The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the results of the Swiss referendum on the initiative to restrict freedom of movement on the evening of Sunday 27 September, which voters rejected by 61.7%.
The President saw this as a “positive signal” when the two blocs are “more than just neighbours. We have close and deep ties, rooted in a long shared European history”.
Swiss citizens have thus shown “that they value these ties. Their vote upholds one of the core pillars of our relationship: the mutual freedom to move, to live and to work in Switzerland and the EU”, she adds.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said it was a “great day” for EU-Swiss relations, while the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, welcomed on Twitter “a beautiful democratic and European Sunday”.
Despite these positive comments, the most difficult stage between the two partners is now beginning. As the President said: “I look forward to the Swiss Federal Council now moving swiftly on the signature and ratification of the international framework agreement that we negotiated in 2018”, commented Mrs von der Leyen. She will meet with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, and said: “I will reiterate this message I passed last January when we met in Davos”.
For his part, German EPP MEP Andreas Schwab, head of the EU-Switzerland delegation to the European Parliament, called on the Federal Council to defend “more courageously” the outcome of the negotiations reached at the end of 2018, which the Swiss Federal Council has since been unable to get accepted by the social partners and a majority of political parties.
It is therefore in a context of persistent mistrust of this framework agreement that discussions will resume. In theory, Bern should come back with requests for clarification on three points: measures to protect Swiss workers, the citizenship Directive (which Bern should take over) and the rules on State Aid. The issue of the General Court of arbitration, sealed at the end of 2018, could also come up again.
The Member States, after months of silence on this institutional dossier which had been frozen because of the vote on 27 September, will take stock of the situation on 29 September in the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) group and discuss the next steps with the Commission. The Swiss Federal Council, for its part, has indicated that it will take decisions in the “coming weeks”, without saying more about the strategy it will follow.
The subject will also be on the agenda of the Parliament delegation on 9 October. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)