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According to the social partners, the framework agreement cannot be signed in its current form.
In fact, the social partners wanted to keep the results of their negotiations secret until Sunday: only after the vote on the so-called limitation initiative, which is important for European politics, should the public know whether the social partners can accept the framework agreement with the EU negotiated by the Federal Council.
But now a letter to the Federal Council shows that the social partners remain critical. They refuse to support the current agreement. Without their support, however, he is practically dead.
The framework agreement endangers wages, undermines our wage protection.
Wage protection as the biggest concern
“The agreement in its current form does not have a majority by any means,” says Daniel Lampart of the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions. The social partners unanimously criticize that protection of Swiss wages would be inadequate if the framework agreement were signed in its current form. “It jeopardizes wages, it undermines our wage protection,” says unionist Lampart. “Now we need new negotiations with the EU that will fundamentally improve the agreement.”
The employers’ association and the trade association also want it to be explicitly stated in the framework agreement that parts of the so-called Union Citizens Directive do not apply to Switzerland. Otherwise, employers fear that unemployed EU citizens may receive social benefits in Switzerland without having previously worked here.
EU reaction uncertain
Unions and the trade association are also asking the Federal Council to renegotiate the disputes. He wants to avoid Switzerland having to adopt new EU laws almost automatically (dynamic legal adoption) and the European Court of Justice being the last resort in disputes.
He proposes to develop a new framework agreement, similar to the model of former diplomat Michael Ambühl. However, it is highly questionable whether the EU would sign another treaty that would be much more advantageous for Switzerland.
In their letter, the social partners also write that a framework agreement would be approved in Switzerland if issues relating to the free movement of persons were completely excluded. But this is unthinkable for the EU.
Federal Council in front of a pile of broken glass
The outcome of the debate between the social partners means that the Federal Council is in shambles. Without the approval of the important social partners, an agreement with the EU would probably fail at the latest when it has to be presented to the Swiss parliament.
Originally, the Federal Council wanted to bind the framework agreement before Britain’s Brexit. It is unclear how the EU will react if the Federal Council declares that the framework agreement has failed.
