the conclusion of the negotiations. But nothing official has yet been announced.
The Swiss Trade Union Union (USS), the largest employee organization, is calling for additional negotiations, believing that the agreement as it stands will deteriorate the quality of wages in Switzerland. The negotiations on rail and electricity also worry the unions.
“A long time trial”
The conclusion of the negotiations would only mark the beginning of a long parliamentary procedure, which will be followed by a popular vote with an uncertain result while the radical right, embodied by the Democratic Union of the Center (UDC), which has consolidated its status of Switzerland’s leading party in the 2023 legislative elections, is head-on against the agreement.
“The signing of this agreement is only a stage. A difficult mountain stage, followed by a long time trial, no less difficult, and a final finish which will take place in 2027 at the earliest, otherwise in 2028. With the risk that by this date, the agreement is already obsolete,” explained Gilbert Casasus. “Swiss ratification by referendum constitutes the greatest sword of Damocles hanging over the fate of this agreement. Will there be a referendum where only the majority of votes cast will be required or a referendum requiring a double majority, that of the voters and that of the cantons?” he detailed.
The double majority would favor the no clan while the more numerous German-speaking cantons are generally more cautious towards the EU. The UDC, historically more rooted in these cantons, is already fighting strongly against the agreement, affirming that it “signifies the total submission of Switzerland to the EU” because it provides for the “dynamic resumption” of European law by the Confederation and the establishment of an “arbitral tribunal” in the event of disputes.
L’UDC s’y oppose
“It’s grotesque: if we do not adopt European regulations, the EU considers us to have an advantage” and, with the court, “we would officially authorize the EU to punish us”, accused the newspaper Le Temps of one of the richest women in Switzerland, Magdalena Martullo-Blocher, at the head of Ems-Chemie. Also a national deputy, she took up the fight of her father, the former charismatic leader of the UDC Christoph Blocher, against any rapprochement with Brussels.
A battle he won in 1992 when the Swiss rejected membership of the European Economic Area in a popular vote.
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