Federal Council decides to draw up a negotiating mandate with the EU
Published: Wednesday, Nov 8th 2023, 14:40
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 9th 2023, 00:54
Retour au fil d'actualité
The Federal Council wants to draw up a negotiating mandate with the European Union (EU). In its view, the exploratory talks with Brussels have been concluded.
The national government intends to decide whether to accept the mandate before the end of the year, according to a statement on the decision on Wednesday. It has instructed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to prepare concrete negotiations.
According to the Federal Council, the results of the exploratory talks with the EU allow the draft to be drawn up. The European Commission was informed of this decision on Wednesday, according to the press release.
Exploratory talks
Swiss diplomats have been holding preliminary talks in Brussels since April 2022. The aim of the exploratory talks was to assess where Switzerland and the EU could come to an agreement. A negotiating mandate is now needed to continue.
The exploratory talks included new agreements on electricity, health and food safety, as well as Switzerland's readmission to the EU research and education programs "Horizon Europe" and "Erasmus plus".
It also includes the so-called institutional issues such as the regulation of dispute settlement or the dynamic adoption of law. The last round of exploratory talks with the EU took place on October 27, 2023.
Discussions with cantons
In parallel to the exploratory talks with the EU, the Federal Council has also held talks with the cantons, social partners and business circles in recent months, as it writes. These talks have focused in particular on the free movement of persons, wage protection for posted workers and state aid.
The Federal Council believes that the majority of the issues have been satisfactorily clarified. For example, the public service will not be affected by the negotiations. However, some issues still need to be addressed in greater depth, according to the press release.
According to the Federal Council, Parliament, the cantons, the social partners, the business community and other important stakeholders will be closely involved in the next steps of the process.
The trade unions spoke out against the initial results of the exploratory talks on Monday. They criticized the threat of cuts to wage protection and public services.
Key figures already adopted in June
Back in June, the Federal Council announced that it had adopted the key parameters for a negotiating mandate with the EU. It intends to prepare for the adoption of a negotiating mandate by the end of this year.
The benchmarks formed the guidelines for possible future negotiations and served as the basis for the preparation of a negotiating mandate, it was said at the time.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic