EU Commission confirms letter from Switzerland
Published: Thursday, Nov 9th 2023, 13:32
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Switzerland has officially informed Brussels of the timetable for the preparation of a draft mandate for negotiations on the Switzerland-EU agreement package. A spokesperson for the EU Commission confirmed a corresponding letter from Bern on Thursday at the request of Swiss journalists.
The Federal Council announced on Wednesday that it would decide whether to accept the negotiating mandate before the end of the year. To this end, it had instructed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to prepare a draft mandate.
A joint declaration by Switzerland and the EU serves as the basis for this. This should set out the results of the exploratory talks. Originally, this joint declaration was to be signed and published, but this is no longer the case.
Silent consent
According to the Commission spokesperson, the next step is for the EU Commission to approve the declaration. If this is the case, it would be the equivalent of a signature, he added.
However, the Federal Council did not mention the joint declaration in its communication on Wednesday. By commissioning a draft mandate to the FDFA, the Swiss government had probably approved the joint declaration, said the Commission spokesperson in response to a corresponding question.
Researchers have to be patient
When asked about the start of negotiations for Switzerland's full association with the EU research program "Horizon Europe", he said that this should take place at the same time as the start of negotiations on the package of agreements.
There was speculation in Switzerland as to whether the adoption of the joint declaration would be sufficient to start negotiations on "Horizon Europe".
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