Brussels wants to take relations with Switzerland to a new level
Published: Thursday, Nov 28th 2024, 16:30
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"It was the right time to take stock of the ongoing negotiations politically," said a European Commission spokesperson in Brussels on Thursday regarding the meeting between Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and the Vice-President of the EU Commission, Maros Sefcovic. The aim remains to reach a conclusion by the end of the year.
On Wednesday evening, Cassis received Sefcovic in Bern to discuss the negotiations aimed at modernizing relations between Switzerland and the EU.
"There is still a lot to do, but we will continue to work hard in the coming weeks," the spokesman, Balazs Ujvari, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. It is important to take relations between Switzerland and the EU to a new level.
Reactions from the parliaments
"It was good that the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission traveled to Bern directly after his confirmation in the European Parliament to discuss the conclusion of the negotiations with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis," said Andreas Schwab, German MEP for the European People's Party (EPP), on request.
Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (BL), member of the Swiss Central National Council, also commented: "I am pleased that the negotiations will soon be concluded and I am convinced that our negotiating team was able to get a lot out of the last mile in Switzerland's interests."
Safeguard clause continues to be discussed
In recent days, the Swiss media have reported on a possible concession by the European Commission in the area of the free movement of persons and tuition fees.
Thomas Aeschi, National Councillor for the SVP, took up this issue and said: "That would be a bad deal. Firstly, it would either mean additional costs for Swiss students or for the middle classes who pay taxes. Secondly, any specification of a safeguard clause would never be as efficient as our 10 million initiative".
According to media reports, the Commission would be prepared to accommodate Switzerland in the area of a safeguard clause on the free movement of persons and clarify the existing clause. In return, tuition fees for students from EU countries would have to be reduced to the same level as for Swiss students.
The European Commission did not confirm a proposal in this direction. The spokesperson also declined to comment on the content of the discussions. He merely said that the issue of the free movement of persons would continue to be a topic of discussion.
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