‘There are always two that belong to it’
On Monday (November 15), the EU asked Switzerland to draw up a timetable and show willingness to agree on a framework agreement to steer its relations with Brussels.
“Tango takes two,” said EU Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič after a meeting with Federal Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.
The talks are supposed to resume the dialogue after Switzerland suddenly broke off negotiations with the EU, its largest trading partner, in May.
At that time, Berne blamed EU state aid rules and questions of freedom of movement (such as access to the social system and the fear of defending the high Swiss wages) for breaking off the talks.
For 13 years, the EU and Switzerland have been working time and again on an overarching agreement that is supposed to replace a patchwork of bilateral agreements.
“What we now need from Switzerland is a clear political will to get involved with us on the real issues that count and a credible timetable,” said Šefčovič, who is also the EU’s top man for relations with the non-EU – is a member of Great Britain.
“Any political dialogue must be focused and substantial,” he added.
“We will meet again in Davos in the second half of January to assess the progress. Until then we will see whether there is any real political commitment,” said Šefčovič.
The EU wants Switzerland to agree to dynamic adaptation of its laws to evolving EU laws, a level playing field, a dispute settlement mechanism and regular contributions to EU funds for the bloc’s cohesion funds.
As a sign of goodwill, the Swiss Parliament gave the green light to the distribution of more than 1.2 billion euros to the Cohesion Fund in September, even though the issue is politically controversial at home.
Šefčovič welcomed this move as “positive” but warned that the payment was made in 2012.
He said that regular financial contributions from Switzerland would be needed in the future.
According to EU statistics, around 1.4 million EU citizens live in Switzerland, and around 340,000 people commute from the EU to work in Switzerland.
The Vice-President of the Commission argued that every country participating in the EU’s internal market “must adhere to the same rules and obligations”.
Šefčovič said he hoped for “significant progress” in the negotiations next year.
One of the consequences of the interruption of the talks in May was Switzerland’s participation in the EU research and innovation program Horizon Europe with a budget of 95 billion euros.
Šefčovič said Swiss researchers and institutions could continue to participate in the program, but they would not be able to access EU taxpayers’ money until the issues are resolved.
Last month, Switzerland released funds to support Swiss research projects as part of the Horizon Europe program.