BERN (dpa-AFX) – Switzerland wants closer cooperation with the European Union. She wants to ensure “barrier-free participation in the internal market” and add two areas to existing agreements: electricity and food safety, as the government decided on Wednesday in Bern. So far, there are agreements in five other areas, including free movement of people and agriculture. The sticking points remain the automatic adoption when the EU adapts internal regulations and dispute settlement in the event of differences of opinion. Here one hopes for pragmatic solutions.
In 2021, Switzerland unilaterally broke off negotiations on a framework agreement intended to secure future cooperation with the EU. She feared too much EU influence in Switzerland. In exchange for participation in the European single market, the EU Commission is insisting on concessions that the government was not willing to give. Since then, Switzerland has been kicked out of the EU research program Horizon Europe, among other things.
Now Switzerland wants to renegotiate. In addition to the agreements on electricity and food safety, she is also striving for a cooperation agreement in the health sector and “a systematic and full participation of Switzerland in future EU programs”. She mentions Horizon Europe, for example. Switzerland promised regular amounts of money for cohesion and stability in Europe “if the result was satisfactory overall”.
Negotiations are unlikely to begin until next year. Switzerland does not intend to adopt a concrete negotiating mandate until the end of the year./oe/DP/nas