Brussels, 16/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Contrary to our report of Tuesday 15 April, no definitive agreement has yet been reached between Switzerland and the European Union on the declaration to accompany the adoption, by the member states, of the negotiation mandate for the future of bilateral relations.
A meeting of the EFTA (European Free-Trade Association) group has concluded, but the United Kingdom called for more time to put the draft declaration forward for internal consultation. Another meeting has been scheduled for 29 April, on the eve of a further meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper), which could again include the question of the mandate on its agenda.
This draft declaration concerns the consequences of the referendum of 9 February on the free movement of European workers in Switzerland, which called on Switzerland to reintroduce quotas for foreign workers within three years. The resolution of the dispute between Bern and Croatia is one of the conditions for the Council to adopt the negotiation mandate but not the only one, as the declaration accompanying the mandate “is not at all about Croatia” but the broader consequences of the referendum of 9 February. Following that date, the Commission froze Swiss participation in several programmes, such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus +. The Swiss hope that the adoption of the mandate and the related declaration will make it possible to remove the suspension of the country's participation in these EU programmes. (SP)