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On Tuesday morning, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council, together with Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga (60) and Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis (59), bowed to the framework agreement. Once again. Sommaruga said goodbye to the parliamentarians to hear from the state government in November. Then everything suddenly happened very fast: on Wednesday, the Federal Council discussed, on Thursday Sommaruga had already telephoned Ursula von der Leyen (62), the president of the EU Commission. In Bern you can hear that the new Swiss chief negotiator Livia Leu (59) could travel to Brussels in the coming weeks to meet with the EU negotiator Stefano Sannino (60), who is also new to the job.
After months of stagnation, one of the most delicate political files has moved again. The instructions given by the Federal Council to Secretary of State Leu will not be disclosed. Conversations should start without pressure from the public as much as possible. According to various sources, one of the objectives is a better safeguard of wage protection: accompanying measures should be guaranteed by the EU and beyond the influence of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
It also states that the Federal Council explicitly wants to keep the Union Citizens Directive out of the framework agreement. This provision would facilitate the access of EU citizens in Switzerland to social assistance in the future.
Ultimately, Leu should keep the restriction of previous state aid, for example guarantees for cantonal banks, moving within narrow limits.
Majority of the people, parliament and Federal Council
The negotiation points of the wage protection and the Directive of the Union citizens are decisive at the national level: without concessions from the EU, the treaty should not find a majority in the people, in the parliament or even in the Federal Council.
Sources close to the Federal Council report that the government has urged Leu to negotiate hard. At the same time, completely rely on the creativity of the experienced diplomat. Leu was not given red lines for the individual subareas of the draft contract, but the short motto of achieving substantial improvements on the three controversial points. Overall, the disputed points are now being properly negotiated for the first time: because Leu’s predecessor Roberto Balzaretti did not have a mandate for this, he was ultimately only able to convey the EU’s demands on Bern. Now the Federal Council is waiting to see how Livia Leu will fare. Then you will finally evaluate the outcome of your negotiation.
It does not seem realistic for the negotiator to obtain all the highest demands. The hope in the creativity of Leu, in which the Federal Council swears, also includes some flexibility, it is said in Bern.
Switzerland could then go a step further, for example in terms of wage protection: if Brussels leaves intact the deposit obligation for foreign companies and the density of controls in this country, the Berne concession with the pre-registration period would be conceivable.
Conditions for foreign workers
So in the future, a German craftsman placing an order in Basel would no longer have to register eight days in advance, but perhaps only five or less. If necessary, a 1 billion increase in cohesion could serve as a kind of lubricant to make the EU friendly.
Because for the framework agreement to have a chance, it is imperative that Brussels is ready. The SVP will do everything in its power to return to a new European discussion. At the same time, CVP boss Gerhard Pfister expresses his concerns more clearly than ever. And the left would rather have no deal at all than be overly accommodating to the EU.
Or as Cédric Wermuth (34, AG), Co-President of the SP says: “Our red lines are well known, especially when it comes to wage protection.” The result will be examined, “but neither the party nor the presidium will bow, only for the agreement to find a majority in parliament.”
However, there are also optimists in the Bundesbern: the framework agreement is not dead, says Eric Nussbaumer (60, BL), National Councilor of the SP and President of the New European Movement Switzerland (Nebs): “If it is now possible to make improvements quickly, then there we go over the mountain faster than you think. “A trust that many parliamentarians and officials no longer share.
