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To Brussels! The Federal Council has decided how to proceed with the EU framework agreement. “The Federal Council has established its position and will contact the EU,” Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi (52) told the media on Wednesday. That “will certainly happen fairly quickly”, but it also depends on the availability of the partner.
Simonazzi is silent on the specific content. This is not public so as not to weaken the negotiating position. “It is important to preserve the room for maneuver for Switzerland.”
How amazing: the FDP Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (59), responsible for the EU file, was not present at the press conference. Probably because he shouldn’t have said much anyway. And also because the new secretary of state of the FDFA, Livia Leu (59), is now on the trigger and is supposed to draw the embers from the fire in Brussels.
New EU negotiator: Only Cassis is not enthusiastic(00:56)
Secrecy is the top priority
In any case, secrecy is currently the highest priority. The FDFA reportedly distributed the documents on the new mandate to Federal Counselors the night before the meeting and withdrew them the following day to prevent leaks.
A lot has been leaked: the Federal Council doesn’t want to mess with the EU right away. The negotiated dispute resolution mechanism will not be affected. This provides for the establishment of an arbitration tribunal if the Joint Committee does not reach an agreement. The arbitral tribunal is based on the legal interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The issue of loss of sovereignty thus remains pending treatment like a sword of Damocles.
Focus on three issues
The Federal Council is concentrating even more on achieving corrections in the three controversial areas of wage protection, the Union Citizens Directive and state aid. The new negotiation mandate is “drawn up in a restricted way,” says Federal Bern.
“Immunization” is the magic word here. In other words: the three controversial areas should be excluded from the right of approval of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Wage protection is a hot topic here. It is conceivable that this is not fully guaranteed, but that the exception rules only apply to certain instruments such as the deposit obligation or salary controls. There is talk of a kind of exclusion list. This would further cross the “red line” of trade unionists.
Federal Councilor in a good mood
The state government seems to be in a good mood because the EU is open to a solution. Brussels is aware that the Federal Council must be able to present a success to the local population so that the agreement has a chance in front of the people.
The federal president of the SP, Simonetta Sommaruga (60), is said to have said Monday in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council that it is only an EU tactic when it says that the negotiations are closed. But they are not.
After saying no to the BGI: Is the way clear for the framework agreement?(00:47)
