MEPs asked Switzerland to approve the institutional framework agreement negotiated with the EU as soon as possible and, in light of the public debate currently under way in Switzerland, they propose to further stress the positive effects of the current cooperation between Bern and the EU.
This is the message found in the report compiled by Romanian Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D) that was adopted Tuesday at noon in Strasbourg by 393 votes to 132 with 81 abstentions. It comes more than a month after the conclusions of the EU Council, which also called on Bern to approve the framework agreement (see EUROPE 12195/29).
While the framework agreement is still under discussion in Switzerland and is subject to various ups and downs in the assessment of it by the country's political families and other key players, the European Parliament recalls that it is “high time for a single comprehensive bilateral agreement to ensure coherence and legal certainty in EU-Swiss relations”, which are currently governed by more than 120 different bilateral agreements covering areas such as the internal market, internal security and asylum, as well as transport and taxation issues.
The new institutional framework agreement, which was fiercely negotiated and, which at the end of 2017 deprived Switzerland of unlimited equivalence for its scholarship, “aims to rationalise this cooperation and provide legal certainty for citizens and companies”, Parliament insists, while also strengthening current co-operations in light of the EU being Switzerland's main economic partner.
Its message does not differ in this sense, from that of the Member States. MEPs took the opportunity to reiterate their views on the Swiss flanking measures that have been in place since 2004; these limit the free movement of European workers in Switzerland in order to protect the Swiss labour market. “The free movement of persons is a fundamental and non-negotiable pillar of EU and internal market policy, and the four freedoms of the internal market are indivisible, emphasis MEPs. They are therefore inviting Switzerland to seek a solution that is fully compatible with the relevant European instruments.”
This is also provided for in the framework agreement that has been negotiated with the Commission, where Switzerland has been invited to take over the protective measures of the Posted Workers Directive and to gradually abandon its own measures. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)