Switzerland intensifies its role in fostering European unity with renewed financial commitments to the EU’s cohesion fund, aimed at reducing regional disparities.
Keystone/OLIVIER HOSLET
Switzerland is to make regular cohesion payments to the EU in future. The amount and regularity of these contributions is part of talks on updating relations between Switzerland and the EU.
To date, the Swiss Confederation has paid a total of CHF 2.6 billion to EU member states in two tranches.
The financial contribution is intended to reduce economic and social disparities between the regions, as stated in the Common Understanding.
In its negotiating mandate, the Federal Council speaks of a “cohesion contribution to selected EU member states” that takes into account “important common challenges”.
Previous Payments Went To Eastern Europe
The Swiss electorate approved the first “cohesion billion” in November 2006. From 2007, these funds financed projects in the Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004. Parliament then also allocated funds to the EU members Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, which joined later.
The second Swiss contribution has been paid out to selected EU member states since 2019. This amounts to a total of CHF 1.3 billion and is spread over ten years.
Switzerland is supporting the economic and social development of small and medium-sized towns in disadvantaged regions of Poland with CHF 288 million.
In Estonia, Switzerland is contributing CHF 7 million to a project to protect biodiversity. The priority area of the contribution is vocational education and training.
Switzerland is not the only country to make financial contributions to the EU. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein also have similar cohesion payments. In the case of these three countries, the payments are due to their participation in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Between 2004 and 2021, the three countries contributed a total of 5.841 billion euros, as can be seen on the grants website. On average, the three countries invested a total of around 324.5 million francs per year in European projects.
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