On Friday 23 April, the European Commission said it was “convinced that negotiations can continue” with Switzerland on the draft institutional agreement negotiated at the end of 2018 and that “compromises” are possible on the points on which Switzerland has reservations, namely: State Aid, European citizenship and worker protection measures. However, it will not be able to accept the Swiss request to exclude these points from the scope of the agreement.
Spokesman Eric Mamer was speaking after the one and a half hour meeting between President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Guy Parmelin. On the arrival of the Swiss official, the President had expressed her wish that the framework agreement could be finalised in “a short period”. “There needs to be a dose of flexibility on both sides”.
“We are convinced that the 2018 draft agreement is good and the one we need”, the spokesperson said. “We have of course heard Switzerland’s reservations” and “we are ready to find a compromise on the three points of common interest, but flexibility is needed on both sides”.
“We want an agreement, an agreement is fundamental for our bilateral relations”, the spokesperson added.
Discussions, which have been on hold since December 2018, resumed in January, but continue to stall on these three points, which Switzerland would like to see excluded from the rest of the agreement. For the Commission, however, this is not “acceptable”.
“We have made a number of proposals that we feel could bring the positions closer together. On the Swiss side, it is clear that the position is that these three topics should be considered as one and excluded from the agreement. [...] There is now clarity on the political position on both sides”, Eric Mamer reiterated.
For his part, Mr Parmelin said that “major differences remain” between the partners and that satisfactory solutions still had to be found. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)