Brussels, 07/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - There is no question of Switzerland beginning new negotiations as long as the sectoral agreements concluded in December 1999 have not been ratified by all EU Member States, said the Federal Swiss Minister of the Economy, Pascal Couchepin, on Tuesday, recalling that three EU Member States had still to do so, whereas Switzerland had approved the agreement in a referendum in March 2000. This stance goes for both tax and transport issues.
Speaking to the press after a joint meeting between EU and EFTA Economy and Finance Ministers, in Brussels on Tuesday (see below), Pascal Couchepin explained that Switzerland would "willingly" negotiate an agreement on tax on savings, although this was a "novelty in the history of civilisations", as, for the first time, "an independent State that is neither a colony nor a subordinate State" has agreed to introduce a new tax under the influence of third countries… However, he went on, "on a continent marked by the Cartesian spirit, things must be done in order", and thus agreements already concluded must be ratified before beginning new negotiations. Whence, "there may be preparatory technical discussions, but no formal opening of negotiations before ratification", he insisted. You may recall that Luxembourg had agreed to rally around the "tax package" on the tax on savings on condition that agreements were concluded with third countries (thus Switzerland and the United States) and with the territories and countries associated with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, for them to implement similar measures as those to be introduced in the EU to avoid tax evasion. The latest EcoFin Council has just defined the Commission's remit to negotiate with third countries. However, the Swiss minister was pleased to recall, "I had the feeling that the question of discussions with the dependent territories was not totally clear between Member States". Pascal Couchepin also placed emphasis on the need at the same time to develop negotiations on the important issues for Switzerland and the EU.
Mr. Couchepin, moreover, swept aside the argument put forward by the European Commissioner for transport, Loyola de Palacio, by which Switzerland should apply the "spirit" of the agreement on air transport, although not ratified, and thus respect European rules on State aid in the case of Swissair. "We must foremost respect the law, and the agreements are not in force. The Vienna Convention on implementation of international treaties does not apply in this context", Pascal Couchepin told the press. "We regularly brief the Commission on what is happening, as is normal between friendly partners, but this does not mean that the Commission has any powers over what is happening in Switzerland", he hammered home. He did, however, stress that the agreement with Swissair stipulated that aid paid could not be used to create market distortions and thus to conduct dumping on the price of tickets. While placing emphasis on Swissair's independence vis-à-vis the State, he considered that the company had suffered from having been protected from competition for too long in the past. Placing emphasis on the fact that aid to the Swiss company had as main goal to preserve the Swiss airport infrastructure by preventing the collapse of companies working in national airports. Mr. Couchepin went on: "Our aim is not to be a long-term partner of Swissair".