Bilateral III: the Federal Council defends “balanced” agreements with the European Union

Published on December 20, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. / Modified on December 20, 2024 at 8:07 p.m.

5 mins. reading

Negotiations for renovated bilateral agreements with the European Union have resulted in the “satisfaction” of Berne. After nine months of intense discussions, the Federal Council praised the work of its team of negotiators who obtained results considered “balanced” on all of the 17 points which were part of its mandate. “The objectives have been achieved”, declared at a press conference the three federal councilors responsible for the file, Ignazio Cassis, Guy Parmelin and Beat Jans, shortly after a meeting between the President of the Confederation, Viola Amherd, and the President of the Commission European, Ursula von der Leyen, who traveled to Bern to salute a stage described as “historic”.

In Federal Council jargon, we speak of “material completion of negotiations” with Brussels, paying close attention to the language. “The Federal Council knows that this is a sensitive debate, a debate that the population will have to take up,” explained Ignazio Cassis. Because although the negotiations with the EU have been completed, nothing has yet been signed. In the immediate future, work will continue with the EU to finalize the documents in their legal form. We are talking about 30 ordinances to adopt and three federal laws to revise. “The conclusion of the material discussions represents a major step towards the formal conclusion of the negotiations, scheduled for next spring, with the initialing of the final text of the agreements by the two chief negotiators,” explains the Federal Council.

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