Brussels, 02/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the end of a meeting on Tuesday 2 October with Micheline Calmy-Rey, the president of the Swiss Confederation, José Manuel Barroso stated that in the context of the tax dispute between the EU and Switzerland, “I honestly have to say that we have a different position”. The president of the European Commission announced that bilateral negotiations would begin in mid November. He also provided assurances that the disagreement in question would not upset the mutually beneficial dynamic characterising EU-Swiss relations. This is backed up by the fact that Switzerland's participation in the Community MEDIA programmes and the 7th Research and Development Framework Programme (RDFP) has been finalized. Calmy-Rey acknowledged that “we agree on dialogue and this dialogue will begin”. In May, the Commission received the Council's mandate for negotiating the application of European rules on state aids as part of the EU-Switzerland 1972 free trade agreement. In some Swiss cantons, income is treated differently depending on whether it comes from EU or Swiss companies (EUROPE 9365 and 9427). (mb)