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STEPHANIE LECOCQ
“From today’s perspective, I have not sufficiently explained the position of the Commission in Switzerland,” said the EU Commission President, who was in office from 2014 to 2019, in an interview published on Saturday with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung “. He did not speak often enough on the subject in Switzerland. The Luxembourgish woman, now 66 years old, was Ursula von der Leyen’s predecessor as head of the EU executive.
According to Juncker, the failure of the talks initially is due to “Switzerland’s inability to take the remaining steps towards Europe.” Switzerland tried, albeit tentatively, to drive a wedge between the member states. But that did not lead to any success. “Like Britain, Switzerland has underestimated the cohesion of the member states.” There was a united front of the 27 member states.
Juncker sees no way around a framework agreement. “I don’t think there are sensible alternatives,” he said in the interview. He still sees room for negotiation: “You may only be able to work in this or that corner.”
In 2018, the Federal Council negotiated a framework agreement with the EU to adopt a new law and regulate the handling of disputes. Currently, the contract network consists of some 20 core bilateral agreements and more than 100 other contracts. The Swiss government has yet to sign the agreement due to open problems and opposition in parliament. Clarification talks started in Brussels this week.
The current talks are mainly about three points that are still open: accompanying measures, citizenship of the Union and state aid. While Switzerland expects a lot from it, from Brussels’s point of view it is just a matter of paperwork.
