Swiss President Guy Parmelin announced the end of negotiations between Switzerland and the EU after intense negotiations with European diplomats. The objective had been to put in place a “framework agreement” to standardize the legal blueprint concerning Switzerland’s participation in the single European market. However, according to Swiss daily Le Temps, the negotiations had already been stalled for several months.
On Wednesday, May 26, President Parmelin announced the final end of negotiations. The government believes that the European Union’s demands would pose too great a threat to the wages of Swiss workers, in addition to modifying the country’s strict migration policy too much.
In his statement, the Swiss president admitted that not concluding an agreement has “drawbacks” but that the EU’s demands to reach this agreement were too onerous for the country. He nonetheless announced that new negotiations were going to be started to “update the already existing treaties”.
The European Union immediately reacted to denounce the Swiss decision. “Without this agreement, [the] modernization of our relations will not be possible and our bilateral agreements will inevitably grow old”, deplored European diplomats. They refered to the 50-year-old free trade agreement between the Confederation and the EU and to the two bilateral agreements signed in 2001. According to the EU, these treaties were no longer “up to what relations between the Union and Switzerland should and deserve to be”.
Several Swiss political parties welcomed the presidential announcement. The Democratic Union of the Center (UDC) hailed “a victory for direct democracy and for the Swiss people”.