Talking to the EU: Cassis wants a successful conclusion

class=”sc-29f61514-0 fQbOYE”>

The meeting served to determine the position of the exploratory talks between Switzerland and the EU, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) wrote after the meeting on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the EU commission, the two politicians also spoke of “progress on a technical and diplomatic level”. The foreign minister and the EU commissioner also discussed “the outstanding questions and the steps to be clarified in the coming months,” the FDFA continued.

Ten exploratory rounds

A total of ten reconnaissance rounds have taken place so far. As a result, the Bundesrat approved benchmarks for the negotiating mandate at the end of June.

On Tuesday, Cassis and Sefcovic reaffirmed their willingness to “continue to provide positive momentum to the process,” as the EDA statement went on to say. They wanted to keep exchanging information on a regular basis.

Fruitful discussion with @EU_Commission VP @MarosSefcovic in Brussels about 🇨🇭-🇪🇺 relationships and progress made so far. We reaffirmed our determination to mitigate the outstanding issues. Our focused dialogue today paves the way for further engagement and intensification of our discussions. pic.twitter.com/DsfjZzeMoc

— Ignazio Cassis (@ignaziocassis) July 18, 2023

According to the EU commission statement, Sefcovic stressed that the EU was ready to continue “intensive talks with Switzerland”.

During the meeting, the two politicians were alone. The face-to-face interview lasted approximately one hour. They were joined by their delegations at the subsequent working lunch.

The Swiss Foreign Minister and the EU Commissioner last met in Bern in mid-March. Sefcovic then also held various talks with foreign politicians as well as with the social partners and the cantons. For his part, Cassis was in Brussels for the last time in November 2021.

«unbalanced» Relationships

Also on Tuesday, the EU Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs approved Conservative MEP Lukas Mandl’s report on relations between Switzerland and the EU by 51 votes to three.

“The EU and Switzerland need a new package of agreements that creates confidence, stability, jobs and well-being,” the commission wrote. Because he currently considers the relationship between Switzerland and the EU to be “unbalanced”.

MEPs are calling on the European Commission and the Federal Council to use “the brief opportunity” to end negotiations before the end of the mandate of the European Commission and the EU Parliament. The European elections will take place in mid-2024. In view of the remaining time, the committee wrote to regret that the Federal Council did not want to make a decision on the mandate until the end of 2023.

The report on Switzerland is expected to be approved by the EU parliament in September.

(SDA)

Source:Blick