On Wednesday 13 February, the Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) were not yet able to act upon the conclusions on EU/Swiss relations, which remind Bern that without an institutional framework agreement – currently being consulted in Switzerland – the Confederation will no longer be able to claim new agreements regarding access to the EU's internal market. An issue surrounding wording, in particular regarding a positive passage on Switzerland's cooperation with EU migration policies, caused a problem for the national delegation, thus meaning that the conclusions could revert to Coreper's agenda of 15 February even though the main part of the text sent to Bern should remain the same.
These conclusions, traditionally adopted every two years, should have been adopted by the end of 2018 but were postponed due to the negotiations on the institutional framework agreement that took place in November. Since then, the Swiss Federal Council, which could not approve the draft negotiation in December (see EUROPE 12155), has submitted it to a consultation of the main stakeholders (Parliament, trade unions, etc.) and is only due to give its opinion before the summer on the outcome of this consultation.
Not surprisingly, in these draft conclusions that are to be formally adopted by EU ministers on 19 February, Member States are calling on the Federal Council to support the institutional framework agreement negotiated with the Commission. They “strongly regret” that the Federal Council did not support the framework agreement in December 2018 and stress that the conclusion of this agreement is the “condition under which the EU shall sign future agreements with Switzerland", which ensures its access to the internal market. It is also an “essential element in deciding” on the future progression and development of mutual market access agreements according to the document, as seen by EUROPE, which means that there may also be no further updating of the current agreements, just as European Commissioner Johannes Hahn signalled in December (see EUROPE 12161).
With regard to the free movement of persons, Member States are also calling on Bern to abandon or at least adapt its supporting measures (additional controls for the posting of European workers in Switzerland). They are calling on the Swiss authorities to adopt European rules on the posting of workers.
The drafting of these conclusions was more sensitive with regard to the paragraph on the consequences of not signing the framework agreement, with Member States diverging on the degree of severity of the language used. They ultimately agreed on a consensual formula that will leave it up to the Commission to decide on the way forward. The next major event is scheduled for June with the renewal of the equivalence for the Swiss stock exchange. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)