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Last Sunday was a super Sunday for political Switzerland. Citizens decided not only on the relationship with the EU, but also on the introduction of a short paternity leave and the purchase of a billion dollar fleet of fighter jets.
At first glance, everything seemed completely normal: the so-called Schwexit had no chance, paternity leave will be introduced in January 2021, and the Federal Council was mandated to buy new planes. But already Sunday night it was clear: with this vote, the problems in Bern really begin.
On the one hand, this is due to fighter jets, which only 50.1 percent of the Swiss voted for, and which will cost roughly a mandatory three-year vacation for young parents to purchase. Almost 9,000 votes were decisive, the discussion about the plane should continue.
Furthermore, after this vote, the Federal Council will have to rededicate itself to its most difficult task: negotiations with the European Union on future relations – although they are almost as close as between EU member states, Switzerland has a special status. within Europe that has worked well for a long time. , but now it is partially in question.
For years, emails on the subject “Institutional Framework Agreement” have been sent between Bern and Brussels. So far there has been no signature. Until last Sunday, the Bern negotiators had agreed to a kind of pause. In order not to provide arguments to the right-wing conservative vice president for her campaign to end the free movement of people, the EU had not raised the issue in recent weeks.
But already in her friendly greeting for the vote, the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, put the issue back on the agenda on Sunday: she wanted to continue discussions on the “negotiated agreement” with Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga this week. Von der Leyen hopes things will go “fast”. From Switzerland’s point of view, that sounded like a threat, because so far it has toyed with the question of the future relationship with the EU for a while. In fact, it is the EU that is no longer satisfied with the previous treaties and demands changes. And the Swiss know it: while Brexit lasts, Brussels won’t be particularly accommodating.
EU internal market legislation is constantly evolving, but Switzerland is often slow to react
Switzerland, which initially opposed the EEA and later EU membership in the early 1990s, has secured a special position in Europe during years of negotiations. Due to its close economic ties, Switzerland needs access to the market of neighboring European countries. The bilateral treaties currently in force, stipulating the special route, continue to cause problems in Brussels. Although European legislation on the internal market is constantly evolving, Switzerland tends to react slowly. Many European companies see this as a distortion of competition:
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Swiss companies gain access to the national market, but do not have to abide by its rules.
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Furthermore, the EU would like an arbitration procedure if there are disagreements.
In principle, Switzerland has accepted the wish for a framework agreement. They will subordinate five of the existing agreements: free movement of people, technical barriers to trade, agricultural products, air transport, land transport. In the future, they would have to continuously adapt to evolving EU legislation.
But little has changed since negotiations began in the spring of 2014. Or: the agreement the Swiss government negotiated with Brussels is not particularly popular on the left or right.
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The right-wing vice president fights the deal as a “progressive EU membership” for the country and worries about Switzerland’s legal sovereignty. This particularly concerns the Court of Justice of the EU, which could act as an arbitrator in disputes, and the automatic legal adoption of new developments.
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But the framework agreement is also not very popular with traditionally left-wing unions. They fear wage dumping, for example, from German artisans who could offer their services at significantly lower prices near the border.
It is true that the principle of “equal pay for equal work in the same place” is also established in the framework agreement. But so far, the Swiss labor market with its high wages has been protected by some other measures.
Both the left and the right are against the framework agreement with the EU
Foreign workers coming to Switzerland on temporary assignments – one might think again of a crafts company in southern Germany – have to register their workers eight days before assignment. According to the will of the EU, this pre-registration period should be canceled as soon as possible, which has led to bitter resistance from the Swiss unions. Both the left and the right have announced that they will fight the framework agreement in its current form.
At the same time, Brussels is also increasing pressure on Switzerland. For example, last year, the EU let the so-called equity equivalence expire: EU banks and asset managers can no longer trade on the Swiss stock exchange. So far, this has done little to harm Switzerland.
However, if it turns out that Ursula von der Leyen’s “finished negotiated deal” is actually “brain-dead”, as the Swiss Tagesschau reported a few days ago, the EU could soon take other measures.
Editor’s note: In an earlier version there was talk of new agreements to be concluded due to the framework agreement; however, existing agreements must be subject to a framework agreement. We fixed the bug.
