Brussels, 17/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Switzerland and the European Union have made a great deal of progress in the negotiations for a framework agreement on institutional issues, said the negotiators for the two parties - David O'Sullivan for the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Yves Rossier, the Swiss secretary of state for foreign affairs - on Thursday 16 October.
These discussions - the content of which was not revealed by O'Sullivan or Rossier - are taking time and remain up in the air as to the legislative response that the Swiss government will give by 2017 to the referendum on 9 February that has obliged Bern to reintroduce quotas for foreign workers in three years' time (see EUROPE 11172). O'Sullivan, who is leaving for Washington and will be replaced on 1 November by Maciej Popowski from Poland, believes that this issue of quotas for free movement weighs heavily on the outcome of the negotiations for the institutional agreement. Nevertheless O'Sullivan gave assurances that it would not take 10 years to finalise the agreement.
The negotiations between Switzerland and the EU for an institutional agreement began on 22 May. “The conclusion of an institutional agreement will enable account to be taken of the intensity of the bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU. In the Swiss Federal Council's opinion, the bilateral route is the most suitable to enable Switzerland to defend its interests with regard to the EU, which is by far its main trading partner.” The institutional issues concern the agreements on reciprocal market access and focus on four areas - developing the law of the agreements, interpreting them, monitoring their application, and settling disputes. The objective is for the rules to be interpreted and applied as homogenously as possible in the common legal space created by the bilateral agreements. Once the negotiations on the institutional issues are completed, the Swiss Federal Council will consult the foreign policy committees, the parties, the cantons and the economic and social partners. The Swiss Parliament and the Swiss people will make their decision at a later date. (SP)