Bern (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said that following tough negotiations on the package deal with the European Union and striking a balance, Switzerland agreed to give the European Union only what was necessary.
As reported by SWI, addressing delegates from the center-right Radical-Liberal Party, Ignazio Cassis stated that Switzerland has agreed to an effective safeguard clause on immigration, as well as no involvement in European Union agricultural policy and full participation in research programs, among other things.
What key concessions has Switzerland made to the EU?
Other options to the EU treaty package were on the table, Cassis expressed.
“They are not convincing. The European Economic Area (EEA) has no chance at the ballot box. A purely free trade relationship, like the one with the UK, would be a step backward economically. Suffice it to say that today the UK is trying to re-enter the single market,”
he said.
“Standing still would be the worst thing. Uncertainty is poison for the economy,”
Cassis said.
“The bilateral path must be kept active. Switzerland needs stability and reliability. Especially at a time when many things are faltering,”
the Swiss foreign minister said.
What issues were resolved in the recent negotiations?
Two weeks ago, Switzerland’s cabinet endorsed a bilateral agreement made in December 2022 with the European Union, to enhance bilateral economic relations, and initiated its domestic consultation process.
Switzerland’s government authorities stated that the unpredictability related to geopolitics worldwide created a geopolitical imperative for Switzerland to sustain a stable and predictable relationship with the EU as a trading partner.
“By fixing our economic and political relations with the EU, we increase our security,”
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis briefed journalists, adding that Switzerland belonged to Europe not only geographically, but also economically and socially.
“An old Arabic proverb says ‘he who lives in peace with his neighbours sleeps without fear,'”
Cassis stated, noting that instability had become the “new normal”.
Key issues like wage protections, immigration, and electricity, as well as the type of referendum, have been resolved over the past five months. According to the cabinet, the consultation process will continue until October 31. After that, the package of measures will head to parliament in early 2026, followed by a referendum likely in 2028.
