The topic again after the elections?: The relationship between Switzerland and the EU is crumbling

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It is uncertain whether the Federal Council will wait for Alain Berset’s replacement elections before presenting a negotiating mandate. Parliamentarians disagreed on this in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency.

What is certain, however, is that once the mandate has been presented, it must be consulted by the foreign policy committees of Parliament and the cantons before negotiations can begin.

More and more industries are in turmoil

As time passes, the relationship between Switzerland and the EU continues to unravel. More and more Swiss industries are faced with great uncertainty and, for better or worse, depend on the good will of the EU.

This also applies to the Swiss network operator Swissgrid: it is already excluded from participation in the EU market coupling. According to Swissgrid, this creates “unplanned load flows through Switzerland that increasingly endanger grid stability.”

Now she is threatened with exclusion from one of the control energy platforms. Participation in this entails “a great risk”, according to the network operator’s website. Balancing energy is reserve energy used to compensate for fluctuations in the electricity grid.

Moreover, from 2025, EU countries will have to reserve at least 70 percent of their capacity for the EU. Without an agreement, Switzerland should not be included. According to Swissgrid, this will lead to more unplanned electricity flows and thus affect grid stability.

Researchers complain

Switzerland’s participation in the European Railway Agency (ERA), which is responsible for approving rolling stock in international rail traffic, is also under consideration. There is currently a transitional solution with the EU, but this must be renewed annually. It’s that time again at the end of the year. It is uncertain whether the EU will agree to a further extension. Exclusion from the EWC would entail more administrative work.

Not joining the EU research program “Horizon Europe” also had more consequences than initially assumed. Not only do researchers from Switzerland no longer receive EU funding and they can no longer participate everywhere – for example in the Quantum Flagship project.

Switzerland was also excluded from the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), as announced at the beginning of this year. This may not sound spectacular, but it is very important for groundbreaking research: it involves strategic investments and scientific excellence.

The erosion of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (MRA) caused by the EU continues. Although the medical device and in vitro diagnostics sectors have already lost their privileged access to the EU internal market, this will still happen to the mechanical engineering industry in 2025.

Chocolate manufacturers are shaking

The unclear situation between Switzerland and the EU is affecting more and more industries – even chocolate manufacturers are not spared. The new EU deforestation regulation to protect the forest will require certain data to be entered into an EU system in the future when importing cocoa and other raw materials.

Swiss chocolate manufacturers therefore need access to this EU system. But Brussels has already made it clear that any necessary agreement will depend on the progress of current talks between Switzerland and the EU. Chocosuisse, the association of Swiss chocolate producers, is therefore already working on a plan B.

Roaming charges will remain in place for the time being

The unclear relationship with the EU also has unpleasant consequences for Swiss tourists – in the form of high roaming rates abroad. The Federal Office for Communications (Bakom) had therefore already taken action and sent out feelers to Brussels. But it stayed that way. “Due to the failure of the framework agreement, the chances of an agreement with the EU on roaming are probably slim,” Bakom wrote.

There can only be hope for improvement once the Federal Council has approved the negotiating mandate. But even then you shouldn’t feel too safe. If Brussels has the impression that Switzerland is playing for time during the negotiations, it must tighten the screws again. (SDA)

Source:Blick