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The Bilateral IIs were signed in 2004. Since then, almost no new contracts have been added. Photo: trapezoidal
Blocking bilaterals is like a smartphone without an update
The institutional agreement with the EU is under attack from various sectors. Switzerland is lagging behind in more and more areas of developments in Europe.
The SVP’s attack on the free movement of people was based last Sunday. Once again, the electorate has committed to bilateral agreements with the European Union. Is the way now clear for Institutional Agreement (InstA)? It doesn’t look like this: the bombardment against the controversial treaty is in full swing.
A week before the vote, former federal councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann criticized the deal negotiated during his tenure at NZZ. He sees a problem not only with the three points on which the Federal Council seeks “clarification” (wage protection, Union Citizenship Directive, state aid), but also with the imminent loss of sovereignty.
In January, Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga met with the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the WEF in Davos. Image: EPA
Last week, SRF published a letter from the social partners to the Federal Council in which they declared that the current draft was indeed dead. The main point of contention is wage protection. Trade unions and business associations propose to exclude the free movement of people from the framework agreement, which is absolutely prohibited for Brussels.
The Federal Council crouches
The harsh words also come from politics. CVP president Gerhard Pfister described the framework agreement in the Tamedia interview as a “big lie” from the Federal Council. This crouches in the face of resistance. Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said on Sunday that the Federal Council would explain Switzerland’s position on the InstA “in the coming weeks.”
With European politicians in Parliament, the frustration of accumulated defeatism is palpable. The “leadership weakness” is a reproach to the Federal Council, which does not want to compromise even after numerous meetings on European politics. While the EU Commission seems to be losing patience with Switzerland.
“Any agreement is a restriction of sovereignty,” says Hans-Peter Portmann, national adviser to the Zurich FDP. This even applies to a simple rental agreement. For his LPG colleague, Tiana Angelina Moser, the framework agreement even represents a gain in sovereignty: “We would no longer have to compete with the EU.”
We explain the framework agreement
Video: Lea Senn, Angelina Graf
For the president of the Foreign Relations Commission (APK) of the National Council, it is “extremely important” that the Federal Council now take the next step. The status quo with today’s bilateral agreements is not an option for Moser. In fact, contracts that supposedly work well convey misleading security.
No new contracts
This is also demonstrated by the latest publication of the Foreign Policy Forum (Foraus). She compares the bilateral route to the outdated operating system of a smartphone. “You cannot update existing applications and install new ones,” said Darius Farman, co-director of the Europe program in the expert group, at a press conference.
In doing so, he addressed an aspect that is rarely discussed in the debate on the framework agreement, although it would be of utmost importance to Switzerland. Without InstA, the EU does not want to conclude any new bilateral agreement with Switzerland, although action is needed in more and more areas. The Forus post lists five of them:
Electricity market
The Swiss electricity grid is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the flow of electricity from the EU. Photo: trapezoidal
The Swiss electricity grid is closely linked to that of neighboring countries. At the same time, “Switzerland’s role in the European electricity market is unclear”, as grid operator Swissgrid complains. An electricity deal with the EU was largely negotiated with Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard, but has now been suspended.
Switzerland repeatedly faces unplanned electricity flows from the EU. These jeopardize network security and no improvement is in sight. “It’s getting more and more difficult,” said a senior representative of the Swiss energy industry in an interview with Watson. However, without a framework agreement, there is no solution in this area.
Health
With the corona pandemic it has become clear that there are no national borders when it comes to health. Switzerland was invited to exchange information with the EU, but this was done on an ad hoc basis. What many do not know: a health agreement with the EU that was ready to be signed, but has now been blocked, has been in existence since 2015.
It would be “extremely important” to sign the agreement, says Foraus author Moritz Fegert. Switzerland could then join the early warning system for communicable diseases or the EU mechanism for the procurement of medical protective equipment. Other areas include digital health and the new “EU4Health” program.
telecommunications
The EU has abolished roaming charges. Image: shutterstock.com
In the forums there are numerous approaches to fight for an agreement with the EU also in this area. These include cybersecurity or the implementation of 5G technology. Franziska Vogel, editor of the publication Foraus, mentions the abolition of the Swiss “traveling island” as an added benefit.
environmental Protection
As with health, problems do not stop at borders. In her State of the Union address, the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented an ambitious climate plan. For Switzerland, there is a risk that new environmental policy measures will hamper access to the EU internal market.
investigation
After saying yes to the mass immigration initiative in February 2014, Bern students symbolically buried the Erasmus and Horizon programs. Photo: trapezoidal
Switzerland wants to contribute six billion francs to the new EU Horizon Europe program. The Council of States approved this amount in the fall session. However, the EU research ministers have decided that Switzerland will no longer participate at the same level as the EEA countries, but as “another third country”.
A kind of blanket agreement is also being discussed which, in addition to Horizon, would include the Erasmus Plus mobility program. The Federal Council is in no rush, much to the chagrin of many students. Franziska Vogel fears that beneficial cooperation “will be threatened and interrupted by tensions in the bilateral relationship.”
In addition to the points listed in the Foraus document, there are other areas in which Switzerland could endeavor to achieve closer cooperation with the EU. An agreement on financial services has been debated for years. It might also be necessary to act on the digital single market or on rail connections.
“There is a risk that we will end up in the dead end,” Franziska Vogel warned at the Foraus press conference. But Switzerland seems to prefer the supposedly comfortable status quo. The prospects for a breakthrough in the framework agreement are poor, although a smartphone without an update will eventually abandon the ghost.
