“We take note of this unilateral decision by the Swiss government. We regret this decision, given the progress made in recent years to make the institutional framework agreement a reality”, reacted the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after the announcement by the Swiss Federal Council, on Wednesday 26 May, of its wish to interrupt the negotiations conducted with the EU since 2013 on the institutional framework agreement due to a lack of consensus on the interim draft agreement finalised at the end of 2018 under the presidency of Jean-Claude Juncker.
The former EU negotiator on the Swiss dossier under Jean-Claude Juncker’s Commission, Christian Leffler, now retired, spoke on Twitter of a “huge mess”, and Germany and Austria also considered the decision very regrettable, as Austrian Minister for European Affairs Karoline Edtstadler said.
The meeting between the two presidents, Ms von der Leyen and Guy Parmelin, on 23 April, did not lead to the breakthrough expected by the Commission, which was surprised by the radicalisation of Bern’s position and by the discussions. The Federal Council had argued for the deletion of three points it considers contentious: State aid, wage measures, and the citizenship directive, which the EU could not accept. Subsequent discussions between the two parties did not reverse the trend.
“Discussions with the EU have not led to the solutions that Switzerland needs regarding the EU citizens’ rights directive, salary protection, and State aid”, said the Federal Council.
“Substantial differences remain, above all with regard to the protection of wages and the directive on the rights of Union citizens, areas of key interest to Switzerland”. Without the desired improvements, “it would be impossible to guarantee the protective effect of the current accompanying measures (wage protection measures, editor’s note). A possible inclusion of the directive on the rights of EU citizens in the Free Movement of Persons Agreement (FMPA) requires an explicit guarantee of exceptions”, adds the Federal Council.
“The institutional framework agreement between the EU and Switzerland was intended to serve as a basis for improving and developing bilateral relations between the EU and Switzerland in the future. Its main objective was to ensure that anyone operating in the EU single market, to which Switzerland has significant access, is subject to the same conditions. It is fundamentally a question of fairness and legal certainty. Privileged access to the single market must mean compliance with the same rules and obligations”, President von der Leyen said in a statement.
The Commission will now “analyse” the impact of this decision, as the Commission has already linked dossiers such as Horizon Europe and medical devices to signing of this framework agreement. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)