Foreign Minister Cassis is confident that EU negotiations will soon resume

Negotiations on the framework agreement with the EU should continue soon if Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has his way. Switzerland’s bilateral path should be expanded.

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(agl/sat) The reset of the negotiations was seen by some as a shutdown, said Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in an interview with the «NZZ»From Monday. However, Switzerland wants to continue to partially participate in the EU internal market, for which a framework agreement is necessary. The Federal Council rejects proposals from circles of the liberal as well as the trade unions from last week, which call for the exercise to be stopped.

Foreign Minister Cassis said that the European Union was heavily absorbed at the end of last year, including with Brexit and the budget. “But now I am confident that we will soon be able to hold discussions with the EU.”

“Important, but not vital”

Controversial points such as wage protection, state aid or the Union Citizens’ Directive would have to be clarified. According to Cassis, the Brexit agreement can serve as an inspiration in the area of ​​research where the UK has come a step forward. “The EU should treat us at least as well in this area,” said the Swiss Foreign Minister.

In the interview, Cassis again emphasized that the Federal Council would only sign an agreement if it was right for Switzerland. “The framework agreement is important for Switzerland, but not vital.” The discussion should therefore be conducted soberly.

Federal councilors are going on the offensive

Federal President Guy Parmelin had already made it clear on Saturday that the Federal Council wanted to continue discussing an institutional framework agreement with the EU with Brussels. However, this is not comparable to the agreement that Brussels and London negotiated after Brexit. This is just a free trade agreement. “That has nothing – or almost nothing – to do with access to the internal market,” said Parmelin. Local companies would have better access to the EU market and Switzerland would have a closer relationship than Great Britain with the European Union.

After a consultation with parties and associations, the Federal Council has been keeping a low profile for months on how to proceed in the European dossier. Overall, he judges the negotiation result of 2018 as positive, but calls for “clarifications” on the three points of wage protection, state aid and the Union Citizens’ Directive. In addition to the SVP, the Aargau Council of States Thierry Burkart (FDP) – and subsequently Pierre-Yves Maillard, President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and Vaudois SP National Council – called for negotiations with the EU on a framework agreement to be broken off.

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