Is it really almost that time? Negotiations on the future of the bilateral path between Switzerland and the EU are expected to be nearing completion. An agreement will be reached by the end of the year, they said this week certain circles from Bern and Brussels say.
What sounds like a great opportunity to some, others see as a danger. For them, it’s not just about the relationship with the EU, but rather about Switzerland’s sovereignty.
The following guests debated the open questions about the negotiations and what could happen afterwards in the “Arena”:
- Tiana Angelina Moser, Councilor of States GLP, Zurich
- Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, National Councilor Mitte, Baselland
- Thomas Matter, National Councilor SVP, Zurich
- David Roth, National Councilor SP, Lucerne
By complete idiots and foreign judges
There was no need for a warm-up lap in this “arena”. On Friday evening, viewers noticed in the first few minutes of the broadcast how emotional the debates in Bern about the relationship with the EU were.
Zurich GLP Councilor of States Tiana Angelina Moser quickly made it clear that the negotiations were about nothing less than “stabilizing the relationship with our closest partner”. If the negotiations fail or the population says no, Moser sees it as bleak: “Then the bilaterals will no longer exist.” The only option left would then be to join the EEA or a free trade agreement, which is practically a “Brexit in installments”.
For Zurich SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter, this argument is nonsense. Switzerland has never been a member of the EU, he emphasizes. At the same time, no other country has comparable treaties with other countries or a confederation of states like Switzerland has with the EU. He says: “The EU wants a framework agreement. A contract that is not at eye level. We would have to take over their rights and even pay billions for it. Someone has to be a complete idiot to agree to such a relationship.”
The SVP has been concerned about the fear of “foreign judges” for a long time. It’s all just “lies,” explains Center National Councilor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter:
It is an arbitration tribunal that is composed of “parity”, i.e. in which Switzerland also receives an equal vote. Ultimately, she says, it is a “stabilization package” to which there are no alternatives.
Matter describes the centrist politician’s comments as “unworthy of democracy”. He emphasizes that dynamic legal adoption means nothing other than if you don’t adopt (EU) law, there will be sanctions. “What kind of partnership is this?” Without going into the sanctions, Schneider-Schneiter says that the “Swiss electorate can say yes or no to anything –” – “With a gun to the forehead,” interrupts Thomas Matter.
The two politicians clashed again later when Schneider-Schneiter said that the SVP would generally not agree to anything that had been achieved in the EU negotiations. When moderator Sandro Brotz asked whether he lost his voice, Thomas Matter said: “I thought about leaving.” But instead of leaving the show, Matter emphasized his argument about the sanctions in the dynamic legal takeover and added: “If the EU says that the bilaterals are at an end, the two women don’t have to talk about bilaterals.”
Safeguard clause? Not 10 million Switzerland!
In addition to the adoption of the law, protective clauses regarding the free movement of people are also a topic of discussion in the negotiations with the EU. The EU rejected Swiss demands for a hard “emergency brake” on immigration because Switzerland already has exceptions to the free movement of people that even EU members do not have.
This is not an obstacle for Councilor of States Tiana Moser. She would sign a contract with the EU even without protective clauses regarding the free movement of people. Because continuing the bilaterals would be a “big enough step”. Center National Councilor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter also agrees. And surprisingly, the two politicians are also joined by SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter, who “doesn’t care about the protective clauses”. But only because anything else would just be an “alibi exercise” anyway.
Instead, the SVP is going its own way with the “Sustainability Initiative – No 10 Million Switzerland”. Acceptance of this initiative would not only result in a termination of the free movement of people, but also of the entire bilaterals, critics warn. However, Thomas Matter defends the project: “We want to control immigration ourselves from an economic perspective.” Things cannot continue as they have in the last 20 years since the introduction of the free movement of people. What particularly bothers him is that “most of the people who come don’t work.”
Tiana Moser vehemently contradicts this. “Thanks to the free movement of people, only people who have a job can come to Switzerland; that will not change with the new package, should it come about.” Anyone who doesn’t have a job will have to leave Switzerland again. It is de facto a “controlled immigration of the economy”. There are also other methods to curb immigration, such as greater activation of domestic workforce potential, emphasizes Moser.
Goodbye prosperity?!?
In the EU debate, the center and the GLP not only have to contend with the opposing SVP, the SP also does not come to the negotiating table without a commitment to its special requests.
The Lucerne SP National Councilor and Syndicom trade unionist David Roth opposes the SVP’s stance of acting as if “we were on our way to limbo”. But he emphasizes that the unions and also the SP must first see whether the new package is “a win for the Swiss population”. Specifically, he fears a deterioration in collective employment agreements and wage protection. “It’s things like 17-hour workdays. If all of this isn’t off the table, you won’t be able to convince people,” he says to Center National Councilor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter.
This immediately delivers an all-round blow: “We have the SVP on the right, which is making its hostility to the EU known. And we have the unions on the left who are trying to get as much out of the discussion as possible for their position.”
Schneider-Schneiter emphasizes that “the bilaterals should be at the center” and then says: “The right and left with their hardened positions repeatedly prevent prosperity in our country for different reasons.”
With all these entrenched opinions, it seems almost inevitable that the voters will have the last word. Thomas Matter also announced in the “Arena” that the SVP would “of course” take the referendum if the negotiations with the EU were successful. According to the National Council, what would come next would be “one of the most important votes of the future”.
