“Today I had another fruitful call with Maros Sefcovic,” writes Federal Councilor in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis, on the X platform. He adds that the two men spoke to “take stock on the progress of the negotiations” between Switzerland and the European Union and “guide the final stages”. “We stay in touch,” concludes Ignazio Cassis.
For his part, Maros Sefcovic, also on X, underlines “the immense efforts of our teams” in the discussions. They “work hard” to strengthen relations between Switzerland and the EU.
Negotiations on the future of bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU are in a “delicate phase,” a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Friday. Ideally, they should be concluded before the end of the year, indicated a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), contacted by the Keystone-ATS press agency.
Conclusion expected next week
Recently, we could read in the Swiss media that all issues relating to the negotiations had been resolved, with the exception of the contribution to the cohesion fund. This must be decided at the political level, that is to say between Ignazio Cassis and Maros Sefcovic. Several sources confirmed this information to Keystone-ATS.
On X, the two men did not specify whether the amount of the cohesion contribution that Switzerland pays to the EU to obtain access to the European internal market had been discussed during the telephone conversation. Contacted by Keystone-ATS, the spokesperson for Ignazio Cassis did not comment more precisely on the content of the discussions.
Switzerland and the EU have been in discussions for almost nine months to redefine their future relations. A conclusion of the negotiations is expected next week.
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